‘Pretty Little Liars’ cast discuss show’s ‘wildly inappropriate’ relationships

It’s been 15 years for pretty Little Liars was created on ABC Family and gave fans one of the most controversial couples on television: Aria Montgomery and Ezra Fitz.

The couple, played by Lucy Hale and Ian Harding, was one of the most telling couples in the series for their representation of a teacher-student relationship with a notable age, but it was far from the only problematic coupling.

Looking back PLL ‘S emblematic race of seven seasons with the Hollywood ReporterStars and designer Marlene King admit that the couple is the one they “probably did not include if they would do the show today.

“What we now know about grooming was not something we talked about 15 years ago,” King told the point of sale. “I always thought that if we revisit the world, we had to face it.

ARIA and EZRA – Name of the couple: Ezria – met in a bar just before Aria started her first year of high school and became the oldest couple of the show despite the fact that he was quite controversial to have a graduate / university high school teacher embraces her 16 -year -old student.

King noted: “We probably really cross a line that I would not cross now, but I don’t want to withdraw from what they had. It was very satisfactory for many fans.”

Harding is known to give his character a difficult period, jokingly referring to Ezra as “the most loved pedophile in America” ​​in his memories Strange birdsPosted in 2017. Although he recognizes that it is not a twinning that would be easily digested during this decade, he hopes that the “significant bond” of the couple is “sufficient to justify the deeply problematic relationship which was certainly not brilliant at the time”.

“As the company has progressed, we realized how extremely inappropriate,” added Harding.

“But at the same time, just because you represent something on television does not mean that you tolerate behavior,” he said. “It is a story intended for entertainment, and the show was a thriller. Now that I look at it, I see that it was like the show, with the twists and turns, and he had horror elements and then he also had this romantic component. I therefore do not regret it deeply, because it is fiction. But I also realize that I had considered love.”

Harding considered that, despite their trials and their tribulations, Aria and Ezra “found happiness, and that there was little collateral damage or pain inflicted by the relationship. There was a lot of pain and horror everywhere in the series, but curiously, their relationship seemed to be a safe refuge in the storm.”

“There is no role of me who feels such a great shame to have played this role. I have no excuse for having played this character,” said Harding. “I think he was definitely Icky in a certain knowledge, but overall, he is fictitious.”

On the other hand, Hale has always been a solid defense of the couple, even if she can recognize how it is a relic of “another period”.

“As I was interpreted as Aria, I was 19 years old and I didn’t really think about the bigger themes of all,” the actress told ThR. “I was just delighted to be presented in a television program. Of course, he strikes differently at my age now and I think of the biggest message in everything I play.”

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But despite the anger that this can cause with certain viewers more than a decade later, Hale said that she had no regrets to bring them to the screen. “I hold behind their love story forever. This prohibited love story has attracted many people.”

Of course, Ezria was far from being the only couple in Pretty Little Liars who had a disturbing age gap. Spencer Hastings de Bellisario, Bellisario, was caught up by two older men during her stay, and Sasha Pieterse’s star was only 12 years old when they shot the pilot and in his first adolescents while pulling opposite actors.

In Pieterse’s experience, working on PLL with the gaps at the annoying age was something that “never felt weird in the moment”.

As a mother herself now, the actress said she was “very aware” of the dynamics in a different way. “When I come back [and watch] I think: “How did I feel the shooting of this?” I have always felt protected, “she recalls.” But it is a strange thing that we do because even if everyone was over 18 years old, these scenarios still represent minors. I feel comfortable with that, but it’s a strange thing to wrap your head. “”