Pretty Little Liars: remember the cast of the original ABC show

A teenage mystery show
Who is 'A'?
7 seasons of 'Pretty Little Liars'
Two different spin-offs that didn't work
'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin' in HBO Max
The original cast of 'Pretty Little Liars'
Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale)
Lucy Hale's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'
Her success during the show
Lucy Hale after 'Pretty Little Liars'
Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson)
Ashley Benson's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'
Her role in 'Spring Breakers'
Her relationship with Cara Delevigne
Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario)
Troian Belissario's acting career
Her career in cinema
Troian Bellisario's husband
Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell)
Shay Mitchell's acting career
Model, actress and entrepeneur
Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse)
Sasha Pieterse's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'
She played Alison again in 'PLL: The Perfectionists'
Mona Vandeerwall (Janel Parrish)
Janel Parrish's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'
Janel Parrish's career after 'Pretty Little Liars'
Jenna Marshall (Tammin Sursok)
Tammin Sursok's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'
Her career after 'PLL'
Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding)
Ian Harding's main works
Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn)
Tyler Blackburn's acting career
Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen)
Keegan Allen's passions: Acting and photography
Ella Montgomery (Holly Marie Combs)
Holly Marie Combs was Piper Halliwell in 'Charmed'
Ashley Marin (Laura Leighton)
Laura Leighton's television career
A teenage mystery show

'Pretty Little Liars' was one of the most famous 2010s teenage TV shows. It was released in June 2010 on the ABC Family Freeform platform and continued on air for another 7 years, ending in June 2017. The series is based on the books of the same name by Sara Shepard.

Who is 'A'?

The story of the series centers on four high school friends that start receiving threats from an anonymous bully right when the leader of the friend group, Allison, mysteriously disappears. The person behind the messages always signs with the name of 'A'. The girls will have to deal with their own secrets and find out who 'A' is.

7 seasons of 'Pretty Little Liars'

'Pretty Little Liars' played with the mystery and unhinged crazy teenage situations for 7 seasons, having PLL fans glued to their screens until the final episode when Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna, the protagonists, discovered all the truths.

Image: Still from the show 'Pretty Little Liars'

Two different spin-offs that didn't work

The show was so successful that other projects started coming out of it. During the third season of the show, the producers launched another series inspired by the original story and some secondary characters called 'Ravenswood'; two years after the original series ended, a sequel led by a few main characters of the show was released, 'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists'.

'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin' in HBO Max

However, the attempts to keep the PLL flame alive without the original four main actresses flopped in both cases after just one season. It wasn't until 2021 that the spirit of the show was revived again thanks to the HBO Max show: 'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin', where a whole new cast and story would be the focus of the series. In September 2022, it was announced that 'Original Sin' would be renewed for a second season.

The original cast of 'Pretty Little Liars'

Although we don't know how far the new series can go, we still remember how iconic the cast of the original show was... Do you want to know what are they doing now?

Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale)

She is the unique and weird girl of high school, who loves reading and the arts. She is dealing with the affair of her father with another woman as well as his own affair with Rosewood's new literature teacher, Ezra Fitz.

Lucy Hale's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'

Although the actress had already appeared in some series like 'Bionic Woman' and 'Priviledged', and movies like 'The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants', her breakthrough role was the one of Aria Montgomery in 'Pretty Little Liars'.

Her success during the show

Lucy Hale received several Teen Choice Awards (an event that she co-hosted in 2014) for her performance as the pretty little liar and during her work in the show starred in the movies 'Scream 4' and 'A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song'.

Lucy Hale after 'Pretty Little Liars'

After the series, the actress connected one role after the other in movies like 'Truth or Dare', 'Dude', 'Fantasy Island', and 'The Hating Game'. As for her work in television, Hale is famous for bringing to life the Archie comics character Katy Keene and for her main role in the DC miniseries 'Ragdoll'.

Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson)

After the disappearance of her friend Alison, Hanna leaves behind her shy and innocent girl persona to become the popular queen bee of high school. Her obsession with beauty, clothes, and superficial stuff will get her into many troubles.

 

Ashley Benson's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'

Before the show, the actress had appeared in some episodes of series like 'Days of Our Lives' (where she appeared from 2003-2007) and in the ABC series 'Eastwick'. In cinema, we could see the actress' debut in '30 going on 13', and later in 'Bring It On: In It to Win It' and 'Bart Got A Room'.

