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An interview with Lindsey Shaw

For three years, Lindsey Shaw played everyone’s favorite middle school tomboy, Jennifer Ann “Moze” Mosely, on Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. She followed it up with the CW’s Aliens in America before she made the leap to ABC Family for 10 Things I Hate About You. Most recently, she has become an AfterEllen.com favorite on Pretty Little Liars, where she plays Paige McCullers, a teenager trying to come to terms with her sexuality and her hatred-turned-attraction for Emily Fields.

Before flying off for her next ABC Family project, Teen Spirit, Lindsey chatted with me about her time on Pretty Little Liars and why playing a lesbian meant so much to her.

Lindsey Shaw: I apologize for my voice. It’s really hoarse. I’ve been in voice lessons all morning.

AfterEllen: Practicing for your karaoke follow up?

LS: [laughs] That’s hilarious. All my friends saw that episode and they were like, “Oh, Lindsey.”

But no, I’m doing an ABC Family TV movie. I’m going to North Carolina next Monday to do it, and I kind of have to be a rocking singer in it. I’m actually going in to do the recording this afternoon. It’s super fun and cool, and it’s very, very exciting. I’m just hoping I can do what I need to do with this voice.

AE: You’d probably better take Shay Mitchell with you for backup.

LS: That’s a good idea!

AE: So let’s talk about your Pretty Little Liars experience.

LS: I loved my Pretty Little Liars experience. I didn’t expect to be so fulfilled as an artist and a person, but it was such a wonderful experience.

AE: How did you land the role of Paige?

LS: When I got the audition for Paige, I had just cut my hair. I got back from my summer, and I was like, “I really just need to cut this off.” I actually cut 10 inches off my hair. I went in and read for the part and I think they liked me, but I kind of got the feeling they wanted a blonde for the role. But they called me back for a chemistry read with Shay Mitchell and it was amazing. Sometimes chemistry reads can be – I don’t know, just not as good as you want them to be. But it was so much fun with Shay. I remember saying to her afterward, “You’re really good!” But I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, “This is really fun!”

I got the part and I was so excited. When my manager called to tell me I’d gotten it, he was like, “But they want to do something even more drastic with your hair.” Hence the shorter ‘do and the bangs. Anyway, the three-episode arc turned into a six-episode arc, and it was like a fairy tale the whole way through. It was a like a cornucopia – yes, I just said cornucopia – of really wonderful experiences.

AE: So Paige was only supposed to be a three-episode character?

LS: Yes, they’d kind of hinted that it might turn into more, and I was really excited when it did. You kind of always feel validated as an actor when that happens, like, “Yes! I don’t suck!” And I was having such a good time I didn’t want it to end.

AE: So will Paige be back for the second season?

LS: You know, I don’t know. You’ll have to see how things resolve in the next episode and judge for yourself whether it’s a beginning or an end.

AE: Lindsey, I swear to God, if Paige is A, I will lose it.

LS: I can’t tell you that! They’ve entrusted me deeply with those secrets!

AE: Can you tell me what’s going to happen with Paige in the next episode?

LS: You’re going to see some jealousy arise in Paige. You saw Paige being really jealous in the first few episodes she was in, but that jealousy kind of returns in a different way. And there are some hurt feelings, and it gets tricky to navigate.

AE: Is it going to result in another drowning attempt?

LS: No, I think Paige is done with that. She got that out of her system. I think she probably went home and wrote in her journal, “Oh my God, what was I thinking? Oh my God, Emily is going to hate me!” It was – let’s call it a momentary lapse in judgment.

AE: Yes, that does sound much better than attempted murder.

LS: Truly, though, the drowning scene was one of my favorites – no, no, don’t laugh! It was one of my favorites because of Shay. You think Paige was scary? Shay was scary. She was like, “No, hold me under longer! Push me down longer! I can take it!” I mean, she was acting, but I kept thinking she was in serious trouble. And I was like, “Listen, all of your daredevil ways – that comes off on me! Your fans are going to think I’m really trying to hurt you!” She was asking for it, I’m telling you. She was asking for it!

AE: Was that your favorite scene you filmed with Shay?

LS: Oh, come on! I can’t choose just one! You know, we both had qualms about the karaoke scene. We had to go in and record it before we filmed it, and we both had so much anxiety, but there was also this shared camaraderie that really brought us together.

