The 'PLL' mastermind talks Emison, casting and more.
Pretty Little Liars fans, get excited!
We have some new exclusive scoop for you about Freeform's highly anticipated spinoff pilot, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, set to star Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish.
We chatted with show creator I. Marlene King backstage at Freeform's Summit on Thursday night at Neuehouse in Los Angeles, where she dished that the team has been location scouting and putting the finishing touches on that first script.
"We were scouting for locations to film our pilot in Portland over this last weekend and yes, the script is written and we’re in the process of rewriting it just to fine-tune it perfectly... we’re super excited about it," she said before confirming that the series will take place one to two years following the series finale of PLL.
And get this -- not all the Perfectionists are going to be females.
"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."
Interesting. We like it.
In October, Pieterse told ET that we would definitely see Ali as a mom to her and Emily's twins -- and that having PLL co-star (and the other half of "Emison") Shay Mitchell make some appearances "wouldn't be a problem."
King played coy though when we asked if we'd see Mitchell pop up in the pilot -- but she didn't rule it out! Remember, they are still writing that first script.
"Well, we’ll just have to wait and see," she teased.
"That’s a part of the story that’s, you know, the fun of a spinoff is getting to take a couple characters from your show and creating this new experience for them, but you can’t take everyone. It’s bittersweet in some ways, but I think also awesome in others and I think our fans will appreciate the journey that these two characters, Mona and Alison from our world, are going into this new world."
No date is even set for the pilot just yet -- but Mitchell is still working with King on another series, The Heiresses.
King certainly loves keeping it in the PLL family. Troian Bellisario is directing episode seven of King's third series she's juggling right now, Famous in Love.
"It’s amazing... just to get to spend time with Troian is a gift because I don’t get to see her every day anymore, but the Famous cast was so excited to have her and welcomed her with open arms and Niki Koss, who actually wants to direct, is shadowing her on this episode as well, so were having a lot fun and growing our female directors," she shared.
King prides herself on surrounding herself with strong, empowering women on all her projects.
"I’m really blessed that I get to work with these amazing women and I feel like we all do this amazing job of – it is a true sisterhood, we lift each other up, we’re not competitive, we all want each other to succeed, the Pretty Little Liars all want their co-stars to succeed and I was texting with Lucy [Hale] just today about how supportive she’s been of Troian and Famous and the girls are supportive. Ashley Benson and Carter Jenkins grew up together, so they’re friends and it’s just – it’s building the family and growing the family and you can have more than one baby and love the other one, too."
We'll have more on Famous in Love season two next week -- but for now, we'll tell you this: it's going to be filled with drama, romance and a Tom Cruise-Oprah Winfrey couch-inspired moment.
Fans will also find out who Paige (Bella Thorne) picks after that shocking love-triangle moment in the season one finale.
"We definitely left her with what we call her Sophie’s Choice...does she pick Rainer or Jake?" King says. "You will find out very quickly when the show premieres."
Famous in Love season two premieres Wednesday, April 4.
RELATED CONTENT:
Shay Mitchell Reunites With Her 'Pretty Little Liars' Family for New Show -- and She's Ecstatic!
For more on The Perfectionists, check out the video below.