Her role in 'Spring Breakers'

For her performance in 'Pretty Little Liars', Benson received the praise of the critics. The actress also starred in the movies 'Spring Breakers', alongside Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, and James Franco, 'Pixels' and 'Elvis and Nixon'. We could also see Ashley as Barney Stinson's half-sister in an episode of 'How I Met Your Mother'.

Her relationship with Cara Delevigne

After the show, Benson's popularity increased due to her participation in the music film 'Her Smell' where she met British model Cara Delevigne. The two actresses started a romantic relationship that lasted for two years. Although Benson has been on the spot lately for her relationships (with rapper G-Eazy and the son of the petroleum mogul Marvin Davis), she is currently waiting to release two big acting projects: the film 'American Metal' and the Prime Video series 'Wilderness'.

Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario)

Spencer is the logical, stubborn bookworm of the group that comes from a very wealthy family. She and her older sister Melissa often fight for boys and the approval of their parents. Spencer's determination to reveal the identity of 'A' leads her to discover some complicated truths about herself and her own family.

Troian Belissario's acting career

The actress's first acting role was when she was just 3 years old in the movie directed and produced by his father, Donald P. Bellisario, 'Last Rites'. Troian also appeared, along with the Olsen twins, in 'Billboard Dad'. Until the most important role of her career in 'Pretty Little Liars', the actress starred in some episodes of series like 'Quantum Leap' and 'NCIS'.

Her career in cinema

But apart from her role as Spencer, Bellisario has made her career in cinema appearing in different independent and short films. The most important projects of her career have been 'Martyrs', 'Feed' (which she also wrote and produced), 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette?' starring Cate Blanchett, and 'Doula' in 2022.

Troian Bellisario's husband

In 2016, The actress married 'Suits' actor Patrick J. Adams after they met in different acting projects (including 'Pretty Little Liars'). The couple has worked together in different short films, in some episodes of 'Suits' and in the science fiction movie 'Clara'. Bellisario and Adams have two children.

Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell)

She is an athlete high school student that feels the pressure on performing well on her swimming team. Emily is struggling with her sexual identity and is threatened by 'A' to spill all her secrets.

Image: Still from the show 'Pretty Little Liars'

Shay Mitchell's acting career

Besides appearing in an episode of 'Degrassi: The Next Generation', Mitchell's breakthrough role was the one of Emily Fields in 'Pretty Little Liars', for which she was praised by critics and fans. The other most important role in the actress's career is the one of Peach in the first season of the Netflix successful series 'You'. More recently, she had a main role in HBO Max 'Dollface' and is the voice of Alexandra Trese in the animated Netflix show 'Trese'.

Model, actress and entrepeneur

In cinema, we have seen the actress in the movies 'Dreamland', 'Mother's Day', 'The possession of Hannah Grace' and a small role in the Prime Video film 'Something From Tiffany's'. Shay Mitchell also grew popular when she opened her youtube channel, where the actress shares details about her work and lifestyle. She has also founded the successful travel bag company Béis and is known for her work as a model.

Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse)

She is the bossy, mean girl of the friend group who mysteriously disappears when the five best friends are having a sleepover. Alison knows every secret of the rest of the girls and uses them to control them.

 

Sasha Pieterse's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'

Pieterse started working really young as a model, appearing in different magazines like 'Seventeen' and 'Social Life', and debuted as an actress with a main role in the CBS show 'Family Affair'. The actress then appeared in some TV shows like 'Wanted' and 'Heroes', and starred in the movies 'The Adventure of Sharkboy and Lavagirl' and 'Good Luck Chuck'.

She played Alison again in 'PLL: The Perfectionists'

The actress gained a lot of popularity thanks to her role in 'Pretty Little Liars' which she reprised in 2019 in 'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists'. Pieterse also participated in the 25th edition of 'Dancing with the Stars', and starred in 2022 in the Netflix movie 'Ivy + Bean'.

Mona Vandeerwall (Janel Parrish)

Mona is Hanna's little minion who is obsessed with being popular. She was also bullied by Alison in the past and was nicknamed 'Loser Mona'.