AE: Did you do your own swimming, too? You did your own singing. And your own drowning.

LS: I do all my own stunts, man. Shay and I took swimming lessons together. You know, Shay and I had a long and beautiful friendship. We did swimming lessons together – like crazy swimming lessons where the instructor was like, “Come on, girls! Go, go, go!” We learned how to dive and do flip-turns. Everything in the pool was really us.

AE: You said that playing Paige was fulfilling as an artist and as human being. What do you mean by that?

LS: Playing a lesbian character is obviously relevant right now. There are so many equality issues and issues with gay teens being bullied, and I feel like the media has always been a leader in helping shape people’s attitudes. You know, it lends a little understanding. It makes people less fearful. And being given the opportunity to play a lesbian character, I really took it seriously.

I just wanted to be as emotionally truthful as I could, even if I’ve never experienced these things first hand. But, I mean, this wasn’t just another role for me. It was a big opportunity to speak to people and change their attitudes, and to speak kids who are maybe struggling with their sexuality and to say, “You’re wonderful. And you’re not alone.”

AE: That’s a lovely thing to say.

LS: It’s true. And Pretty Little Liars was fulfilling to me as a person because you never know where you’re going to fit in – or if you’re going to fit in at all – when you go into someone else’s family. And that’s what I was doing when I went to the Pretty Little Liars set. I was very nervous because I just didn’t know. And when I got there, they could not have been more welcoming. Everyone was warm and smiling, and they let me know that it was just a safe space to let go and inhabit this character.

And the leader in that was Shay. You know, she’s such a gorgeous girl. And I told her that afterward. I was like, “I thought you were probably going to just be another pretty girl, but knowing you has enriched my life. Just knowing you, personally, and knowing you exist in the universe.” I am so in awe of how gorgeous she is on the outside, and how truthful and good and pure she is on the inside. It was something I wasn’t expecting, and it was the most wonderful surprise in the world. We were playing something very intimate, and it got easier and easier because we had this mutual respect for one another.

AE: It translates. To the screen I mean.

LS: Thank you.

AE: The scene on Monday night, when Paige comes to Emily’s after her date with Sean and says that kissing a guy after kissing Emily felt like a farce, and then going, you know, “If I say it out loud, if I say ‘I’m gay’ it will change everything” – I’ve been writing for lesbians for a long time and I have watched a lot of TV, but that was one of the most emotionally resonant scenes I have ever seen on American television. Sorry, I’m choking up.

LS: Wow. Thank you. Heather, thank you so much.

AE: You know, and I saw a lot of people talking in the recap comments about how they see themselves in Paige and how they feel more courageous watching her struggle to be courageous. What you said about media making a difference, it really does. Kids will come out because Paige came out. Kids will stand up for themselves because Paige stood up for herself.

LS: Oh, now you’re making me cry. That’s all I wanted, I just – I don’t mean to cry. I just – I understand how important Paige’s story is, and, you know, I just want gay teens to know that they’re a part of something, and that it’s going to be OK, and that they’re accepted. And it’s just been a real honor for me to play a gay character.

You know, when I took this part, I just had anxiety that I wouldn’t get it right. I just felt like it needed to be something different than anything I’d done, and I wanted it to be emotionally honest. And that’s all I wanted. That’s all I wanted. I just wanted to touch people and speak to people. I want all this bigotry crap to just stop.

AE: I think you accomplished what you wanted to accomplish. I really do.

LS: Thank you. Wow, I’m sorry Im crying That’s just – it really is all I wanted to do.

AE: I need to ask you one more thing, and it’s really serious, so feel free to take your time and think about your answer. Best couple ever: Ned and Moze or Paige and Emily?

LS: Oh, Paige and Emily for sure! I mean, I love Ned and Moze.

AE: Who doesn’t? There are are at least two million fan videos on YouTube. I watched one yesterday set to a Taylor Swift song.

LS: No, you didn’t.

AE: Yes, I did. I loved Ned’s Declassified.

LS: OK, well I love Ned and Moze too. But Paige and Emily, they’re learning more about themselves through each other and growing and changing and becoming the people they’re going to be for the rest of their lives. Moze and Ned are skipping and smiling.

AE: Please don’t be A.

LS: I can’t tell you about A!

AE: Only two can keep a secret if one of them is dead?

LS: [laughs] Yes. That’s it exactly.

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