Sunday, December 12

Christmas Cupid, and the holidays,Ashley Benson talks Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson,
As part of ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas promotions, Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson will star in the holiday movie, “Christmas Cupid.” We had the chance to talk to Ashley earlier this week about her role as the recently deceased Caitlin Quinn in the tv movie set to air on Sunday, December 12th, at 8:00PM ET/PT.

And because Ashley was a total sweetheart, she also gave a bit of information on the upcoming second half of the wildly popular ABC Family show, “Pretty Little Liars.”

“Christmas Cupid” stars new mom Christina Milian stars as Sloane Spencer, a high powered Hollywood publicist who finds herself haunted by the ghost of her recently departed infamous client Caitlin. With just days before Christmas, Caitlin takes Sloane on a journey to meet the ghosts of her ex-boyfriends from the past, present and future to try and guide her to true love in a modern day take on the Charles Dickens’ holiday classic story A Christmas Carol.

Q: On “Pretty Little Liars” you are haunted by your friend Allison, now on “Christmas Cupid” you will be doing the haunting! Did you have fun with that?

A: Oh my gosh, Christmas Cupid was a blast. My character, Caitlin, she’s a little similar to Hanna because she’s like kind of a wild child, but she was so much fun because she’s just this famous movie star, she does whatever she wants whenever she wants. She doesn’t take no for an answer and she just lives in her own world and she thinks that she can tell anybody what to do and there will be no consequences.


But she goes out to a club and she chokes on an olive from a martini and dies and comes back as a ghost. And she’s just so free spirited, so when she comes back to haunt Sloane, it’s just this huge wild adventure and she takes her through her past, present, and future ex-boyfriends and Caitlin flirts with every single one of them and she was so much fun.

It’s my first time to actually be in a comedy, like a real comedy, so I was a little nervous, so hopefully it turns out well. I think it did and it was just so fun to play a comedic character.

Q: Did you find it difficult starting a new project?
A: I was a little nervous because always going on to a new project you don’t know who you’re going to work with or how anyone is going to be and everybody just kind of had the same personalities and we all just got along really well and we were constantly laughing. There was never a dull moment on set. It was always just really fun.

I’m very close with the people on Pretty Little Liars and I didn’t think I could become that close with another project and we only filmed for four weeks or five weeks and me and Christiana have become like best friends and it’s amazing.

Chad was amazing to work with and we became really close and just the whole crew, we had such a great time and it was just a really fun environment. We’d all go out afterwards together and go to dinner or just relax at a lounge or whatever, but it was really fun. I’m really glad that the cast and the crew were just so enjoyable to work with.

Q: Why should fans tune in and watch “Christmas Cupid?”
A: It’s just a great twist on A Christmas Carol and it’s just so fun. It’s a really good Christmas movie. It’s just lighthearted and it’s full of laughs and sarcasm. It’s a little different than regular movies because it’s a big comedy and my character especially, Caitlin, she’s just way out there, she’s just a wild child actress and when she comes back as a ghost she’s still acts like she’s the same thing. She kind of has the biggest ego in the world and she has everybody else do chores for her and she’s just so sarcastic and so outspoken and rude. It was so much fun to play.


Q: I am currently addicted to Pretty Little Liars! Can you give us a clue as to what we can expect when the season returns?
A: Yes, it starts off with my character Hanna in the hospital after she’s gotten run over, and she wakes up and she’s still shaken after the whole thing and she doesn’t really remember what happened, but she thinks she remembers who she saw by the car and in the woods and who she thinks is A. So, she tells the girls and it goes from there and it’s pretty insane.

She gets a few visitors in the hospital that aren’t supposed to be there, so it’s very creepy.



Q: I love Hanna Marin on Pretty Little Liars. I think you bring a lot of great depth to this interesting character and I was wondering if you could share what you perceive as her best qualities and her worst qualities within this series.
A: First, Hanna’s best qualities are how down to earth she’s been recently. She always kind of seems to lighten the moment. She’s really sarcastic and makes jokes and she’s kind of a little bit more free-spirited than she was previously, and some of her worst qualities are probably how self-conscious she is, and she kind of tends to snap back into old Hanna Marin where she’s just this popular girl and she puts herself above everybody else.

But more recently she’s been completely different and down to earth and funny and that’s my favorite quality about her.

Q: How do you relate to your character Hanna?
A: I know what it was like to be left out and kind of picked on because I was in elementary school, so whenever I play Hefty Hanna it’s really emotional because I just feel so awful for her, and you know, she’s just a sweet girl and she’s not – I mean she’s cute – but she’s a little overweight and Alison just gives her such a hard time and I totally know how that was because I got picked on for being in the industry or for being a dancer or whatever and I just had the worst time in elementary school.

I’d cry all the time and also they’ve put actually a lot of my personality into her recently. She’s really sarcastic and she’s adding a lot of comedy to the show and that’s so much fun for me to do and just another way I really care. And, shopping, of course, but yes.

Q: You talked a little bit before about how playing Hefty Hanna was very emotional for you. Are we going to see more of that coming up?
A: Yeah, definitely. Every episode usually has flashbacks, so there’s a lot of Hefty Hanna and there’s really good stuff this next couple of episodes. That’s my favorite part to play, so I can’t wait for you guys to see it.



Q: Do you and your co-stars hang out when your not shooting?
A: I do. Me and the four girls are like best friends. It’s truly a blessing to get to work every day with your friends, it’s awesome, and surprisingly with a four girl cast sometimes that wouldn’t work out, but luckily it has and hopefully it will keep going, which I think it will.


But we hang out on set and also we go to movies and we shop and we do all kinds of girly things and it’s so funny because when we’re out together and if someone knows us they’re like, you guys hang out, like outside of work? And it’s just really nice that we’ve become so close and it makes it a lot more fun.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most with the return of Pretty Little Liars?
A: I’m just really excited to see what the fans say. It’s definitely a lot more creepy and scarier. We go on this huge ride; I mean, A just does things that are just so devious and so mean and she literally tortures the girls in the next couple of episodes, especially my character, Hanna, because of everything that she went through, you know, being hit by a car and Hanna gets pushed to her limits and I’m just so excited to see what the fans think, because it’s a crazy next couple of episodes. The writers did an amazing job.
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We want to thank ABC Family and Ashley Benson for taking the time out to chat with us. Don’t forget to watch “Christmas Cupid” on Sunday, December 12th, 2010 8:00PM ET/PT and the return of Pretty Little Liars on Monday, January 3 at 8/7c.





(source:accidentalsexiness.com)
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