Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Cast Addresses Some of the Freeform Drama's (Many) Unsolved Mysteries

Andy Swift
·4 min read

Viewers were left hanging from multiple cliffs in 2019 when Freeform prematurely ended Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists‘ run after just one season — you can click here for our recap of the de facto series finale — but thanks to a long-overdue cast reunion, we finally have the answers to some of our burning questions.

Nine of the short-lived drama’s cast members — Sasha Pieterse (Alison DiLaurentis), Janel Parrish (Mona Vanderwaal), Sofia Carson (Ava Jalali), Hayley Erin (Taylor Hotchkiss), Sydney Park (Caitlin Park-Lewis), Eli Brown (Dylan Walker), Chris Mason (Nolan Hotchkiss), Evan Bittencourt (Andrew Villareal) and Kelly Rutherford (Claire Hotchkiss) — came together on Saturday in a live Chat4Good panel to reflect on their time shooting the twisted spinoff.

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The cast also partnered with Smile Train, an international children’s charity dedicated to treating cleft lips and palates.

Read on for the biggest takeaways from the Perfectionists reunion:

* The cast’s favorite moments included Eli’s big violin performance, the introduction of the students in the pilot, and the grim discovery of Nolan’s body (which was apparently a lot funnier behind the scenes).

* Rutherford, like most of the viewers, admitted, “I had no idea what was going on the whole time. Am I the killer? Am I not the killer? Because of the way it’s written, you never know who’s who and what’s what — but it was so much fun.”

* When asked why they think the mysterious Professor targeted the Liars, they actors collectively said they have “no clue.” But they have theories! “I think it was for revenge,” Parrish said. Added Pieterse, “Maybe someone had some bad blood with all of us. Or some people want to think it was just Mona again!” When pressed a second time for their theories, most agreed that Nolan is probably the Professor.

* Pieterse described Alison signing her divorce papers as the biggest “turning point” for her character, admitting that the controversial decision remains “a soft spot for all of us.” (For what it’s worth, Erin assured us that “Taylor’s into it!”) Pieterse added, “That was more of a reality check for her, that her life was completely different. It was a bummer that we didn’t get to see how [Emily and Alison’s] storyline progressed, but it was fun to play Alison in a different light.”

* Speaking of “Emison,” Erin admitted that she was “really nervous” about how her character would be received, especially knowing the fans’ passion for Alison’s previous romance. “I was pleasantly surprised that they were really welcoming of me,” Erin said. “I was worried for nothing!”

* Mason originally auditioned for Jeremy, who was ultimately played by Graeme Thomas King. Park and Carson also initially auditioned for each other’s parts; Carson first heard about the part while she was guest-starring on Famous in Love, another Marlene King-EP’d Freeform drama. And throwing it back to the original PLL, Pieterse added that she originally auditioned for Hanna (Ashley Benson).

* As for how the actors would have wanted their characters’ stories to end, Bittencourt wants Dylan and Andrew to move to Seattle, where they’d continue to pursue their individual passions; Park also wants Caitlin to get out of town, potentially following in her mom’s footsteps and making it into the Oval Office; Rutherford hopes that Claire and Taylor were secretly working together all along; Carson wants to find out that Nolan has been alive, as does Mason, who wants his character to come back and prove that he really did love Ava.

* “They escaped from me somehow,” Parrish said when asked what happened to Alex and Mary Drake. “If the show continued, I would have loved for them to both show up at my door.” Added Pieterse, “Maybe Mary was the professor!”

Your thoughts on the Perfectionists‘ reunion? Drop ’em in a comment below.

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