Happy Monday everyone. I hope you had a fun weekend! On Sunday I got to attend the PaleyFest event for ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars at the Dolby Theatre.
If you haven’t already guessed from the title of this blog Molly and I are pretty big fans of the show and we named the blog because we are both pretty little, we both love to shop and we both love Pretty Little Liars. Not only have we seen every episode, but Molly has also read all of the books. A few friends from my theatre company have been on the show and I think they are a bit overwhelmed by my enthusiasm. Especially since I always have to ask the obvious question… “Who is A???”
The panel included stars Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse, Ian Harding, Janel Parrish and Keegan Allen, as well as executive producers I. Marlene King, Joe Dougherty and Oliver Goldstick.
I was really impressed by how well everyone gets along off camera and how much of a family they have become. The cast and producers answered a lot of questions about the casting process, their long days on set, staying true to the books and also gave some insight into how they approach their characters and difficult scenes. They all work really hard but have a lot of fun playing pranks off screen too. Ashley Benson is as blunt in real life as her character Hanna, Lucy Hale is very level-headed and said she doesn’t dress as “cray-cray” in real life as Aria and Janel Parrish (Mona) is quite ballsy. Troian Bellisario is super sharp and goes to the edge to bring Spencer to life and Sasha Pieterse (Ali), is so poised for her age (she’s the youngest of the cast) and wore some amazing accessories including a diamond arrow earring. Shay Mitchell is even more stunning and sweet in person than her character Emily and loves to wear heels. She likes to do her own stunts when possible, but also prefers to dress up a bit more girly in real life than her character. And all of the girls looked beautiful in their own outfits for this event. I really want to steal Lucy Hale’s blue paneled skirt and top by Tibi. Check out the red carpet photos here on Just Jared.
Now onto the guys… Before I went into the theatre, I overheard a woman in the bathroom say that she “would leave her husband for Ezra”. I guess this should have prepared me for the deafening screams when Keegan Allen (Toby) and Ian Harding (Ezra) took the stage. There was a lot of discussion over the reaction to Keegan’s abs. Apparently the first time show creator I. Marlene King asked him to go shirtless on the show, the cinematographer got quite enthusiastic about lighting him.
It was really exciting to get some insight into the show from the producers… they have really been writing to their actors strengths and seemed quite thrilled to see how far everyone has come. The entire cast seemed up for a challenge and that really pays off for the shows fans. Upcoming on Tuesday is the season finale where Ali reveals all! I can’t wait.
xoxo,
Lisa
