While Pretty Little Liars creator Marlene King dived head first into a spinoff after the show wrapped in June, star Lucy Hale was ready to dip her toes in an entirely new project! Life Sentence, Hale’s new CW drama, is set to premiere on Wednesday, March 7. The show is the story of a young woman named Stella Abbott (portrayed by Hale) who has been living life with a terminal illness.. When she finds out she’s been cured, everything changes.
“It was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Hale, 28, told Us Weekly exclusively on Monday, January 22, about working on Life Sentence. “It was almost so immediate that it didn’t really feel like I stopped working, but the vibe of the show is very different. I just feel really lucky to jump from one amazing experience to another because we did PLL for a long time. It was scary to start something new, but I’m glad that I made that leap because the payoff for me has been really great.”;
Hale added that she does her best work when she’s busy, so it worked that she landed the series immediately after Pretty Little Liars wrapped. “I mean it’s always so strange to leave one thing and start a new chapter, but it was the time for everyone and everybody’s off doing their own thing and it’s great,” she added. “I’m happy to support everyone and everything.”
This role was also a complete departure from that of Aria Montgomery, and in a way, something completely unknown for Hale. “The characters are so very different that I kind of had to do my research on it and the show is about a girl who’s really sick, so to put yourself in those kind of shoes was a challenge for me because — knock on wood — I’ve never had to deal with that,” Hale told Us. “I feel very lucky to keep the momentum going.”
Life Sentence premieres on The CW on Wednesday, March 7, at 9 p.m. ET.
