20 Questions with Lucy Hale

Lucy Hale is a force of nature. Stunning us with her radiant beauty, effortlessly chic style and girl-next-door Southern sweetness infused with a touch of souped-up girl power, Lucy is the idol of so many of Pretty Little Liar obsessed fans around the world.  Our June Cover Star, opens up in a candid interview on the set of our shoot in Malibu and gives us the inside scoop on her last day of filming PLL, her upcoming movie roles and latest projects,  her ultimate holy grail beauty must-have and what she loves to do when she’s not working. It’s no wonder why we all love Lucy.

Modeliste:  What originally inspired you to get into acting?

Lucy Hale:  What originally inspired me to get into acting was probably just my love entertaining as a kid. I was never good at sports,  I didn’t really like school but I loved playing dress up and I loved singing and I loved pretending to be someone else. So, those were just my hobbies growing up naturally. Then, I think around 13, I was like, “Oh, this could actually be my career. I could do this for a living.” Which was great because I never had a Plan B. I really have never thought about doing anything else before. Knock on wood. I’m really glad it’s working out.  It just came naturally to me as a kid and luckily that worked out in my adult life as well.

Modeliste:  What was your first ever role you were cast as?

Lucy Hale:  My first job out in L.A. was a Bratz doll commercial. Super exciting stuff, I know. I was like a 15 year old playing with dolls hair, but that was my first paycheck so I was super excited. My first acting role was on Drake and Josh, which was a Nickelodeon show and I had one word on it. My first breakout role was when I was cast in the remake of Bionic Woman on NBC. That opened up a lot of doors.

Modeliste:  In 2009, you got cast as Aria in Pretty Little Liars. What are some of your favorite memories looking back now at all the past seasons?

Lucy Hale:  A lot of people know me as Aria Montgomery from Pretty Little Liars. That whole experience was truly a dream come true because it’s not often that a TV show stays on for that long. That show became a phenomenon. I’m constantly shocked at the response that we still get when I travel internationally. Just the success it’s had everywhere has just been really awesome. It’s weird for me because I live in my bubble and don’t realize how big of a success it was and is. I’m so grateful for that experience and what it taught me. I spent eight years honing my craft and getting to show up to work everyday to do what I love.

I’m in a really cool part of my career now where I can be pickier about the roles I take. It’s just exciting to see what everyone from that show is doing now. It’s bittersweet because we made a family, and eight years is a really long time, but we all still keep in touch and it’s exciting to see everyone branching off and trying new things.  

Modeliste:  What was the last day of filming like?

Lucy Hale:  Last day of filming Pretty Little Liars was actually the wedding scene between Ezra and Aria. So, it was cool to wrap up the show in that way but it was such an emotional day. I remember everyone from the crew to the producers to the cast, was just crying all day. The close up of me in my wedding dress was actually the last shot we ever did of Pretty Little Liars. It was pretty emotional. I’m so bad at goodbyes and ending things.  I know I should’ve stuck around and hung out with everyone but I just couldn’t take it so I just left and snuck my way out. I couldn’t handle saying goodbye to everyone on that day. It’s weird to think that it’s been over for a year and a half now, which is crazy.

Modeliste:  Do you still keep in touch with your co stars from PLL?

Lucy Hale:  I still keep in touch with the majority of the people involved with PLL,  but we’re all in different cities and doing different projects which is why technology is so great. We keep up with each other through social media and I just ran into Ian the other day. It’s hard to get everyone in the same place at once, but hopefully we’ll have a little reunion soon.

Modeliste:  You’re also now starring in the drama “Life Sentence” on the CW. Can you tell us a little bit about what the show is about and what is your character like on the show?

Lucy Hale:  I currently am on a show on the CW called Life Sentence. That was my departure from Pretty Little Liars so I knew that I needed to be really picky about what I did next. It kind of fell in my lap a little bit but I heard the premise and I knew that I had to be the girl that played this character that this was something that I had to be a part of. I play Stella Abbott who is a girl who is living with terminally ill cancer for the last eight years of her life. She made all these spontaneous decisions and was living like she was dying and was really content with the idea of dying. We find her in the pilot and right away we find out that she is cured and she gets a second chance at life. So, it starts out as one thing and then it becomes a show about a girl who never really knew the real world. Never really figured out who she was because she didn’t have to ask herself those questions.

It’s really about a girl finding her way and finding out what kind of person she wants to be. But not just for her, for her whole family because cancer really affect everyone around you. They’ve been hiding secrets about themselves and her mom comes out about her sexuality and her parents get a divorce. She finds out her brother deals drugs and her sister hates her kids. For the first time, Stella sees the world for what it really is. It’s such a fun show to be a part of and to be a part of a show with a lot of heart. I think we need a lot more shows like that.  I love playing her, she’s someone that I aspire to be more like.

Modeliste:  What is the most challenging part of your character on the show?

Lucy Hale:  I’d say the most challenging part of playing Stella is that I’ve never been in a position where I knew that death would be that close. We’re never guaranteed anything, but I’ve never had cancer affect me personally, which is pretty rare because it’s like one in every four people is affected by it.  I was doing a lot of research about the treatments and getting in that mindset because I really had nothing to draw from in that sense. Everything else came pretty naturally because I think we can all relate to not knowing who we are and who we want to be.

