Why Troian Bellisario Has to Redefine Herself as an Actor Post 'PLL'
Though she has many talents, when you think of Troian Bellisario, you likely think of the hit teen drama, Pretty Little Liars. For seven seasons, Bellisario played the role of Spencer Hastings, the uber-intelligent liar with endless secrets. Though she has certainly expanded her resume with countless other projects since Pretty Little Liars ended back in 2017, her role in the Freeform show is how most people got to know her as an entertainer.
The legacy of Pretty Little Liars
But just how does Bellisario feel about her PLL experience, which has shaped so much of her career thus far? In an interview with Teen Vogue, the 34-year-old got candid about her times as Spencer Hastings. “I look back on working on Pretty Little Liars as, I mean, it’s wild to think that I spent almost a decade of my life on that show. Seven seasons, it was nine years of working in that world, and I think during the time it really felt like it would never end. But now I look back on it, and I feel as though it went by so quickly,” the new mom shared.
While Bellisario undoubtedly enjoyed her time on the show and all the different roles she got to play both in front of and behind the scenes, she’s understandably looking to move beyond that point in her life. “I feel very excited that there’s so much that I did on that show. But then at the same time, now it’s a very different point in my career where I have to redefine who I am as an actor, as a storyteller,” the actress shared.
Redefining herself is a slow process, but one that Bellisario is excited to do. She admits that she intentionally seeks out roles and opportunities that separate her from her character on Pretty Little Liars. Not because she has any regrets about the experience, but rather because she doesn’t only want to be known for playing one type of role.
Differentiating herself from Spencer Hastings
“How do I continue to find those roles that really differentiate me from Spencer and from my experience on [Pretty Little Liars]? Because what I don’t want to do is [have] people think, Oh, well she’s just doing the same thing. I think it’s going to take some time for me to separate myself from that and from people knowing me as that, which I really have no problem with, I’m really excited when people are fans of the show,” the actress shared.
Feed and other movies
Finally, Bellisario added that patience was the key to her changing the way people viewed her as an actor. “But I think because so many fans watched the show for so many years, it’s going to be hard for them to see me as something else. That will just take time and other roles to reestablish that. I have to be patient,” the Pretty Little Liars alum concluded. The actress sure has a great perspective about achieving this task and by doing movies like Feed and Where’d You Go, Bernadette, she is well on her way to redefining herself as an actress.
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