EXCLUSIVE: Brendan Robinson Talks the Pretty Little Liars Finale, Ashley Benson and More w/ BB
Pretty Little Liars is slowly wrapping up its final episodes on Freeform and BeautifulBallad had the amazing oppurtunity to chat with Brendan Robinson about these final episodes.
For those who don’t know, Brendan plays Lucas, one of the few characters who has stuck around from Season 1 and in our interview Brendan talks tonight’s (May 30) episode, filming the finale, working with Ashley Benson, the A.D. reveal and so much more.
The interview can be found under the jump, just in case people are not up to date on these past couple of episodes. The new episode will air tonight on Freeform.
Literally, Brendan was a joy to talk to, so make sure to check out the interview!
On his reaction to reading the script for episode, 7×13 “Hold Your Piece”:
“When I read the script originally, it was just cringe worthy, I was like “Oh no, no, no”. Also, how twisted is this A.D. Person? What’s really going on in their head, they just keep topping it week after week with what they make these girls do.
On how Hanna missing the big investors meeting is going to play out in tonight’s episode:
“Obviously, he was the one who ended up taking the beating with the investors and that is pretty much all I can say because it plays into a bigger storyline that we are going to see in episode 7×16 (tonight!)”
On shooting the finale:
“It was really bizarre. I think it really started to sink in when we did the table read. We shot this episode over 2 and a half weeks and the table read was definitely a surreal experience. It was our biggest table read we had ever done in terms of scope. We usually did them in our production offices, there’s a conference room there, but they took us over to the Warner Bros. television building, where all the executive offices are. There were about, I want to say, 75 people in there, maybe more, all the executives from Warner Bros. showed up, all the executives from Freeform showed up, and looking around the room and seeing all those faces it was a very happy moment. At the same time, for me at least, it was really the first time that it sunk in that okay this is it.
On filming his last scene:
“Without giving anything away my last day was done in the evening, it was at night, in fact I think it was around 1 am. We were out on Midwest street on the Warner Bros. back lot, which is kind of the main drag of Rosewood, and we were in front of the Grille. It took place on the sidewalk in front of the grille. And it’s a fun little scene. When you see, it you will know exactly what I am talking about. It was a fun way to wrap up the whole thing.
Thankfully all of the girls were there, all five of them. It was fun but also weird for them to call out “That’s a series wrap on Brendan” But it was nice to share that moment with all five of them being there. Marlene King directed the episode, so she was there as well. So, it was good, it was kind of like the perfect way to end it. It’s everything I could want and more.”
On Lucas over these past 7 seasons and his relationship with Hanna:
“I auditioned for a different character. I auditioned for Mike (Aria’s brother) originally. And they thought I was a couple years too old. A few weeks later they brought me back for Lucas. Originally it was just supposed to be maybe two or three episodes. Then, I was reading this in an interview a couple years later with Oliver Goldstick, one of our other executive producers, and he was saying that they really liked the dynamic between Lucas and Hanna and they liked how my character brought out a different side to Ashley and Ashley’s character.
It was kind of different than all of the other relationships that the core group of women had with male characters. You know, it’s almost been a platonic, at least platonic on one side, you know Lucas’ side would like it to be more, but I want to say that’s really the only relationship like that in the entire series. I think it brings out something different because it doesn’t have to end in a make out session. I think it would have been totally different for Hanna to have a friend, a sounding board, that was another girl that was part of that quartet, or I guess in this case quintet now that Allison is alive. So, the fact that she has a guy friend is something kind of interesting.
Also, I find it very flattering that the writers, and I’m very grateful for this, that they kept finding ways to incorporate Lucas into the story even though he wasn’t a boyfriend of one of the girls or a romantic interest. As a supporting character on a TV show, especially when it’s very specifically focused on these five girls, it’s rare that a character gets a long running arc.
One of the things I like about the relationship between Lucas and Hanna in the seventh season is it’s coming back around to this nice sweet friendship from season one. Lucas kind of went off the deep end for a little bit and you didn’t know if he was involved with the original A or not. There was some online gambling involved, if I remember correctly. So, I feel lucky that the writers have given me all these different kinds of things to do over the course of seven years.”
On what he will miss most about working with Ashley Benson:
“She’s so funny. I don’t think people necessarily know that because our show is not a comedy. So, every single time I get to do a scene with her you kind of don’t really know what’s coming next because she is there to have a good time, which is great. It’s great to have that in an acting partner because the scene takes on a whole new life. It blows itself off the page when there are actors that are there, show up and have fun.”
On his favorite scene in the entire series:
“There’s a great scene, it is probably one of my favorite in the entire series, between Lucas and Hanna, I can’t give specifics, but it is in this episode coming up (tonight). I remember when we were filming it, for me at least, I can’t speak for Ashley, but it was one of those things as an actor all of a sudden you get these rare moments where the cameras and crew they disappear out of your peripheral vision. And you are all of a sudden so in it that it feels real.
It doesn’t feel like characters or in a scene on TV. It was just a really special moment for me. It was the last scene that I filmed for the episode and I think it has a lot to do with Ashley. We have become so comfortable with each other and the relationship between these two characters that it was just really easy to slip into it and all of a sudden it became very real. So, I am really excited for people to see that one”.
On if there was a character he wished Lucas had interacted with more:
“I [Lucas] was working at a photography studio and Aria took my tripod and I was trying to get into the photography studio to get my stuff back and it’s a really quick little scene with Lucy and I. She is trying to get in like “Give me the keys, give me the keys” and Ezra shows up, Ian shows up, and he’s like, “What’s going on” and he scares me away. Andthat is the only interaction I had with Ian [Harding]. I don’t think I had any scenes with Keegan [Allen], so I would have loved to have had more scenes with the other guys. In real life they’re so much fun and it would have been cool to work with them a little bit more.
I got the chance to work with Janel [Parrish] a little bit and she and I are really good friends and that’s always fun to be able to work with someone you’re close to. I would say probably Jenna, I would want to have more stuff with Tamin [Sursok] because I think that character is really interesting. And she does a great job with it.
On the reveal of A.D.:
“I have to be very choice with my words here because I don’t want to give anything away, but I think there was alot of thought that was put into it and into the reveal. You will learn finally who the big big bad is; it would be terrible if we just left the series and you still didn’t know. There was, I know this from talking to the writers and the writers’ assistants, there was a lot of planning and Easter eggs put in through the past couple of years about the big bad.
When I first read the script I thought that, I was obviously very surprised about who it ended up being, but also very pleased. I think fans will be pleased and there is a little bit of a twist to it also. And all I can say without giving anything away is that it’s really well done and the people that are involved, the actors, did some really great work and I think people will be very pleased.”