Janel Parrish's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'

Although the actress started really young working in Broadway and theater productions, her first television role was in 'Baywatch'. After that, she continued to appear in different episodes of shows like 'Zoey 101', 'The O.C.' and 'Heroes'. Before becoming Mona, Parrish also debuted in cinema as Jade in the film adaptation of 'Bratz'.

Janel Parrish's career after 'Pretty Little Liars'

After the success of the show, the actress return to stage acting with productions like 'Cruel Intentions: The Musical' and 'Grease'. In cinema we have seen Parrish in 'Celeste and Jesse Forever' and in the successful saga 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' in the role of Margot Covey.

Jenna Marshall (Tammin Sursok)

Jenna wanted to fit in with Alison and her clique so badly that she would do anything to achieve it. The girls' prank on Jenna went terribly wrong and left the girl blind. From that moment on, she would seek revenge against the girls.

Image: Still from the show 'Pretty Little Liars'

Tammin Sursok's career before 'Pretty Little Liars'

Tammin Sursok had her acting breakthrough with the role of Dani Sutherland in the Australian television soap opera 'Home and Away'. Then, the actress had another main role in the CBS series 'The Young and the Restless', appeared in the Nickelodeon film 'Spectacular!', and had a recurring role in some episodes of 'Hannah Montana' before appearing in 'PLL'.

Her career after 'PLL'

Since the end of the show, the actress has appeared in several made-for-television films, and has written and produced the film 'Breaking for Whales'.

Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding)

Ezra Fitz is the young new English Literature teacher at Rosewood's High School who, from the beginning, starts a relationship with one of his students: Aria Montgomery.

Image: Still from the show 'Pretty Little Liars'

Ian Harding's main works

The actor who had small roles in films like 'Adventureland' and 'Love & Other Drugs', had his acting breakthrough thanks to his role in 'Pretty Little Liars'. After the show ended, Harding had a recurring role in the show 'Chicago Med' and was also part of the Paramount television series 'Long Slow Hale'. In cinema, the actor had a secondary role in 'Ford v. Ferrari' and in the 2022 film 'The Hater'.

Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn)

He was the troubled and marginal boy at Rosewood's High. Thanks to his technological abilities, he came closer to Hanna and the two started a long and passionate relationship.

Tyler Blackburn's acting career

Before the show, Blackburn appeared in several episodes of the soap opera 'Days of Our Lives'. However, his most important role was the one of Caleb in 'Pretty Little Liars', which he also played in the spin-off series  'Ravenswood' as the show's main character. More recently, the actor is also known for his role as Alex Manes in the series 'Roswell, New Mexico'.

Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen)

He is Jenna's step-brother. Although he seemed at first like the main suspect in Alison's disappearance, Toby ended up convincing the girls and becoming friends with them.

Keegan Allen's passions: Acting and photography

Apart from 'Pretty Little Liars' (his acting breakthrough), the actor has appeared in different episodes of TV shows, however, Allen's acting career has been combined with his passion for photography, and the actor has published two successful photography books. Keegan Allen is currently playing a leading role in the 'Walker' reboot.

Ella Montgomery (Holly Marie Combs)

She is the mother of Aria. Ella got separated from her husband after 'A' revealed the affair he was having with another woman.

Holly Marie Combs was Piper Halliwell in 'Charmed'

The actress's main acting career has developed in television. We saw her as Kimberly Brock in the CBS show 'Picket Fences' and as Piper Halliwell in the famous series 'Charmed'. Since 2022, the actress is the presenter of the podcast 'House of Halliwell' which is centered on the 'Charmed' series.

Ashley Marin (Laura Leighton)

She is Hanna Marin's mom and raised her by herself after her father left.  Ashley has always struggled financially and is willing to do anything to protect her daughter's well-being.

Image: Still from the show 'Pretty Little Liars'

Laura Leighton's television career

The actress' most famous role is the one of Sydney Andrews in 'Melrose Place' where she was for 5 seasons. After that, Leighton's participated in another famous soap opera of the '90s: 'Beverly Hills, 90210'. Apart from her role in 'PLL', the actress has starred in numerous made-for-television films and individual episodes of shows like 'Dynasty' and Fantasy Island'.

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