Pretty Little Liars: Season 2 Cast Photos

The girls look gorgeous, I love all the muted pastels. What a stark contrast to all the black in the S1 promos!
- Kelli at Gossip Freak

Pretty Little Liars' Shay Mitchell Talks Beauty

What is your daily beauty regimen?
Shay: My daily beauty regimen is definitely always in the mornings, and at night, always washing my face with a basic cleanser. I also use a moisturizer with SPF to follow up. Due to the fact that I'm on set working and get a lot of makeup put on all the time, the days that I'm not working I try not to put on any makeup so I can let my skin breathe.
What do you do to your hair to make it so gorgeous?
Shay: I've been fortunate to be on a set where they have a lot of products given to them, so most recently I've been getting a lot of Kerastase hair products. I've been using that, and I've also been using hair masks. I really like to use natural things, so I just ordered a bunch of product from this company called Earth to Body. It's all organic, handmade skincare. I'm using their apple cider hairwash too, which I really like. If I can ever go online and look up recipes for hair masks, do-it-yourself masks, I'll always do that first. If there's something I can use that's already in my kitchen, that works.
What is your fitness regimen?
Shay: I really like to try out anything and everything. With fitness, I do Bikrams hot yoga. The gym that I have in my building is amazing. I love to do cardio and weights there. That's probably what I go to most, especially when I'm working. I work out either before shooting or after with treadmill, elliptical or weights. There's a bunch of different classes and fun things to do in L.A as far as fitness goes.
Did you always want to get into acting?
Shay: When I was younger, I was modeling. I was in the modeling industry, and I always took acting class. I never had an agent, but I was always taking classes. I knew what I wanted to do was going to be in the entertainment industry. I just felt comfortable, whether it was making people laugh or taking photos for clients with an idea and being able to do that for them. I've known that I wanted to do this for a long time. Of course getting older, acting was a much more suitable career than modeling was.
Since you were in the modeling industry, what is your opinion of society's "tall and skinny" stigma?
Shay: Yeah. I wasn't really for that. The other thing was like, we're being bombarded with 2,000 images a day from everything from billboards to magazines to just everything. With those photos, and I know from doing it, everything's Photoshopped. It's the lighting and fake eyelashes going on even when you're doing a natural beauty shoot. It makes me feel bad because there are a lot of young girls who look up and say "I wanna look like this girl in this magazine," but if you see that girl in the morning, she's beautiful, but no one really looks like that. There is a lot of Photoshop that goes into it. I did like modeling because it gave me the experience that I have and allowed me to travel and it is good.
I just feel like there should be more advertisements like the Dove campaign. When they showed that women who had gone through all of that Photoshop to end up from A to B. I LOVE that. I think that there needs to be more of that. I do feel like there needs to be more natural girls who aren't so slim. I saw something recently on Jessica Simpson, and she did a cover of a magazine and she was all natural, I think that's great. I really like that. If you're not in this industry, you don't know what goes on. I always tell this story, because it's so funny. Even when you see people from our show, when you see a morning scene, or you're supposed to be going to bed, there is still makeup on, and we have professional lighting guys who are amazing. We have makeup artists that are touching us up. I wish I could look like that in the morning, but you don't. We all have to find beauty within us, as opposed to just our exterior.
In your opinion, what makes someone beautiful?
Shay: The way a woman carries herself. Whether it be posture -- I feel like it gives you a confident look. And having a smile on top of that. There's nothing more beautiful than that. I have some actresses that I find beautiful because you just can't find a picture of them not smiling.

Credit - Gabrielle Compolongo @ the examiner
Kelli at Gossip Freak

Pretty Little Liars's Keegan Allen (Toby Cavanaugh)

