As Pretty Little Liars’ seven-year run comes to an end on Tuesday, June 27, Shay Mitchell is excited to venture into the unknown. “The pro of this new chapter is that when you’re not comfortable, you’re growing,” Mitchell, who stars on the Freeform series as the compassionate Emily Fields, told Us Weekly exclusively at the Shape Body Shop in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 17. “It’s exciting, the unknown. I love being in that unknown in my life.”
Still, the Mississauga, Canada, native, 30, notes that there is a notable downside to moving away from the show’s fictional hometown of Rosewood. “The negative part is not being able to see my cast and crew every day,” she told Us of her former coworkers, who include stars Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario and Sasha Pieterse. “I miss them so much, they’re my second family. That’s 100 percent the con of it.”
The tight-knit cast would often spend time together after their long hours on set wrapped. “We’ll all go and have a bottle of wine together,” Mitchell told Us in September 2016. “We tend to do that a lot at each other’s houses. I think it’s also nice when we check out new restaurants together too. It’s just about sharing a good meal.”
Despite the show’s emotional ending, the last episode of the series gave Mitchell and Pieterse, 21, some laughs. The costars, whose characters are an onscreen couple dubbed by fans as “Emison,” filmed a steamy sex scene to help wrap their characters’ storyline. “Sash and I are so close,” Mitchell told Us at the Pretty Little Liars: Made Here press preview exhibit in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 14. “We’re like, ‘Hey, can you grab my nipple cover and pick it up? It’s on my knee!’”
Pretty Little Liars’ series finale airs on Freeform Tuesday, June 27, at 8 p.m. ET.