Janel Parrish Was First Considered For This Role in 'Grease' Instead of Sandy

By now, it’s well known that Janel Parrish didn’t originally audition for Mona on Pretty Little Liars — and it’s the same thing with her next project, Grease!

While Janel will be playing Sandy in the upcoming stage production, in a new interview with Broadway World, she revealed that she was first considered for the role of Rizzo instead.

“I was in talks to possibly play Rizzo,” she said. “A couple of months later, I was at a call with our wonderful director, Josh Prince. He was like, ‘You know, I was looking at videos of you performing and your general spirit and all that and I thought to myself – why can’t she be Sandy?’”

Her reaction was perfect too: “I was so surprised!”

Janel adds, “As someone who does not look anything like Olivia Newton-John, a very iconic look for that role, I couldn’t believe that he was thinking about me for Sandy – but it just made me so happy, that I could be considered for the role.”

“I was so happy that someone could, based on what they know of me, my voice, my spirit, that they could say, ‘yeah, you’re more of a Sandy to me.’ So I’m happy to be Sandy. It’s a role that I’ve always wanted to play and just never thought I would ever be offered.”

We’re happy she’s playing Sandy, too. Everyone got their tickets?