Keegan Allen plays the elusive and spine-chilling character of Toby Cavanaugh on Pretty Little Liars, this summer's guiltiest television pleasure.
TV Fanatic spoke exclusively with the actor this week, as he talked about Toby (spoiler alert: he'll return on next week's summer finale!), as well as his shock every time he reads the weekly script...
What is your response to the success of Pretty Little Liars?
When I first got introduced to my character, I didn’t really have a lot of lines. The characters a very elusive guy and the writers did a really great job of bringing him in as this antagonist in the beginning. Upon reading the first few scripts that I got when I booked the role, I realized that this was going to be a really good success, and it was going to be a big hit.
Your character is pretty dynamic. One minute you like him and the next you’re not sure what to think...
The writers and the directors are so clever in the way that they are able to portray him of this shadow that overlooks the whole time. They make him the black cat of Rosewood. It’s all writing, all creative thinking from the standpoint of the executive producers and writers.
Are you surprised during read-throughs?
The girls know what’s going to happen, but what’s so funny is that when we all get together collectively as a whole ensemble of the writers, products, and the director for each director and the cast. We’re all this big family huddled in the conference room, and when we read it we’re all like “Oh woah!” We all have our moments where it’s just as exciting for us as it is for the audience.
What are your likes and dislikes about Toby as a character?
My likes about Toby is that he is genuine and awkward. He’s awkward in a way that I feel, especially when he talks to Emily, I like that he’s authentic. He’s a very authentic person and he means what he says and he says what he means. He only talks sometimes, and he has a few words, but when he does talk, he really thinks about what he says before he says it.
He never acts on impulse. He’s a very thought-out, meticulous person. I like that he’s very organized with himself even though the whole world around him thinks he’s this creepy, weird, sketchy character, he’s able to really remove all of that and know he can be his own man. I don’t really dislike anything about him, I like that he’s super weird and creepy.
Would you be friends with Toby?
Keegan: Definitely.
Was it easy to create chemistry with Shay Mitchell?
Yes. Actually, Shay made it really easy from day one. The cool thing about working on Pretty Little Liars is that everyone is so nice and professional, nobody has egos. Shay came right up to me, and we instantly clicked. Based on those story lines, we got closer and closer from hanging out on set all of the time. She’s made it very easy, very open, and she’s a really good friend so we built a great foundation and have been building on that.
It’s fun as an actor to have those restrictions that Toby has, and play them colorfully with each other with those limitations. My limitation of my awkwardness and creepiness and her limitation of her friends and her demeanor of who she thinks she is makes for a much more colorful scene.
Which has been your favorite episode to film?
My definite favorite to film has been the Homecoming episode. It was just, oh my god, the most incredible experience to work on. It was a dream come true. Even getting pushed through glass, it was just the best thing ever. Working with Normal Buckley and his vision, and Rachel and her set design.
I never enjoyed my Homecoming, so it was cool to go Homecoming everyday for 10 days with all of my friends. It was like a do-over, even though I had a similar response…just joking. *laughs* Keep watching, because Toby is definitely a force in Rosewood, and it’s good people are recognizing that and enjoying my character.

Credit - Elena @ TV Fanatic
Kelli at Gossip Freak

'Pretty Little Liars' Star Shay Mitchell Is 'Proud' Emily Isn't Afraid To Put Her Sexuality Out There

This day and age on TV, a storyline involving a high school girl flip-flopping over her sexuality isn't that unheard of (see "90210" and "The O.C." as examples), but the problem with the portrayal often comes with how incredibly easy it seems for said female co-ed to date and/or makeout with another girl and then in the next episode go back to being straight again. For that reason, we're applauding how real the Emily Fields storyline on "Pretty Little Liars" seems.
Shay Mitchell, who plays the positive-yet-introverted swimmer on the ABC Family series, does a great job of painting a picture to us viewers at home what it feels like to be a teen girl who is terrified and excited by her sexuality all at the same time. In fact, she told Hollywood Crush this week that she owes her chops to the fact that the she believes the role is making a difference.
"I feel very proud to be a part of a show that's examining this further and not afraid to put it out there," Shay said. "The comments that I get from girls that are going through this, who aren't quite sure of their sexuality — they're wondering if they are the only person, but then they can watch the show and see that there's somebody else that's dealing with it, too."
And while it's easy to want to call Emily a lesbian (she is basically dating Maya now) by definition, Shay doesn't think we should all be so quick to want to place Emily into a specific box. "Growing up [we] always thought you had to be put in one category or the other — what's your sexuality? Are you gay? Are you straight? My character is just kind of like, 'I don't know! I don't know what I am, it's great. How do you define that?'"
According to the actress, the most important part of Emily's journey is that she's learning more about herself because she doesn't want to be defined by her preference for boys or girls. Insists Shay, "That's the key thing here."

Credit - mtv
Kelli at Gossip Freak

'Pretty Little Liars' Recap: Episode 9, "The Perfect Storm"

