Sasha opened up about how the original Pretty Little Liars cast might be involved in the new spin-off series with her during a recent interview with ET.
“I think Ashley and Troian are going to try to direct next season, which would be amazing, if we get a next season,” Sasha told the outlet, adding that the rest of the cast has been “really, really supportive. … We love to have whoever on the show, whoever wants to join us.”
Sasha also said that there would have been more original cast members involved in season one if it weren’t for everyone’s crazy schedules.
“You know what the biggest problem is? Which is the best problem to have in Hollywood? Scheduling,” she explained. “Everyone is so busy, which is such a blessing for everybody. I’m so happy for our cast and our crew. We’ve just always been supportive of each other… but that has been our biggest challenge is scheduling. Troian had a baby, she couldn’t direct our first season.”
PLL: The Perfectionists airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform!
Janel Parrish is all smiles during her interview with E!’s Daily Pop in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon (March 26).
The 30-year-old actress stopped by to chat about what’s ahead on her new TV series, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists and confessed that she does spill the show’s secrets to one particular person – her husband, Chris Long!
Speaking to Teen Vogue, the actress shared that the boyfriend she had at the end of Pretty Little Liars is no longer part of Mona’s life.
However, “[Fans will] definitely get a little taste of something fun with Mona in the romance department,” she says, adding a “very, very fun development” is coming.
Janel does hopes that Mona will find real, lasting love in the spin-off though.
“Mona has always kind of been a little bit of a loner,” she shared. “She’s never been one of the joiner types, and I think she yearns for that, especially the way she started out, with being bullied and left out of the inner circle. While she prides herself on being independent, there is a certain part of her that just wants to be loved.”
On early casting decisions for The Perfectionists: “As [PLL] started coming to an end — maybe a year before — I started talking to the cast and floating around the idea of who’s ready to move on and who’s ready to keep exploring their characters and where they go from here. And Sasha and Janel were both really excited about the opportunity to do that. Warner Bros. had the rights to Sara’s book, and I thought this was such a great place to explore new secrets, new lies, and incorporate a couple of our great O.G. characters.”
“They were really excited about getting to explore their characters more. And I was excited because I really didn’t think we got to see enough of Mona on the first round of PLL. I know fans wanted to see more and learn more about her. They wanted her to have romance and a full life beyond just being that sort of Crazy Mona on PLL. So that was a real no-brainer for me.
On Mona’s role: “You’re going to have to wait and see. Mona was never really trustworthy on PLL — I mean, she loved Hanna, but she still hit her with a car — but I think you’re going to get to see a side of Mona that you haven’t seen before, and you’re going to be able to trust her a little bit more than you were on the other show.”
On whether or not she’s chatted with other familiar faces about popping up on the show: “Yeah, I think they’re all really excited for us. And because the show is premiering this week, we’re all getting together, there’s lots of different opportunities for the cast to support the show, and they’ve all been really fantastic. There’s quite a few people who’ve expressed interest in coming on. But for the first season, I felt it was really important to launch the show on its own and let it stand on its own two feet, so it’s not really about those appearances. But I think next season we’ll be a lot more open to having some of those OGs and those fun moments. I will say, though, even though we don’t see them, there are moments through Mona and Alison where we find out what’s going on in Rosewood. We will get information from them about what the other characters are doing.”
The Perfectionists airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Freeform!
The two stars play Lara Jean’s (Lana Condor) sisters, Margo and Kitty in the series. John Corbett will also return as dad, Dan Covey.
However, according to THR, a new director is coming on board – Michael Fimognari, who was the director of photography on the first film.
Susan Johnson, the director of the first film will be an executive producer.
Author Jenny Han added, “I’m so thrilled and thankful we get to keep telling Lara Jean’s story. I just know that the audience will fall in love with her all over again.”
All we need to hear now is who is playing John Ambrose…
You wouldn’t think that the famous pie scene with Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish would actually have a funny back story – considering it’s a scene with Ali and Mona – but it does!
In an interview with EOnline, Sasha opened up about her fave scene from the premiere of The Perfectionists and it was that one, all because of that pie.
“The pie was a disaster,” Sasha reveals. “It would not cut, or it would cut through the entire pie box and then we wouldn’t be able to lift it.”
She added though, “Janel and I had so much fun filming that scene.”