Why Troian Bellisario 'Always Felt Like the Older Sister' to HerPretty Little LiarsCastmates

Mar. 15, 2025

Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings, Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery, Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields and Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin on 2010’s ‘Pretty Little Liars’.Photo:Andrew Eccles/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Andrew Eccles/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Troian Bellisarioand herPretty Little Liarscostars were truly as close as sisters.

Appearing on the Wednesday, Jan. 29, episode ofSophia Bush’s podcast,Work In Progress, the two actresses bonded over how they were able to form such strong friendships on their respective shows,Pretty Little LiarsandOne Tree Hill.

Bush, 42, said that she built a “kind of second family” while starring on her long-running CW teen dramaOne Tree Hill. Bellisario, 39, said she felt the same and noted that she and her costars were each other’s “home and away from [their] families.”

Bellisario added, “We were all different ages and different experiences.” When the series started, Bellisario was 24, Benson was 20, Hale was 20, Mitchell was 23, Parrish was 21 and Pieterse was 13.

“I had gone to college, I finished high school and finished college, and a lot of the girls had gotten their GEDs or had been homeschooled or who didn’t go to college,” she added of the differences in their paths.

Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, Lucy Hale, and Ashley Benson on ‘Pretty Little Liars’ in 2010.Eric Mccandless/Abc Family/Alloy/Warner Horizon Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

Eric Mccandless/Abc Family/Alloy/Warner Horizon Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

Because of that, “they were getting to go through in high school," Bellisario said of filming moments like passing periods and proms. “[That was] not their high school experience because they’ve been homeschooled.”

“There were a lot of definite shenanigans going on, but I think I always felt like the older sister, that got to go away to college and now was coming back on Thanksgiving break,” she explained. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay. I see what you guys are up to. Yeah. But I’m good.’ ”

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“It was also really fun because, as you say, they become your second family,” she said. “We really felt like sisters because you’re spending all this time together, and you’re not always gonna be best friends, but, like a sibling.”

“If anybody has a sibling, you know, it doesn’t matter if you’re not best friends. It doesn’t matter if you got in a fight the day before you’re, like, you’re still at dinner together. You’re still hanging out,” she added. “It’s fine because it’s just — these are your second family.”

Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson and Shay Mitchell on April 7, 2016 in New York City.D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

Bush immediately agreed with Bellisario’s sentiments. “It’s real-life dynamics. We were together for 10 years, and none of us had any idea how to be adults when we first met,” she said ofOne Tree Hill’s cast.

“We went through all of our s— together," she continued. “We were doing all the things that you do in your young life, but if anybody from outside our little circus family had anything negative to say about anybody in it, it was like —”

Bellisario interjected to say, “Hell no.”

Pretty Little Liarsis available to stream on Max, Hulu and Disney+.

source: people.com