We heard and saw ads for this yesterday for a new ABC Family series called Pretty Little Liars. The series is based on Alloy Entertainment’s popular young adult book series written by Sara Shepard. “Pretty Little Liars” follows four estranged best friends who are reunited one year after their best friend and queen bee of the group, Alison, goes missing – only to discover they’re receiving messages from an anonymous “A” who knows all their secrets. The 10 all-new scripted hour long episodes star Troian Bellisario (“JAG”), Ashley Benson (“Eastwick”), Holly Marie Combs (“Charmed”), Lucy Hale (“Privileged”), Ian Harding (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), Bianca Lawson (“The Vampire Diaries”), Laura Leighton (“Melrose Place”), Chad Lowe (“24”), Shay Mitchell (“Rookie Blue”) and Sasha Pieterse (“Without a Trace”).

In the series, actress Shay Mitchell plays Emily Fields. Here’s more on the character:

Emily Fields’ life is picture-perfect. It should be. After all, her mom makes sure everything in their world is just so. So why does Emily dream of getting out of Rosewood? She’s a star athlete with a popular boyfriend, but Emily feels like an outsider. Maybe that’s why she’s drawn to Maya, the new girl in town. They become fast friends, but Emily’s feelings are a little more complicated than simple friendship. Question is how far will she dare take them? Or will she have to hide them, too? As “A” points out, it’s not the only secret Emily is hiding.

update: Shay Mitchell sent a tweet about this post. See it here.

Watch the first episode and more on Shay Mitchell below.

Pretty Little Liars pilot episode

Shay Mitchell interview about Pretty Little Liars

Clip from Pretty Little Liars with Shay Mitchell

More about Shay Mitchell

Shay Mitchell stars as Emily Fields, an athletic girl who is struggling with her sexuality and the loss of her best friend.

Mitchell, born Shannon to a Filipino mother and Irish/Scottish father, is a native of Toronto, Canada. Even as a young child, she was interested in the performing arts, declaring to her parents that she would pursue such a career. Mitchell began dance lessons at the age of 5, and she and several of her classmates toured the city to compete with a variety of other dance schools.

At the age of 10, Mitchell’s family moved west to Vancouver, British Columbia. Within a year of their arrival, an international modeling agency had an open casting call for teen and pre-teen girls who were vying for representation. Mitchell was one of the girls selected.

By her late teens, Mitchell had successfully modeled for a variety of companies in cities as varied as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Barcelona. Wanting to focus on her true passion, Mitchell returned to Toronto and began to study acting with great focus and determination. Her hard work paid off and, after signing with her first theatrical agency, she appeared in the hit series “DeGrassi: The Next Generation” and booked several national commercials. She also landed a recurring role in the Disney series “Aaron Stone,” is featured in the music video for international recording artist Sean Paul’s hit song “Hold My Hand” and will appear in the upcoming ABC series “Rookie Blue.”