'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists' cast spills their secrets on the red carpet

ByDanny Clemens KGO logo
Saturday, March 16, 2019
'Pretty Little Liars' spinoff cast spills their secrets
We asked the 'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists' cast to share a dirty little secret about themselves -- and their answers were thankfully much more playful than the secrets that come to light on the show.

LOS ANGELES -- If you ask "Pretty Little Liars" fans why the show was so addictive, you'll probably get the same answer: the mind-blowing plotlines laced with twists, turns, secrets and lies.

Less than two years after the original series ended, a new spinoff is coming to Freeform, and "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists" holds true to everything that made the original "PLL" series such a runaway success. Two of the original series' most iconic characters are back, both in search of a fresh start as they find themselves working at the same university in fictional Beacon Heights, Oregon.

But not long after their unexpected reunion, Sasha Pieterse's Alison DiLaurentis and Janel Parrish's Mona Vanderwaal find themselves entangled in a new mystery alongside Sofia Carson, Sydney Park and Eli Brown.

We caught up with Pieterse, Parrish, Carson and other cast members at the Hollywood premiere party. In the spirit of "PLL," we asked them all to share a dirty little secret about themselves -- and their answers were thankfully much more playful than the secrets that come to light on the show. Check out their secrets in the video above.

Though the spinoff builds on some of the themes and characters introduced in the original series, the cast promises that new fans who aren't familiar with the original show will be able to dive right into "Perfectionists."

"If you haven't watched 'PLL,' don't fret. You don't need to watch seven seasons of our show to get this," Pieterse said, adding that the new series explores how social media and surveillance impact our lives. "It's not just about falling in love with the characters, it's about being creeped out with the possibility of social media and the way it is headed."

Creator and executive producer I. Marlene King discussed another major theme of the show, reflected in its title: the pressure to be perfect, which, of course, is only exacerbated by social media.

"We're really exploring that and tapping into that and hoping to reach people and help them understand you can't be perfect at everything," she said.

In "Perfectionists," King pulls back the internet-driven veil of perfectionism through Carson's character Ava, a social media influencer who, in Carson's words, "has lost everything and everyone and is determined to survive."

"She has this dark, twisted and very heartbreaking story, but I love how empowering and incredibly motivating it is and how not everything is as it seems," Carson told us.

"Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists" premieres on Freeform on Wednesday, March 20.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Freeform and this station.