The Dolby Theatre was full of a bunch of “little liars” on Sunday afternoon as the 2014 PALEYFEST continued with the ABC Family hit show “Pretty Little Liars.”
PLL is the first ABC Family show to ever be honored at PALEYFEST and with a theatre full of screaming fans, it’s easy to see why. Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Janel Parrish, Sasha Pieterse, Ian Harding & Keegan Allen all took the stage along with executive producers Marlene King, Joseph Dougherty & Oliver Goldstick.
Fans were treated to a clip from a 1984 show called “Spencer” starring a young Chad Lowe who plays Byron on PLL. Then a highlight package from the four seasons of the hit show had the audience cheering and they also got to see an exclusive clip from Tuesday night’s season 4 finale. The clip featured more of what happened between Ali and her mom on the night of Ali’s disappearance. We definitely can’t wait to see the whole episode.
The cast of PLL put on one of the most fun panels so far this PALEYFEST as they reminisced about filming the pilot, shared hilarious audition stories and more. Many of the girls revealed that they auditioned for multiple parts. Troian revealed that she spent probably “2 hours” fixing her hair and getting made up for her audition only to be told when she got a call back “that was great, but we’d really love for you to do your hair and makeup this time.” Lucy said she originally read for Aria and Hanna while Sasha read for Hanna as did Ashley (obviously) and Bianca Lawson.
The PLL cast has such great chemistry and it showed during the panel when they joked with each other and shared funny stories including what it was like working on the pilot and how they met. Did you know that Ashley was one of Lucy’s first friends when she moved to LA? “We met on Myspace,” Ashley joked…or was she? Janel and Ashley reminisced about being on an episode of “The O.C.” together and even re-enacted the scene.
When it comes to scoop on the finale and upcoming season and more, here’s some highlights from the panel:
-Marlene revealed “There’s a shocking Ezria twist” in the finale.
-Janel really wants to see a girl fight on the show. “I want a Mona/Ali full on girl fight.”
-Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) will return in the show’s 100th episode.
-Answers will be given in the finale. “You guys have earned those answers,” Marlene shared. “You’ve been very patient with us. Thank you for that.”
-Marlene revealed that season 5 will be “really dynamic” as Ali being alive and fitting back into everyone’s lives will be interesting. Executive producer Joseph Daugherty added, “A lot of Season 5 is about Allison’s homecoming. What’s going to happen to the dynamic?”
-Everyone agreed it was funny to watch Ian Harding try to be mean as Ezra in season 4.
-Everyone would love to do a “Pretty Little Liars” movie. “We talk about it all the time; we would love to make a movie,” Marlene shared.
-Shay is afraid of possums and got freaked out in a scene when someone said “the possum’s in the scene” referring to the fuzzy cover on the boom mic.
The cast also chatted about their biggest challenges with the show, seeing their characters grow, filming flashbacks and more. Overall, everyone kept pretty tightlipped about what would be happening on Tuesday’s finale.
Stay tuned for our interviews from the event but for now, check out some photos and Ian showing off his sound effects skills during the panel below.
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