‘Pretty Little Liars’ Series Finale: Who Is A.D.? Actress Reflects On Playing ‘A’

After countless theories and plenty of speculation, the identity of A.D. was finally revealed in the “Pretty Little Liars” series finale Tuesday night. The highly anticipated unveiling sent major shockwaves throughout the PLL fandom.

Although there have been several rumors floating around that Spencer (Troian Bellisario) has a twin, the theory was deemed to be true in the Freeform series finale. After being knocked unconscious by Mona (Janel Parrish) in episode 20, “Til Death Do Us Part,” Spencer woke up in a bunker only to find out that the reflection she thought she was staring at was actually her evil twin, Alex Drake, better known as A.D.

READ: Questions we wanted answered in “Pretty Little Liars” series finale

It is then revealed that Alex grew up in London where she lived a troubled life whereas Spencer grew up as a member of the Hastings family where she had the best of everything. The twins would have never found out about one another if it wasn’t for Wren (Julian Kingston) who ran into Alex at a bar and informed her about her American relatives in Rosewood.

Alex then met and formed a strong bond with her half-sister Charlotte (Vanessa Ray) who was later killed by Mona. The villain’s death prompted Alex to avenge her sister, however, while in Rosewood pretending to be Spencer, the idea of being loved and being in love proved too good for Alex to pass up and she wanted to become Spencer.

The battle for who would actually be Spencer soon ensued with the more clever twin coming out victorious. With such a major twist in the finale, fans may be surprised to learn that Bellisario has actually been sitting on this big secret for years.

During a chat with ELLE.com, the actress revealed that showrunner Marlene King told her the big secret before any of her cast members. “I was first told in the beginning of season five. Marlene took me aside and told me, ‘I have an idea, but I don’t know if the network will let me do it…’ Then she sat me down and explained this whole ending to me,” the star said.

“She said, ‘You cannot tell anybody. It might not even happen.’ So I sat on it for over a year. Then at the end of season six, she said, ‘We’re going to do it.’ It was like the starting gun at the races,” Bellisario stated.

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While playing the British twin who is imitating her sister, the actress noted that the two characters are very different from one another. “I think of it like this: Spencer approaches things with her head and her heart, and Alex approaches things with her head and her groin,” Bellisario explained.

“That’s not to say she doesn’t have a heart or feelings, but she’s gotten really good at putting a thick coat of armor over her heart,” she added.

Now that the secret is out, Bellisario admitted that she just hopes the reveal goes over well with the PLL audience. From the looks of the “Pretty Little Liars” official Twitter page, it seems like fans are more than satisfied with how the series ended.