By Karen Sanders
The Perfect Storm begins with Hanna, Aria and Spencer studying for the SATs at Spencer's house. Emily, however, is strangely absent. While her friends are busy learning long words, Emily arrives at home caked in mud and dripping wet from the approaching storm. After the way the previous episode ended - with Ali's memorial being smashed up - Emily's appearance makes us wonder exactly what she had been up to.
With the storm brewing over Rosewood, the high school kids are in school waiting to take their exam. With the storm making it's way into town though, many students can't make it in and those who do later become locked in for their own safety.
Pretty Little Liars - Emily's Story
In the midst of the exam and storm chaos, Detective Wilden is back and smarmy as ever. Emily is his target again this week, and him noticing her muddy shoes does not help. He also informs her that Toby was spotted at a gas station near to Ali's memorial and is still convinced that Emily knows where he is.
When the Pretty Little Liars are questioned on their whereabouts at the time of Ali's memorial bashing, Emily lies and says she was studying at Spencer's. Her friends cover for her but when Wilden leaves, they ask where she really was. Emily makes up a story and gets snappy when they question her further. At the same time, she receives a text message from A about Great Expectations. Leaving the other girls surprised by her mood, Emily heads into the library in search of the book. She locates Great Expectations and finds a letter inside. A letter she wrote to Ali about them kissing. A flashback shows Ali giving Emily a serious come-on while reading Great Expectations and the two kiss. However, a later flashback shows Ali flirting with Emily again and when Emily makes a move, Ali flips out and tells her she is just using Emily as kissing practice for when she kisses boys. Those incidences were the reason Emily wrote the letter. To vent her frustration and anger over being tormented.
While Emily is in the library, the storm outside is growing wilder. The lights go out and she panics when a book falls off the shelf. She goes to investigate and finds nothing but when she gets back to her spot both her bag and the letter have gone. Freaked out, she heads down to the locker room, where everyone else is now sheltering. She is there for just a few minutes when Wilden shows up and says he has found something that belongs to her.
Emily follows his back to the library and her friends follow too, anxious to find out what has been happening. Wilden shows Emily that he has located her bag and the letter, and demands she tells her friends all about the kissing and how she wanted revenge on Ali for messing her around. He also shows a photo he received of Emily at the trashed memorial. The other Pretty Little Liars are all stunned at this news. They are further shocked to find that Emily has stowed the little statues that were on Ali's bird bath thing at the memorial in her bag. Emily begins to cry and explains that she went to the memorial but it had already been destroyed. She took the statues because they were the only things that weren't broken. Wilden goes on to reveal that Emily wrote the letter to Ali three days before she went missing and just when he is about to deepen his questioning, Spencer's mum walks in and asks what is going on. When the girls tell her, Mrs Hastings tells Wilden in no uncertain terms that questioning minors without an adult present makes anything he discovered inadmissible in court and that his career is over.

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Credit - Karen Sanders @ associated content
Kelli at Gossip Freak

Pretty Little Liars Star Shay Mitchell Shares Some Pretty Big Secrets

By: Melissa Girmonte
ABC Family's hit teen soap Pretty Little Liars has become this summer's most addictive series, and the hottest guilty pleasure for the over 25 set. Emily, played by Shay Mitchell, is the sporty, shy, and sexually confused member of the teenage quartet left to deal with their friend's mysterious disappearance and death.
Shay enthusiastically chatted with us about her burgeoning relationship with Maya, why Alison's brother returning to Rosewood could stir things up, and promises that upcoming surprises will knock us off the edge of our seats!
Pretty Little Liars is targeted at a young adult audience, but has managed to attract quite a few more mature followers. Did you think that the show would attract such a broad audience?
Shay Mitchell: Honestly, yes, from reading the script and the books. Even my mom was really really into it, and she started telling all of her coworkers, and they were really into it. It's dealing with our parents' relationships and stuff that they're going through, so I did know that it was going to be broad spectrum. I was still surprised to see just how many people liked it, though. They'd come up and say, "Well, we really didn't watch ABC Family before because you think it would be for a younger age group, but we're really addicted to this show." I think that's awesome.
In the last episode, we saw your character Emily decide to give things a go with Maya. Can you share some of the challenges that Emily is going to face as a result of this decision?
One of the big things is her home life, and her parents are extremely conservative. I don't really think she has that kind of open relationship with her mom where she can just kind of sit down and roll off everything she's thinking off the top of her head. She has to be really careful with how she approaches that with her parents, and also with her close friends. I know that Hanna came out and told Emily that she would be there for her which is great, but there are still three other girls in the mix, and she's not fully sure of how they would act if anything were to come out.
What kind of surprises are in store for us leading up to the hiatus? Can you tease what's coming up in the rest of the season to keep us going through the break?
A lot of your questions will be answered. Will you have more questions? A hundred percent. Will you be on the edge of your seat throughout this and probably fall off the couch after you see some of these episodes? Yes. There's so much to talk about, and I wish I could talk about it, but I think it will be something that you wouldn't expect. Pretty much anything can go down in Rosewood. These episodes coming up will be very, very good.
Most of the actors in the parental roles on PLL were well known as young stars. What's it like to be a "teen idol" and work with people who once held that same title?
It's amazing. It's such a good cast, Laura Leighton from MELROSE PLACE, Chad (Lowe), Holly Marie Combs from CHARMED, and Nia (Peeples) who plays my mom. My parents were so excited to hear that she was playing my mom. I have a very close bond with Nia, on and off set. It's very, very cool to be working with these actors and hearing their stories from when they were in similar situations. More than anything, they give a lot of great advice.
Which character can you most relate to from your high school experience?
I think that if you were to take a little bit from every character, that's kind of who I would identify with. One character as a whole, no. As far as Emily is concerned, I was very shy and quiet at the beginning of high school. I kind of went through all the characters at different times growing up. At the beginning, I was definitely a lot like Emily, very shy, kept to myself, there were a lot of things that I figured out about myself that led me to turn into a different character. Then for a little bit, I was Aria, really independent, hung out by myself a lot. I went through all the characters at different stages, so I can relate to all of them.

Credit - tv.com photo credit - ABC Family, celeb city
Kelli at Gossip Freak