In an exclusive interview with theTVaddict.com, Sasha Pieterse provided cool insight into the original “pretty little liar” Allison’s psyche and motivations, which are highlighted in the upcoming Halloween episode of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS.
Can you talk about what kind of trouble Allison is brewing for the “pretty little liar” girls this Halloween?
SASHA: Well, you know, it’s her favorite holiday. Scaring people is what she did best, obviously, and I think she’s definitely got a few Halloween tricks planned for the girls. But I also think there are a few tricks up other people’s sleeves for Allison. This is kind of an interesting episode because it is a prequel. We’ve never really seen this side of Allison before. It’s all about Allison — and it’s called “The First Secret” for a reason. It’s the first secret between the girls and it’s the first secret for Allison for herself as well, which is weird because we’ve not seen that before. There’s also the first encounter with her enemies. You see her alone, and you see her room. It’s a lot of her firsts. So it I think it’s definitely a treat for the viewers.
Do you think she is more of a victim or is she kind of stirring things up that arise during the episode?
SASHA: It’s a little bit of both. At this point, nothing’s really happened to Allison. It’s like the first of everything. It’s also at the beginning of the girls’ friendship, and the Jenna thing hasn’t gone on yet. Allison doesn’t really have anyone that has stood up to her yet, and she’s kind of got everything she wants. In school, everything is going well, and he’s got this posse that does everything she says. I think this this is the first time you see Allison vulnerable. I really can’t say too much, obviously, but I think she does open up a little bit in this episode.
Do you think this is the turning point for her — the point where she decides, “I’m going to be the good girl or the bad girl” or “I’m going to start making things happen the way I want them to happen”?
SASHA: Kind of. I don’t think she really has that mind-set, but I think it may register for her and things may get a bit more serious. I don’t think she knows really what is going on and what she’s dealing with. But, because of the show’s introduction, we know what happens afterwards. So, I think this is a real turning point for her character. What is interesting is that for the other girls in this episode; they don’t know really anything that is going on. They are not into it yet, and they don’t know what they are getting themselves into. So, knowing all this, it’s going to be interesting for the viewers as well.
What have you enjoyed most about playing Allison so far, including through the Halloween episode?
SASHA: I’m never bored! I go to work every day and I learn something new. What is cool about Allison is she’s got so many layers and, as an actress, that’s so cool as I get to sink my teeth into her as a character ’cause there’s so many aspects to her, and I don’t feel like I’m playing the same character every day. There’s just so much to her and everything is different. It’s kind of funny saying that because it’s all flashbacks and you’d think a lot of them would be similar, but there’s always something new and different and revealing. It is definitely interesting.
Is there ever anything that shocked you that you discovered about Allison so far?
SASHA: Well, I think a lot is revealed in the Halloween episode. None of it really shocked me, but it’s interesting because we’re going deeper into Allison’s character and you kind of see the reasons why she acts the way she does, and what motivates her to do the things that she does. I think a lot of it is just that she wants to manipulate people so that she’s on top. But I see her as having deeper reasons for all of that. And the nature of the show is that there’s a lot of things going on at once, so keeping that in mind — it’s interesting. She has to keep her defenses up all the time. So I think it’s a different aspect of Allison and it’s really cool to see, and it evolves more in the next half of this season.
So it sounds like we have a lot of fun things to look forward to! Would you describe Allison as more of an “avenging angel” in what she does, or does she have some other kind of personal motivation that drives her?
SASHA: It’s interesting that you say that. I think, especially with the girls, she is more of an avenging angel ’cause as much as she makes them do things they don’t want to do, at the same time she makes them do things they want to do — even if it gets a bad result. So she kind of brings out the good and the bad in them at the same time. I think it is interesting that this episode, A is the perfect frenemy. At this point, A is Allison, not actually “A.” But because she did that, “A” kind of copied Allison that way ’cause she made them do things that they ultimately wanted to do. But it causes chaos in the end. I think Allison kind of showed them in a backwards way that you can get what you want, but there’s always going to be consequences. I don’t know. I think Allison plays a little bit of both. We definitely see her torture people as well. In the Halloween episode you see the beginning of her and Jenna, which kind of makes sense now — of why everything happened. It’s also kind of weird because Noel and Allison used to be best-buddies and now the girls don’t really like him. So it’s also a point for other characters and you get to see their turning points when it comes to their good and bad sides.
Of all the different girls that Allison interacted with (Hanna, Aria, Spencer and Emily), do you think she was actually close to any of them or were they just the girls in her group?
SASHA: I think she was close to them; but at the same time, she knew all their secrets and they didn’t know hers. I think Allison chose to share different things with each of them. I think that was a strategy, as well as what she thought she could trust with each person. As the story has gone on, you notice that different girls know different things. She really didn’t confide in just one person. It’s different from the books as well, ’cause in the books the girls thought she was also confiding in other girlfriends and that never ended up being true. She kind of keeps things to herself, and for good reason — and what she did share with the girls in the show has proven to be for pointed reasons. So I think there is a part of her that wanted to really share things with the girls, but a part of her knew that she shouldn’t and in the Halloween episode, you kind of see why. 
With those final teasing and cryptic insights about who Allison really was, and to see what kind of trouble Allison stirs-up and what the “first secret” was, be sure to tune in for the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS’ Halloween episode on Wednesday, October 19th at 8PM on ABC Family. Catch up with past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv
Tiffany Vogt is a contributing writer to TheTVAddict. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).