Modeliste:  You also recently starred in the movie Truth or Dare which looks frightening! Describe a typical day on set.

Lucy Hale:  I am also in a film that recently came out called, Truth or Dare. The whole concept of the movie is super outrageous but was so much fun to film. I’m a huge horror/thriller fan to begin with and to get to be a part of a film where we’re doing things that would never happen in a million years was just a blast. It was a pretty difficult shoot because it was done in only 23 days.  We were trying to get so much content within those 23 days, so it was a lot of energy. It was a lot of running around. A lot of getting only one take of something and hoping that it worked out. But, it was a really good cast. And my buddy, Tyler Posey was in it. It was good to get to hang out with him, scream and get to be surrounded by fake blood all day. It was a lot of fun.

Modeliste:  What was the most memorable dare someone ever asked you to do in a real life game of Truth or Dare?

Lucy Hale:  My most memorable dare was from my brother-in-law a couple years back. He dared me to go skydiving with him and, at the time, it was really outrageous for me because I had a huge fear of planes and a huge fear of heights. It was everything that I would avoid at all costs. Me being as stubborn as I am, was like, “Yeah, I’ll totally do this.” So, I ended up doing it and I think it actually helped with my fear of heights a little bit. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I’d highly recommend it.

Modeliste:  Describe your everyday style.

Lucy Hale:  Describing my everyday style is really hard. These questions are always difficult because I don’t feel like I really fit into any category. I’m constantly changing it up. I’m definitely more about comfort, and I would say I’m kind of in a vintage phase right now. I love having a little 70s flare to everything. It’s typically a leather jacket, jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers. It can change depending on how I feel.

Modeliste:  You also recently died your hair blonde! What inspired you to make the change and are you loving it?

Lucy Hale:  As you can see, I am a blondie right now, which is very fun. Nothing really inspired it. It’s more I just have hair ADD and always need to be changing it up. I’ve been a brunette for so long that I thought with summer coming up,  it would just be fun to switch it up for a little bit. Who knows though, next week, I could be a different color. I don’t know if blondes have more fun because I definitely, as a brunette, have a lot of fun but it’s always good to spice it up a little bit.

Modeliste:  What was your latest fashion splurge?

Lucy Hale:  My latest fashion splurge was in Chicago and I walked by the Dior store and what caught my eye were these really amazing bag straps that have a Navajo feel. So I went in planning just to look. That’s how it all starts out, but then I ended up getting this really amazing red Dior bag with this Navajo print strap that has all these beads on it. It was really cool. Then, of course, they talked me into getting this really cool Dior sweater and t-shirt, but mainly the bag. The bags’ pretty sweet.

Modeliste:  What is your current holy grail beauty product?

Lucy Hale:  Current holy grail beauty product is from this line called Biologique Récherche. I went to a spa in New York and they sell this line. My favorite is the P50 Toner. I swear by it. The only thing is it smells terrible. It has phenol in it so it just smells not great. You put it on before your lotion and apparently, if you use it for a year, your skin is just transformed.

Modeliste:  If you could only wear one color for the next year, what would it be?

Lucy Hale:  If I could wear only one color for the next year it would be black because that’s pretty much my whole wardrobe anyway. I feel like it’s just a good go-to and everyone looks good in black.

Modeliste:  You also have the cutest Maltipoo name Elvis who has his own instagram @elvistheking. If you had to describe Elvis in 3 words, what would they be?

Lucy Hale:  My little baby Elvis is my entire life. I am the crazy dog lady. If I could describe him in three words it would be rambunctious, spoiled and a lover. He’s so sweet. I’ve never had a dog that will just let you hold him like a rag doll. He just loves to cuddle and has to be on my lap at all times. He’s just the sweetest, greatest thing in the world.

Modeliste:  What do you like to do on the days when you aren’t working or filming?

Lucy Hale:It’s always these questions that I realize that I’m like, “Mmm, I need hobbies.” But I love being outdoors. I live in L.A. so it’s always gorgeous outside. I like hiking and I am one of those weirdos that enjoys working out. That’s sort of like my therapy in a way. I like SoulCycle, and then I work with a trainer and go for runs. Then, I like to do the opposite of that. I binge watch anything and everything on TV.  If I get a lot of time off, I fly home to Tennessee. I’m really close with my family so it’s fun to just hop on a flight home for the weekend. But other than that, I just catch up on normal people things like go to the grocery store. I love grocery shopping. I have to go down every aisle.

Modeliste:  Do you have any current music obsessions at the moment?

Lucy Hale:  Kasey Musgraves new album Golden Hour is so good. It’s like a songwriter’s dream. She’s this cool, old school country meets psychedelic retro feel and I think that everything she does is amazing so I’d highly recommend that album to anyone. Then, there’s also LAUV who’s an amazing songwriter too. That’s more like a pop, soul kind of vibe. Those are my two faves right now.

Modeliste:  Why do you love most about being a part of Modeliste Magazine?

Lucy Hale:  What I love about Modeliste and obviously being a part of it is the amazing locations they choose to shoot at. I know that Shay got to shoot in some pretty incredible locations and any excuse for me to be at the beach is awesome. The fashion is also incredible. Modeliste has so much cutting edge stuff-  beautiful shoots, beautiful clothes and I’m honored to be on the cover.