The TV Chick

Pretty Little Liars is going to end its stellar first season soon, and I know my TV schedule will feel seemingly empty. It has been such a phenomenal first season with so many twists and turns along the way. I’m confident the finale will leave more questions than answers but I can’t wait. I recently had the chance to chat with Torrey DeVitto, who plays Melissa Hastings (Spencer’s sister). We talked about the recent developments with Melissa and Ian, the big season finale and what we might see in season two.

How did you originally get involved with Pretty Little Liars?
Well, I actually just auditioned, which is not an interesting story to tell. But I got the call and I went in and auditioned for Bob Levy, and the casting directors. And the next day, I got the call that I got it and I was just really excited.

You obviously had an ABC Family connection before with Beautiful People, so was it exciting to be back on the network?
Yeah, it was. When I worked on ABC Family before with Beautiful People, it was my first ever series and I was just over zealous and so excited so it kind of felt exciting to go back to where it all had begun. And I really enjoyed working with the network before.

Did you read the book series?
I hadn’t read the books when I went in for the audition but I did read the first book after I got it. But the I realized they were just using the books as kind of a guide line. They weren’t going completely with it. And since they weren’t telling us anything in terms of who A was, I didn’t really want to read the books.

Did you get any hints of who Melissa was as a character from the first book that you read?
I did, yeah. It was kind of what I had gathered. Because I was reading the first book while we were filming the pilot in Vancouver and they kind of went the same — as far as Melissa goes, she’s kind of the same in the books as she is in the script. She’s very — to me, I’d always seen her as one of those girls who would have been the debutante. Everything has to be perfect, and [she] would rather be seething through a smile than show you any type of negative emotion.

I feel like that’s kind of the whole Hastings’ family motto…
Yes, pretty much. I think that’s why Spencer rebels. Because she’s the first one that kind of doesn’t want to be a part of that anymore, but doesn’t know anything different.

And do you have any siblings?
I do. I have 2 amazing sisters.

Do you relate to Melissa’s sisterly relationship at all — I’m sure it’s not as crazy.
Spencer and Melissa have the antithesis of what me and my sisters have. We’re really close. We act like boys, kind of. We always just beat each other up. I don’t think any of them would ever make out with my fiancee or boyfriend.

In the last episode, Melissa told Spencer that she thinks she’s ill. And her whole family kind of thinks she’s crazy. So how is their relationship going to continue to develop in these last few episodes of the season?
I think that Melissa kind of doesn’t ever want anyone in the town to suspect — She doesn’t like that people are looking at her in a certain light because she worked so hard in her life to get looked at in such a positive perfect [way] that I think her trying to grasp this by saying that Spencer needs therapy and that she’s sick, is her way of coping. And I think that in the next couple of episodes, you’ll see Spencer struggling to wake her family up or get them on her side or just try to get some sort of support. And I think that’s kind of the struggle between Melissa and Spencer that you’re going to see. Spencer’s always trying to get support, and Melissa kind of takes it as “You’re jealous of me. Why don’t you ever want me to be happy?” type of thing. I think that’s their struggle that you will see.

And obviously in Rosewood there’s so many secrets, and Melissa revealed one of her own last week with the abortion. Is there more that she’s hiding that we don’t even know yet?
That’s a good question, because I’ve gone back and forth with that. And I’ve asked if there’s more that Melissa’s hiding and they actually won’t even tell me. So it’s kind of mystery to me right now.

Are we going to get to see more or learn more about Melissa and Ian’s past?
I hope in the next season — not this season really — there’s not going to be a lot of answers, there’s going to be a lot of hanging questions especially with Melissa and Ian towards the season finale. You’re going to be left with a lot of questions but I’m hoping in the next season, more things will come to light. Because I think there’s a lot in their history that hasn’t even been touched on yet.

And how is their relationship at the end of the season going to progress because parenthood is rapidly approaching…
(laughs) Yeah. There’s going to be a lot of twists and turns even when it comes to that. It’s great because there’s a huge cliffhanger at the end, and I don’t even know in that sense what way it’s going to go. It’s crazy!

I’m excited to see it. And is there anyone who you haven’t worked with who you’d like to have a scene with?
I’ve only had small scenes with all of the girls. The only person on the set that I’ve not gotten to work, that I think would be fun, is Ian Harding. Only because, he lives literally across the street from me. He’s one of my closest friends. Although it might be interesting, he kind of cracks me up so I don’t know if I’d be able to keep a straight face if I worked with him.

That would be fun to see. And what has it been like working so closely with Troian Bellisario (who plays Spencer)?
It’s been awesome. I really feel like I lucked out big time having Troian and I play sisters because just as a person, Troian is so smart and has so much to offer and so our conversations, even between scenes, I just love talking to her. I just thought she was so talented from the second that I worked with her and met her. I love doing scenes with her, I just think she’s a really amazing actress. I really lucked out.

Because you’re not in every single episode, has it been a challenge to find Melissa’s voice and settle into the character?
I feel like I’ve got a groove with Melissa actually, because I feel like I understand her. The biggest challenge though is understanding what’s going on, every time I come back. Because I don’t get the episodes in between. I don’t read the ones that I’m not in, because I don’t get them sent to me. And I come back and I have to call Troian every night before I come to work and go “What is happening?” (laughs) “I don’t understand.” And she has to kind of clarify everything for me because Melissa makes references in the episodes as if she’s been around in the episodes that she’s not [in]. So it’s kind of a little difficult to keep up with because there’s so much going on.

And obviously you can’t spoil a lot but what can you tease about what’s coming up for Melissa?
The season finale’s going to be really big for Melissa. After reading it, it just left me so excited to see what is in store for her in season 2 because she is left with kind of a fork in the road. You see that there’s really two ways she can go. And you know that she’s going to have some big realizations in season 2 that she’s going to have to deal with and I have no idea which way they’re going to go with her but there’s two traumatic things that are going to happen to her and it’s going to be really interesting to see how she handles them.

Interesting. And lastly, do you have any other projects coming up?
At the moment, I have a small part in a movie that’s out right now, The Rite. And in October, I did this film with some amazing girls called Cheesecake Casserole. I’m not exactly sure when that’s coming out but I would suspect it would be in 2011 at some point.

Pretty Little Liars airs Monday nights at 8 pm on ABC Family.