When we look back on shows that we loved and are have been cancelled we love hearing stories from the actors on the show. It takes time, but with anniversaries of the show, we tend to hear something.
We’re loving this story from Pretty Little Liars – because it shows that fans can make a difference in shows by the things that they say. It’s been 15 years since the start of the show and the start of Aria and Ezra.
Pretty Little Liars pushed boundaries. Aria and Ezra were a deeply complicated and problematic relationship. It’s one that we didn’t agree with – no one should date their teacher.
Aria and Ezra met in a bar during her junior year. They didn’t know that he was her teacher, and he didn’t know she was underage. Though they did eventually marry, it was always a relationship that never should have been.
Bellisario commented on the ship, “Those relationships were all in the books. It was a different time, and there was a different expectation of the age gap with high school girls dating older guys. Even 10 or 15 years ago, with books, TV, and movies. So, I think we were a reflection of that time. I was also in my 20s playing a high schooler. The way that I looked was fine with people because they were my peers.”
And then continued, ” They might’ve been one, two, three years older than me, but were also in their 20s. Now, I often think about what I looked like in high school and, had I met guys in their 20s, how it would’ve been an entirely wildly different experience. There’s something about the show using women already in their 20s or just about to be in their 20s, in Ashley’s case, and pairing them with men already in their 20s that visually made a lot more sense.”
The fans’ love of Ezria is part of the reason that they existed. It was inappropriate, and looking back on it, it doesn’t feel like we all would support their relationship. It’s weird to talk about, but hey, they were a big part of our lives watching the show.
Harding had this to say about playing Ezra, “There’s no part of me that is feeling such great shame for having played this part. I don’t have any apologies for playing this character. I do think he was definitely icky in some knowledge, but on the whole, he’s fictional.”
15 years since the start of Pretty Little Liars? I suddenly feel old. What’s your favorite memory from Pretty Little Liars?
