"Pretty Little Liars has staged sensational surprises in nearly every single episode over the last three seasons, but the biggest shocker to date happened off screen as it was announced on April 30 that ABC Family's recently announced spin-off was bringing Tyler Blackburn's Caleb along for the Ravenswood ride.
Now, for the first time, PLL executive producer and Ravenswood co-creator Marlene King is exclusively revealing why Hanna's hottie was tapped to front the new series."
"In terms of the mythology of Ravenswood, there is a reason his character was chosen," King tells ETonline. "Caleb has an ambiguous past. He doesn't know as much about where he comes from compared to the other [characters] and we're going to use that as we unfold the Ravenswood story."
Once fans got over the initial shock, thoughts -- and Twitter trending topics -- immediately turned to the following question: "OMG!!! What does this mean for Haleb?!?!?!?!" Turns out, Ashley Benson had the exact same thought after finding out her scene partner was packing up his laptop and amazing conditioner.
"I was so sad," Benson recalled of hearing the big news. "This is the thing, I'm so happy for Tyler, he deserves it so much, but he's like my other half! He's just amazing. When the day comes to shoot his last scene, I'm not going to be able to do it. I mean, I don't want to give him away to these other people. But, I talked to Marlene about [how Caleb will be written off PLL] and I'm excited for people to see that because I'm pretty happy with how she told me their story would end."
So what did Marlene tell Ashley? You know I got that answer. "Hanna and Caleb are such a great couple and we've designed this beautiful Casablanca moment for them," King teased. "Hanna really gives Caleb permission to leave Rosewood and, basically, go to this other show [laughs]. I hope our fans embrace it as much as we've embraced it as writers. That's important to us.""
Excerpt from Troian's Interview with Entertainment Tonight
ETonline: You filmed the second season of Lauren before the third season of Pretty Little Liars. Did going to such a dark place help you, as an actor, for where you had to take Spencer or did it not translate?
Bellisario: I think it was unrelated. But, it was very odd because, I don't know if I attract these types of roles or if I seek them out, but I wrapped with Spencer and wanted to do something for myself as an actor, so I signed up for this Larry Moss intensive workshop where he gave me this amazing scene from a Nicholas Kazan play called Blood Moon, and at the end of the scene, the woman I'm playing is raped. Whatever forces in the universe that you believe in was telling me that this dark area was what needed to be mined at the time. I don't know that it was directly influencing Lauren and Spencer, but there was a common thread consistently coming up in the work I was doing.
ETonline: Have you fully exorcised that after these roles, you think?
Bellisario: I don't know. Truthfully, I haven't been an actor for that long, but there is something about these women that I never want to leave. I adore doing comedy and lighter, falling-in-love roles, but I think exploring the darker side of things is going to be an undercurrent of all my work.
ETonline: You had a fair bit of time between filming the third and fourth seasons of Pretty Little Liars, but the new season picks up where the last one left off. Was it hard to jump right back into Spencer's shoes?
Bellisario: It's interesting. I think that Spencer's break with reality depended on a lot of things. So when she found out Toby was alive and there was a way to seek answers, she kind of spun herself back up into a more stable place. But what's really interesting right now for Spencer is, even though she's in a healthier place and able to take on more responsibilities and go back to her normal life, people around her are not forgetting what happened. Especially her family. And with college admissions happening, they're looking at this perfect college applicant who is really tarnished because of what she went through. This season Spencer is really struggling with the fact that Radley is very much a part of her history.
ETonline: Were you glad to see PLL wasn't wiping that away and leaving fingerprints of that experience all over her?
Bellisario: I was really, really proud. And I want to make sure this is a part of her character forever. Our show has a very quirky edge to it, so when I started to notice this mental institution was being used to say, "Uh-oh, this is where the crazy people are," I went in and spoke to Marlene [King, EP] and Oliver [Goldstick, EP] because people suffering from mental disorders is something very near and dear to my heart and close to my history, so I just wanted to make sure we never took for granted that these are human beings. And I think that might be what planted the seed for Spencer's downfall. I told them, "These people could easily be Spencer" and that kind of started conversations about how Spencer could end up there. I was glad they took it seriously and gave it a lot of gravitas.
ETonline: What are you excited for fans to see this season?
Bellisario: The world is going to become much bigger -- especially with the expansion of Ravenswood, and all these new characters that are going to be introduced into the vocabulary. I'm excited to explore what those storylines are going to weave into ours. Like every season, it goes deeper and darker and more into Ali's history, which is fascinating to me. You see the girls grow and learn and I’m excited for that.
ETonline: What was the on-set reaction to finding out Tyler Blackburn was leaving Rosewood for Ravenswood?
Bellisario: We were all really shocked. We knew that certain characters from Rosewood were going to be venturing into Ravenswood or would be finding out they were from Ravenswood, but I think we all assumed it would be newer characters, or more ancillary characters -- or maybe that's where Jenna's disappearing to all the time. So when all of a sudden we heard it was Tyler, Ashley [Benson] and I were like, "Nooooooo, that's not fair! [laughs] We want him on our show." But I'm excited to see what they do with the show.
ETonline: You say that some PLL characters will find out they're from Ravenswood -- how interconnected will the two shows be?
Bellisario: I don't know exactly how it's going to happen, but I know Toby and Spencer are going to Ravenswood in the episode we’re filming next week! I'm excited to see what that's going to turn out because it's already pretty crazy in the script."
Season Four Premiere Photos
In the season four premiere of "Pretty Little Liars," entitled "A is for A-L-I-V-E," the Liars are desperate to uncover what new scheme "A" has in store for them in the wake of the lodge fire, and have no choice but to turn to Mona for answers, now that she is also being targeted. Aria struggles with seeing Ezra in the wake of their breakup, and Emily starts to make plans for life after high school. Meanwhile, "A" sets Toby on a new path, what's in the trunk is revealed, and a shocking discovery reverberates through Rosewood.
The show's newest character, state police office Gabriel Holbrook is played by Sean Faris. The guy on Jenna's arm is Wyatt Nash, who's been seen in "1600 Penn" and "Hollywood Heights."
Who could this be?
What do you think about the PLL plan and everything happening this season? Sound off below! Be sure to check out the season four premiere, June 11 on ABC Family!
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