Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin launches the popular YA franchise into a new chapter on HBO Max. The series continues the storyline of Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars — which ran from 2010-2016 — with a band of high-schoolers embroiled in a murder mystery in their small town of Millwood. Bailee Madison plays Imogen Adams, who bears the weight of past trauma and her ongoing pregnancy. Chandler Kinney plays Tabitha Hayworth, a horror film enthusiast with a mysterious backstory. Completing Original Sin‘s main cast are Maia Reficco, Malia Pyles, Mallory Bechtel, and Zaria.
Prior to Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Madison appeared in the 2009 film Brothers, 2007’s Bridge to Terabithia, and the TV series Good Witch. Kinney appeared in the Lethal Weapon TV show from 2016-2019 and has a starring role in Disney’s Zombies franchise.
Madison and Kinney spoke with Screen Rant about joining the Pretty Little Liars franchise, playing their characters in Original Sin, and bonding with their castmates.
Screen Rant: Were both of you fans of the original Pretty Little Liars? What’s it like to be part of this new chapter in Original Sin?
Bailee Madison: We were absolutely die-hard fans of the original Pretty Little Liars. I think Chandler and I both have our own personal experience with that show and how much it means to us both as a viewer and both kind of realizing the lines between loving a show and falling in love with actors outside of a show.
I think that was such a surreal experience growing up having Pretty Little Liars to turn to, so to be a part of something that is loved by myself and loved by so many, it’s an honor, it’s very surreal and humbling at the same time, and also really exciting because as someone who loves the original so much, I’m really exciting that you get to continue that legacy in a new way and in a darker way for original fans to love, and for people who might not have been around when the show started to dive into the world of Pretty Little Liars because once you start, you can’t get out of it.
Chandler Kinney: As Bailee was saying, we were both pretty big fans of the original. I remember watching it in middle school and being so emotionally invested in these characters and wanting to know who A was. It was my introduction into the YA space, and so there was this very addictive quality about it where you just wanted the next episode and it just lured you in. Those are some qualities that we really hoped to bring into Original Sin while also putting our own little spin on it and really honing in on a more horrific aspect of it too. So, it’s a bit grittier, and darker, and bloodier. We’re really excited for fans to see that. It’s just been surreal, as Bailee was saying. It’s pretty wild, I’m still pinching myself.
Bailee, your character Imogen starts the show carrying both trauma and a child inside of her. How do these aspects of her story impact the decisions she makes down the road?
Bailee Madison: They impact almost every decision that she will have to make throughout the journey of our first season of the show. Like you said, we meet her six months pregnant, dealing with a lot of trauma and a lot of tragedy at only 16 years old. Her entire world, everything that was safe to her, everything that was sacred and personal has been taken away and that is going to affect her looking for the truth because within the truth, she can find her power again. I’m really excited for that story to get to unfold as the season does.
I love to see that Tabby is a movie buff and appreciates many real-life films and the people involved. Chandler, what filmmakers or other actors inspire you?
Chandler Kinney: That’s really a great question. Two people actually just popped into my brain, and they’ve worked together, and I love them both individually and working together. That’s Jordan Peele, who I think is just one of the most incredible filmmakers of our time and I would say also, of history because truly his work is so groundbreaking and important in today’s world. Also, Lupita Nyong’o. She’s been an actress that I’ve looked up to my entire life. I love how vulnerable she is with her characters and how deeply she sinks into that internal life with these people that she portrays. Us was a pretty big movie for me. It was like two of my favorites coming together and wow, what a masterpiece.
I loved seeing the character dynamics play out on screen. What was it like for the entire cast bonding on set?
Bailee Madison: It was actually very incredible. I think you never know. You can always hope, especially when you sign on to a show that’s so big and the show only works if the ensemble works together, and if the actors work together, and if the humans can work together. I think it’s a really special thing when you can throw a bunch of individuals away from their family in upstate New York for nine months and we had each other to lean on.
By the end of the shoot, we knew each other like the back of our hands and we could look at one another and know what the person was thinking, or going through, or needing. That’s a bond and a friendship that the girls work through as the season progresses, and that’s something that we worked through individually off-camera, as well, as we filmed our season. So, it’s really special. I love these ladies. They are so freaking phenomenal in this show and I’m so thrilled to celebrate them and their work and for the world to see what they did because as someone who spent a lot of time off camera with them, they’re also really, exceptionally smart and wonderful human beings.
Chandler Kinney: And Bailee’s pretty cool, too. [Laughs] Would like to throw in there. It was truly, what a wonderful experience. We really did have to lean on each other much like these characters by themselves having to lean on each other in the face of adversity. When we were thrown into this show together, we hoped for the best, and thank goodness we got it. We really showed up for each other in every way possible and it was really amazing. Also, you have that parallelism where you have real life playing out the way that it does where we are coming together, forming our bonds, and then also that’s exactly what’s happening with our characters on screen. So, it was totally a “life imitates art,” “art imitates life” moment for all of us.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin Synopsis
Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in present day, a disparate group of teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin committed by their parents two decades ago…as well as their own.
In the dark, coming-of-age, horror-tinged drama Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe — in a brand-new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.
Check out our other interviews with Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin stars Mallory Bechtel & Zaria and Maia Reficco & Malia Pyles, as well as creators Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa & Lindsay Calhoon Bring.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin premieres on HBO Max on July 28 with three episodes, followed by two new episodes on August 4 and 11. The season’s final three episodes will air on August 18.