Sob! Shay Mitchell has shared a tear-jerking goodbye message to her costars and fans after wrapping filming on the Pretty Little Liars finale in Los Angeles.
The actress, who plays swimmer Emily Fields, posted her emotional “Pretty Little Liars Farewell Letter” clip on her YouTube channel on Tuesday, November 1. In the video, the Canadian actress has to stop several times as she is overwhelmed by emotion, and cries so much that her false eyelashes begin to fall out.
“The Pretty Little Liars series finale has officially wrapped forever,” Mitchell captioned her goodbye message, which she taped at 12:38 a.m. ET after wrapping her final scenes for the ABC Freeform hit.
“Please excuse my crying because this was a very emotional moment for me. I wanted to be able to share this moment with all of you, who have helped me get to where I am today. I am so thankful for all of the support that you guys have given me in the past seven years, and I am excited to continue this journey with you,” she wrote.
The 29-year-old began by reading off a list of her conflicting emotions from her phone. “Sad, anxious, terrified, inspired, gratified, nervous, unsure, proud, accomplished, relieved, devastated, lucky,” she said.
“It feels like the last day of school, with just an extra bit of emptiness. Our show ending was such a weird, unique thing that I have only experienced from where you all are sitting, the viewers’ side. I remember shows I watched growing up ending and all that came along with a series finale, yet where I am seated now is so different.”
Being on the show had changed her life forever, Mitchell said, as she remembered filming the pilot seven years ago.
“I don’t know what my life would look like without Pretty Little Liars … Not saying that there weren’t tears, or heartbreak, or any other obstacles,” she admitted as a tear ran down her cheek.
“But as a whole PLL and Emily Fields shaped me into something that I’m not sure can ever be topped, and I am still awestruck by the whole experience and can’t believe it’s over,” she said, heaping praise on her costars and the drama’s crew.
She also gave a sweet shout-out to her costars Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Sasha Pieterse and Troian Bellisario, calling them her “sisters.”
“We did it. We managed to stay close through seven years of high school. And that will always be what I’m most proud of,” she said. “The good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, we were always there for each other, and I feel so incredibly lucky to know you all, and I will never forget what we had these last seven years. It was rare and special and perfect. And I will miss you all madly.”
Mitchell was overcome with emotion as she recalled memorizing her lines for auditions from her “small Toronto apartment” as an aspiring actress, gazing at her vision board and dreaming about her future before getting her big break. Being on the PLL set “still takes my breath away,” she said.
By the end of the emotional clip, the actress joked that she’d cried so much her false eyelashes had all fallen out. “They’re all gone,” Mitchell said, plucking out the last few lashes.
The ABC Freeform series wrapped filming on the finale this week. The final 10 episodes of season 7 will begin airing in April 2017.
