Actors Lucy Hale and Ian Harding have come to the defense of their characters’ teacher-student relationship in the iconic teen drama Pretty Little Liars.
There was a controversial age gap
In the 2010s teen drama, Lucy Hale, played protagonist Aria Montgomery who falls in love with her high school English teacher Ezra Fitz, played by Ian Harding.
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As well as the relationship being between a teacher and their student, the two characters had a controversial age gap, as Aria was 16, and Ezra was around 23-24 years old, according to scripts found online.
The actors defended the relationship for its time
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in a joint interview published Friday, June 20, Hale said, “It was a different time.”
“Would that storyline exist if it were being made now? I’m not sure, but probably not,” she added.
She didn’t think much of it back then
“At the time I was cast as Aria, I was 19 years old and I wasn’t really thinking about the bigger themes of it all,” the 36-year-old went on.
“I was just stoked to be cast in a TV show. Of course, it hits differently at my age now and I think about the bigger message in anything I play.”
But she still has no regrets about the romance
While the actress realizes the teacher-student romance wouldn’t fly today, she doesn’t regret doing it.
“I stand behind their love story forever,” Hale admitted. “That forbidden love story drew a lot of people in.”
Harding echoed Hale’s sentiment
Ian Harding shared Hale’s arguments for the on-screen couple, saying that their characters had a “meaningful connection” without the teacher abusing the power dynamics.
“Hopefully, that was enough to justify the deeply problematic relationship that was certainly not great at the time,” he said. “Especially as society has progressed, we realized how wildly inappropriate it was.”
He’s also still happy with how it turned out
Like Hale, Harding has no regrets, as he added, “But I’m happy with the way it turned out because maybe that makes it a little less icky.”
“I love Ezra and as an actor, you have to advocate for this person, no matter who they are. They both found happiness, and there was little collateral damage or pain inflicted by the relationship.”
Harding found a bit of comfort in the characters
With the show having built a lot of tension around the main plotline, Harding found a “safe haven” in the romance between Ezra and Aria, who end up getting married in the 2017 series finale.
“We were playing into this fantasy,” he said. “I certainly had the teacher fantasy thing when I was in high school, but at the same time, just because you depict something on TV doesn’t mean you condone the behavior.”
The actor agreed that Ezra was ‘icky’ but has no regerts
“There’s no part of me that is feeling such great shame for having played this part,” Harding concluded.
“I don’t have any apologies for playing this character. I do think he was definitely icky in some knowledge, but on the whole, he’s fictional.”