By: Melissa Girimonte
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS fan who have been counting down the days until the show’s highly-anticipated January return will be thrilled to discover that one said liar, Ashley Benson (Hanna Marin) will be returning to a small screen near you sooner than expected. This sunday in fact, when she joins ONE TREE HILL alum Chad Michael Murray and Christina Milian in CHRISTMAS CUPID, a new made-for-TV-movie premiering Sunday as part of ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas.”
What’s more, unlike her LIARS alter ego Hanna, who spent the better part of last season being haunted by her supposed “BFF” Alison, this modern spin on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol will see the tables turned, giving Ashley the opportunity to do the haunting as she steps into the role of a famous movie star turned ghost.
“My character, Caitlin, is a little similar to Hanna because she’s kind of a wild child, doesn’t take no for an answer and lives in her own world where she thinks that she can tell anybody what to do without consequence,” explained the actress on a recent conference call with reporters. “But she goes out to a club and chokes on an olive from a martini, dies, and comes back as a ghost.”
This is Ashley’s comedic debut. “It’s my first time to actually be in a comedy, like a real comedy, so I was a little nervous. Hopefully it turns out well, I think it did, and it was just so much fun to play a comedic character in a really cute movie.”
And despite not becoming as close with her CUPID co-stars as she is with her PRETTY LITTLE LIARS gals, Ashley really bonded with everyone in the brief time they worked together, particularly Christina Milian and Chad Michael Murray. “I was a little nervous because always going on to a new project, you don’t know who you are going to work with or how anyone is going to be and we all just got along really well and we were constantly laughing,” said Benson. “Thankfully, we had such a great time and it was just a really fun environment. There was never a dull moment on set.”
Ashley really thinks that everyone is going to enjoy CHRISTMAS CUPID, not just her PRETTY LITTLE LIARS fans. “It’s a a great twist on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and it’s just so fun, lighthearted and full of laughs and sarcasm. Plus, I think it’s going to be fun for fans to see me as a different character.”
Being a part of ABC Family’s Holiday tradition is really exciting for Ashley. “To be doing another version of (A Christmas Carol) was really awesome, and to be a part of the ’25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family couldn’t get any better because I watched that every year with my family , and I know a lot of other families do too and to be part of that is really exciting.” 
Catch Ashley Benson in Christmas Cupid this Sunday at 8/7c on ABC Family. And don’t forget, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS returns on Monday January 3!
Melissa is a Toronto-based TV blogger and music journalist. A TV fan since birth, it was only in recent years that she discovered her love for writing about what she was watching. After contributing to several online and print magazines as a freelance writer, she started her own TV blog, The Televixen, in 2008.