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Follow the Liar Sasha Pieterse: Dead Girl
from BELLO mag #65
FEW TEENAGE GIRLS ON THIS PLANET AREN’T FAMILIAR WITH ROSEWOOD, ALISON DILAURENTIS, OR THE MISFORTUNES OF THE PRETTY LITTLE LIARS AT THE HANDS OF THEIR HOODED TORMENTOR, A.
SASHA PIETERSE, THE LADY-PACK’S LEADER, HAS BEEN THERE FROM THE START AND NOW, FIVE SEASONS LATER, HAVING PASSED THE 100TH EPISODE MARK, THE 18 YEAR-OLD RETURNS TO THE SERIES IN A DIFFERENT FORM: ALIVE, BUT NOT SO WELL.
When the show premiered in 2010, Pieterse was 14 years old, going against the grain and playing opposite actresses who were well over the legal age, but it wasn’t her first time. She played a six-year-old two years older than her real age in her debut role as Buffy Davis on The WB’s revival series Family Affair.
“I’ve been used to that all my life,” she admits. “I was homeschooled and graduated at 14. All my friends are older. It’s super natural for me.” Even more natural was her sudden title of growing icon in the Gay community, lending her skills to bringing authentic storylines for gay youth like she did in 2013’s indie hit G.B.F., and continues to do so time and time again on her hit series. “You know, I never imagined that I would be that,” she says to me, proud and laughing. “But I’ve gotten that comment a few times now, and it cracks me up. We had the G.B.F. DVD release party at The Abbey, and the director’s friend came up to me and gushed about me being his Queen idol. He went on and on. It’s an honor and a lot of fun.”
The South African-born American actress appreciates the praise, but such would be said about anyone who agrees to be buried alive for the sake of a take. That’s right, it was really her hand. Pieterse confesses that during the first two seasons things were running mellow on the wow-factor, but they have since escalated. “I get to do a lot things out of the ordinary working on the show, but being buried alive is still the craziest up to date,” she explains. “When they first teased that moment, it was just my hand coming out of the ground, and we did several versions of it. But for the fourth season finale I was actually buried,” she said, recalling a few moments of terror.
“It was four in the morning, and they dug a six-foot hole and started burying me alive. It was realistic and freezing, I had sap dripping down my arm and fake lightning in my face. Of course our prop guy Adam, who was pouring all the dirt on me, thought it was the best thing ever.” It was that very scene that propelled the girls into a wild season five, reinstating Pieterse’s character into the show for good (we hope), wowing fans and putting all speculations to a close; Alison DiLaurentis was alive, and managed to keep it a secret for five years.
This winter, she’s out of the tube again and onto the big screen in Inherent Vice, based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon. She plays a character she assures is worlds different than her sometimes-evil high school other half. “It’s a very dark movie, and our director Paul Thomas Anderson is really putting his own spin to it.” Set in the 1970s, the film also stars Joaquin Phoenix as a private investigator investigating a disappearance; Josh Brolin and Reese Witherspoon are also among the glossy cast. If the mere mention of Hollywood greats in a film with America’s favorite Liar doesn’t entice you, the name of her character will.
“I don’t think I will ever have a better character name,” she presses. “Her name is Japonica Fenway. She’s involved in cocaine, and I can say that I have a lot of interesting scenes with Martin Short and Joaquin.” What those scenes might be is a secret this liar is going to have to keep this time; there’s already one presumed dead girl in the movie.
