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An interview with “Pretty Little Liars'” Shay Mitchell

Whenever I ask someone from the Pretty Little Liars set to describe Shay Mitchell, they all say the same thing: “She’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.” And that is saying something.

Shay Mitchell landed on our radar when ABC Family launched Pretty Little Liars last year. Emily Fields quickly became one of our favorite lesbian characters, and Shay Mitchell became one of our favorite straight allies. She’s gorgeous, yes, but she’s also charming and articulate and full of life. Every time I interview her, I can feel her enthusiasm coming through the phone. I caught up with her yesterday to talk about Pretty Little Liars‘ second season, Emily’s love life and why she’s never going to worry about being typecast as a lesbian.

AfterEllen.com: Did you know that you landed the number seven spot on our AfterEllen.com Hot 100 list this year?

Shay Mitchell: Did you know I just finished reading your recap from last week’s Pretty Little Liars and I laughed so hard I almost hurt myself?

AE: Don’t tell me that. I can’t deal with my life if you’re reading my recaps. Oh, s–t, please don’t tell Troian [Bellisario] the things I say about her voice.

SM: Too late! Actually, I found out about the Hot 100 just a couple of days ago. I was in hair and makeup with Troian and I was like, “Holy crap, look at this – we both made the list!” She was like, “What?! Awesome!”

AE: I mean, of course you were going to make the top 10. You were in hair and makeup, so presumably you’ve seen yourself in the mirror.

SM: Oh, stop. No, really, I’m not going to lie: It was totally unexpected and really cool to make the top 10 on the Hot 100. I’m flattered.

AE: You deserve it. Where are you guys at in filming? You’re filming all 25 of this season’s episodes at once, right?

SM: Right. We are on episode 209 right now. We still have a while to go, but it’s flying by. We’re started filming in April and we’re filming until Christmas. I watched the episode on Tuesday night, and it feels like it happened so long ago, but also like it was just yesterday. The scenes we’ve been filming lately are insane. I know I need to come up with a better word, but I don’t know how else to describe it. The writers, Marlene [King] and the rest of the staff, I don’t know how they come up with this stuff. They’re so creative, and so twisted! I seriously can’t wait for the fans to see it!

AE: These new insane scenes, are they creepy? The last few episodes have been seriously creepy.

SM: Yes, so creepy. But also, bigger. Everything’s getting bigger. The sets are getting bigger. The costumes are getting crazier. Everything is building and building. The fans are going to be happy. They’re going to love it.

AE: I talked to Marlene last week, and she said this is a big season for you because “A” is coming after Emily, guns blazing.

SM: Oh my God, yes. He/she/it/whatever is just after Emily this season. Every time we have a read-through, everyone’s like, “Aww, Emily.” It’s so intense. Emily came out, so A can’t threaten her with that anymore, so now he/she is like, “Fine, I’ll just shoot all my missiles at Emily.”

AE: Is that fun for you as an actor?

SM: Oh, definitely. It is so friggin’ creepy. I don’t know what I’d do if I was Emily in real life, probably just buy a plane ticket and run away to an island somewhere, just leave everyone behind and get the heck out of there!

AE: Me too! Why is Emily fighting so hard to stay in Rosewood? Run, Emily! Run!

SM: I think it took so much courage for her to come out, and now she is out and accepted and loved by her friends. She can live her life the way she wants to. And her friends are her family. They’re going through it together. She would rather be with them, fighting together, than be across the world without them – even if that meant a life without “A.”

AE: Also, there are more gorgeous lesbians in Rosewood than any other city in the world. How’s she going to leave that behind?

SM: Right? Emily has dated some beautiful girls.

AE: Where’s Emily’s love life headed this season?

SM: Well, we’re definitely going to get to see more of Samara. But the potential move to Texas may bring even more women into Emily’s life. You know what I want to see for Emily? And this is what I loved about your last recap when you were saying she never gets to finish anything! I want Emily to find someone she can share a running, leaping kiss in the sunset with, like Ezra and Aria had in the last episode. When I saw that scene, I was like, “Oh! I want that for Emily!” And it will happen for Emily, I know it will. I was talking to Marlene about it, and I was like, “That was so beautiful! I need that to happen for Emily! Come on!”

