Laura Leighton Talks About Her Juicy New Role in Pretty Little Liars

During a recent conference call Q&A, Laura Leighton shared a sneak peek about her character Ashley Marin in the new ABC Family drama Pretty Little Liars.

Laura said that she first found out about the role when the script was going around during pilot season. Everyone she knew had read it, loved it, and hoped to audition for it, so she quickly rushed to audition for the role of Ashley. But she was smart enough to wait just long enough so that she would be paired with Ashley Benson, who was cast as Hanna, and their chemistry just clicked.

Laura Leighton is 'Ashley Marin' on "Pretty Little Liars"

Laura loves the role of Ashley Marin because it is so juicy. She finds it challenging to portray a character outside of her own moral compass who makes choices that she would not necessarily make – and her character Ashley finds herself in the position of making some parenting choices and choices for herself and her family that are a bit shocking. Thus, for Laura, she had to find a way to justify her character’s decisions. She just thought, “Okay, what kind of person would do this, and where is she coming from?” It is a challenge, but it is also a lot of fun to figure it all out.

As far as who Ashley is and what to expect from her in the show, Laura said that Ashley Marin is the single mother to one of the ‘pretty little liars’ Hanna. Ashley is working to keep it all together, as any single mom has to, and she is a business woman with a bit of an edge. She is very matter-of-fact and places very high value on appearances. So maintaining her image is high on Ashley’s list. Thus, when her daughter Hanna makes mistakes and Ashley needs to cover those up, Ashley acts out of desperation thinking only of how she can cover it up and the best way to do it. Laura explained, “[Ashley is] really just trying to maintain appearances and her life and her lifestyle. She’s struggling to balance it all.”

Describing how Ashley is different from her previous roles, such as Sydney on Melrose Place, Laura shared that she thinks they are completely different characters. She commented, “But it is funny. I find myself playing a character who makes some controversial choices. I don’t know if it’s because once you play one role that goes in that direction it’s easy to see you doing it again, and some people are able to envision you in that role and you’re more likely to get cast. I don’t know. I’m happy to have the opportunity. Like I said, I think it’s always much more interesting to play somebody who’s got some gray areas, and maybe a dark side and some questionable attributes. There’s some humanity in them. It’s just interesting. It’s interesting to try to figure it out, and I think it’s more fun than playing somebody predictable.”

Laura also said that she is drawn to strong, female characters because she likes the challenge. In Pretty Little Liars, she enjoys the opportunity to play a real mother-daughter relationship because it is a real relationship with real mother-daughter issues. Describing a bit of the complexity of their relationship, Laura explained that Ashley is not entirely willing to overlook Hanna’s mistakes, but is definitely interested in making sure the community of Rosewood does not know about Hanna’s mistakes. Ashley is again very interested in projecting a certain image and maintaining that image, but it has become harder after her divorce to keep everything the way it was. That is the driving force behind everything she does: keep up the illusion that everything is okay. So when Hanna is caught shoplifting, Ashley’s first thought is to make sure that nobody finds out – she does not want them to wonder how their lives could have gone so wrong.

Laura can also relate to Ashley’s struggle to be a mother and trying to juggle her career and make parenting choices, all while trying to connect with her daughter. In her mind, these are the classic themes of the show: how all the children struggle with their parents and yet share a unique relationship with the story. She explained, “I think that audiences will be drawn to that because there’s so much that you can relate to within families. Conversations that occur, or just the everyday life of getting ready in the morning and the craziness of everybody needs to go here or there. They’re just sort of classic themes. But at the same time, the idea that kids go to school for so many hours of their day and they’re away from their parents—parents don’t know what goes on with their kids in many, many ways. They lead this whole other life with their school friends and their sports friends and this entire life for most of their day that
parents aren’t a part of. And to try to maintain that relationship and know what’s going on with your kid and keep your dialogue open and really connect with them, it’s a challenge.”

Commenting on how hard it is for a woman today to be a mother and a professional, Laura revealed, “I think it’s really hard. I think it’s the ultimate challenge. I think women want a career as much as men, and yet motherhood is probably the hardest job of all. To try to do them both at the same time is amazingly difficult and people all over the world are facing that challenge. I appreciate it and recognize it and respect it.”

Laura also confessed to having read some of the books for which the show is based. But once she was half way through the second book, she decided that she did not want to spoil the surprise and stopped reading them. Thus, for her it has been fun to read these scripts and share in the thrill of the cliff hangers and relish the suspense throughout each script. Each feels like a real page-turner making it fun to read. She said that it has been the same for the entire cast, as they like not knowing too many of the things that might come up and enjoy discovering each new surprise.

Finally, sharing a bit of advice to aspiring actors and actresses, Laura said, “I think anybody who wants to make acting their business and their career; I think you just have to be so passionate about it. You have to love it so much, because there are so many obstacles. It’s such a difficult business to count on that I think you justhave to love it. And if you do, then simply follow your passion.”

And with that one bit of sage wisdom, Laura hopes that everyone will tune in to this summer’s next big sensation: Pretty Little Liars.

ABC Family Original Series Pretty Little Liars which premieres June 8th at 8/7 Central.