Sasha Pieterse thinks a cameo as Alison DiLaurentis on Pretty Little Liars: Summer School could answer some seriously open-ended questions about her character — and allow for the Emison reunion fans deserved.
“I think it would be so fun to do a cameo. I would definitely say yes to that,” Pieterse, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her new film, The Image of You. “I think that would be really fun. Teacher Allison? Absolutely. Maybe we could fill in all of those gaps [left by The Perfectionists]. Emily and Alison are back together. We could tie all of that with a nice little bow. I would definitely be down for that.”
Pieterse portrayed Queen Bee Ali on all seven seasons of the original series alongside Shay Mitchell, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario and Ashley Benson from 2010 to 2017. She later reprised the role for PLL: The Perfectionists, but the show was canceled after one season.
While Pieterse was excited to continue with Alison’s story, there were plot points in the spinoff that didn’t sit right with who she believed her character to be — especially when it came to the decision for Alison and Emily (Mitchell) to divorce.
Over the years, the Pretty Little Liars franchise has engrossed fans with complex secrets, murders and shocking reveals. The original teen drama, which aired from 2010 to 2017, followed a group of teens being tormented by an anonymous person known as A. Based on the books written by Sara Shepard, the Freeform series quickly garnered […]
“I will say the two of them getting divorced really made me sad,” Pieterse told Us. “I don’t think in [Shay and I’s] version of Alison’s reality, that would be the case. I think that Emison is forever, I truly, truly do. They went through a lot of things together. I think that they’re kind of a yin and yang, and as they got older, I feel like they would work through those things.”
Another issue was failing to include Ali and Emily’s twins on the show. “They have two adorable daughters together,” Pieterse pointed out. “Allison not being able to showcase, or me not being able to showcase, Alison connecting with her kids. That was a big thing [that upset me].”
Shay Mitchell as Emily and Sasha Pieterse as Alison in ‘Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.’ Freeform/ABC
For Pieterse, Ali and Emily “belong together as a unit.” And although she admitted that they both needed “therapy” after the “trauma and PTSD” of what PLL threw their way, she believes they would have worked through it in the end.
“Alison is a very strong headed person and I think she had a lot of stubbornness that she needed to work through, but I think they would’ve gotten there,” she continued. “And I’d like to think that [Emison] is a really special relationship that would be protected.”
Beyond wanting to repair the Ali and Emily romance, Pieterse told Us that working alongside the new cast of PLL: Summer School — which stars Bailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Maia Reficco, Malia Pyles and Zaria — on a much more horror-centric interaction of the franchise would be a treat.
“Those girls are so talented and I think it’s really fun that Pretty Little Liars is living on,” she gushed. “I think there’s so much fun to be had. I like that theirs is darker in so many ways. I’m kind of envious. I’m like, ‘I wish we could have gone darker and I wish we could have done so many of the things that they get to do.’ But I’m happy that it’s at that place and that it’s just in a way, another generation of people who are going to fall in love with PLL all over again. That’s really special.”
While Pieterse may not be showing up on this season of Summer School, she’s got plenty of darker material to dive into with The Image of You. In the film, Pieterse plays Anna and Zoe, twins closely bonded — but polar opposites — who find themselves at odds when Anna starts dating her new boyfriend, Nick (Parker Young).
Freeform Pretty Little Liars is a show all about secrets — and a town where inappropriate relationships reign free without consequence. The teen drama was a hit throughout the early 2010s, following the lives of longtime friends Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Hanna (Ashley Benson), Aria (Lucy Hale) and Emily (Shay Mitchell) as they get harassed by […]
According to Pieterse, those who enjoyed watching her as Alison on PLL will find a lot of enjoyment in seeing her bring Anna and Zoe to life.
“I think [Alison] is kind of part of my subconscious when I play somebody like Zoe,” she told Us. “I was obviously used to playing a character like that for so long, and I kind of like to think of [her] as the grownup Ali. If Ali never changed, Zoe is the grownup Ali in her early 30s. What she would’ve evolved into. Or not evolved from, maybe.”
The Image of You is in theaters now.