AE: I really love that Emily is dating and having a good time. That’s never, ever something we get to see on TV. Usually the lesbian characters get a love interest for one or two episodes. But Emily’s love life is just as important on the show as the other Liars’.

SM: I love that, too. Marlene takes such good care of her characters – when she’s not letting “A” try to murder us! I think one reason Emily is reluctant with Samara is she knows what it felt like when Maya left, and she doesn’t want to have that kind of heartbreak again. And she doesn’t want to inflict it on another person. I don’t think Emily’s a player, even though some times I’m like, “Hey, Marlene! Who’s my next girlfriend?!”

AE: What are your favorite scenes? Lindsey Shaw told me you’re a reckless daredevil, especially in those swimming scenes.

SM: Oh, I am such a girly-girl, but for some reason I just love the adrenaline rush of doing dangerous things! Remember that scene during last year’s homecoming episode when Toby is chasing Emily and she falls down? They told me I couldn’t do my own fall, but then we we started filming, I fell anyway, and they were like, “Shay! We told you not to do that!” But, actually, I just accidentally tripped.

AE: So action scenes are your favorite?

SM: I love them all, really. I love Emily’s one-on-one love and date scenes. I love filming with Troian and Ashley [Benson] and Lucy [Hale], too, because we have become such good friends off-set that I think the chemistry really translates onto the screen. I feel like the scenes we shoot together are just so much more organic because we’ve become so close. But, to be honest with you, I really am looking forward to filming a scene when Emily finds a girl she really, really loves.

AE: Speaking of off-set friendship, please tell me about The Buttah-Benzo Show.

SM: Oh, man. Ashley and I really love making people laugh, and we’re on-set for such a long time that we really want to keep the crew entertained. We started doing these Ustream chats that always end up coming off like a comedy show. I don’t know how; we don’t plan it like that. But whenever we’re together, there’s too many jokes. Lots of fans were writing to us saying they love the Ustream, but they’d really love a Shay and Ashley YouTube channel. So we decided to use our alter-egos: Hers is Benzo and mine is Buttah, Shay Buttah. We’re going to put the episodes on YouTube. I actually have her life-size face on a ruler and she has mine so we can film when the other person’s not there.

AE: That’s hilarious. Are you still getting good feedback from lesbian fans?

SM: Yes, and it still humbles me every single time. You know, I was having a conversation with someone the other day and she was like, “Aren’t gay people just widely accepted now?” And I was like, “Yes, in a lot of places. But our show doesn’t just air in New York and Los Angeles. It airs in small towns all over the world.” I still get letters all the time from girls who are closeted or just coming to terms with their sexuality, and they say that watching Emily helps them feel less alone, or that she has inspired them to come out. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I really can’t.

AE: You know, 10 years ago, straight actresses who played lesbian characters always talked about being worried about being typecast or branded as a lesbian. But that just hasn’t crossed your mind at all, has it?

SM: Of course not. Why would it? What’s the difference between a gay person and a straight person, really? Who you’re attracted to? Who cares. I really think that the world is heading in that direction too, that they’re starting to understand that love is love. Someone asked me the other day if I would play another lesbian character on TV or in a movie, and I was like, “Uh, yes? That’s not even a question.” I love Emily. I am so lucky to be playing a character as awesome as her.

AE: You’re making it better. You really are. Is Pretty Little Liars still fun for you, even though you’re working a million hours a day? Has the novelty worn off?

SM: You know, I just came back from Toronto, which is my hometown, and it was such a surreal experience. I was standing across the street from this restaurant where I used to bust my ass serving. Two years ago, I was working like nobody’s business at that place. And this year I went back to present at an awards show, so I was standing across the street, signing photos for girls who were waiting – well, actually, they were waiting for Lady Gaga, but I came out of the hotel and they were like, “Yeah, OK” – and to look across and see that restaurant and realize how lucky and blessed I’ve been with Pretty Little Liars, it’s just amazing. I get to play a character I love on a show with three of my best friends. I love it every single day.

AE: But the daredevil thing – isn’t there a part of you that wants to be an action star?

SM: I’d love to be a Bond girl.

AE: You’re too good for James Bond. I mean, you’d be great at it. But you’re too good for him.

SM: For now, I’m just going to keep using my imagination to put Emily’s head on Aria’s body and picture her running into the sunset to kiss her girl. I mean, assuming she can outrun “A.”

Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesday nights on ABC Family

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