The ‘PLL’ spinoff series will premiere on Freeform in 2019 and star fan favorites Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish.
Get ready to keep some more secrets -- Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists is officially a go!
ET can confirm that the PLL spinoff series has officially been picked up for a 10-episode first season at Freeform. Production will begin later this year in Portland, Oregon, and the series -- which is based on the novel of the same name by Pretty Little Liars author Sara Shepard -- will debut in 2019.
Fan favorites Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish will reprise their Pretty Little Liars characters in the show, starring as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal, respectively, and Descendents star Sofia Carson will join in a new role, playing Ava, a beautiful, trendsetting blogger and coder who has her sights set on becoming a fashion icon. Carson recently dished that fans can also likely expect more PLL stars to pop up as the show explores its first season.
"I've heard Troian [Bellisario] and I've heard Lucy [Hale], so hopefully they'll be involved. As much as they would want to, we will have them," she told ET last month.
Carson recently wrapped filming on the Perfectionists pilot -- which she described as “a whole new world” that is “inspired” by PLL’s seven-season run -- and gushed about the experience, saying, "Everything about it was so surreal. It was such a dream.”
"I'm so honored to be a part of it and to work with [Pretty Little Liars executive producer] Marlene King. It's such a female-centered story, which I love so much, so there are tons of secrets, as you can imagine, that I can't tell you about yet," she added. "It is dramatic, it's dark, it's mysterious, it's romantic and full of secrets as the PLL world goes. There's a sensation of being constantly watched as well, like there was in PLL, so there's the same essence of the story."
As for the returning characters, Pieterse recently dished on Ali and Mona's new dynamic in the Perfectionists series, and how the two come together in the first place.
“When I read the draft that we were going to film, I cracked up in so many spots because of the way that they tie in their two characters,” the actress told ET during a live interview on Friday. “They kind of become allies in a way and it’s this very interesting kind of dynamic, 'cause Alison’s obviously not sure if she can trust Mona. I mean, can you ever trust Mona? But the way that she ends up being in this new town is very mysterious, but also hilarious, the way that she kind of rides over these questions."
Pieterse also spoke to ET about the spinoff during her run on Dancing With the Stars last fall, saying she was hopeful that her fellow Little Liars -- namely Alison’s onscreen love, Emily Fields, played by Shay Mitchell -- would be making an appearance on the new series
“I'm sure that they will,” the actress teased. “We have to keep the PLL family alive, obviously -- and Emison, of course.”
“It’s just a fun, different experience and I'm glad that I get to continue the character," Pieterse noted of playing Alison in the new show, adding that she was especially excited to play mom to the Emison twins! "She's amazing and I think, honestly, you'll see a little bit more of a feisty side of her now that she's in another element that she's not used to.”
And King teased earlier this year that The Perfectionists may be branching out from the PLL mold a bit, including some guys as part of the core group!
"I felt like just as we were getting sort of into season five and six of Pretty Little Liars, our guys became such an important part of the show," she explained, adding, "I wanted to explore the relationship between guys and girls who can be friends and not necessarily boyfriend-girlfriend."
See more on the upcoming series in the video below!
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