It may be hard to believe, but Pretty Little Liars premiered nearly 15 years ago on ABC Family, which has since been rebranded as Freeform. It's also been almost eight since A’s reign of terror finally ended, as the show wrapped its seven-season run in 2017. While the PLL cast has been quite busy since then, it’s cool when any of the actors reminisce about their time on the drama. With that, Holly Marie Combs just reflected on the series, specifically how the young stars compared to the Charmed cast.
After portraying middle Halliwell sister Piper in the WB's late ‘90s/early ‘00s supernatural drama, Combs landed the role of Ella Montgomery on Pretty Little Liars a mere four years later. Combs revealed discussed PPL during a ‘90s Con panel and explained what it was like seeing a new group of young actresses leading a show Combs (via People) also paid her younger co-stars a major compliment:
And you know what? It was kind of a mirror experience because I got to watch the girls go through a lot of what we did. They were far more professional than we were.
Considering the “Liars” actress were around the same age Combs was when she was on Charmed, it may have surreal for her to watch them work across those seven seasons. It’s no secret that there was drama on the set of Charmed. However, negative chatter didn't seem to swirl around the stars of PLL, and they still appear to be close. I really appreciate how Combs -- who played Ella Montgomery on the ABC Family show -- could be so honest about her and her co-stars' maturity levels during the early aughts.
It goes without saying that there are definitely some casts that work together better than others. When it comes to the cast of PPL, they seemed to have great chemistry on-screen, which is party why I say it remains one of the best teen drama series to stream. Of course, I don't want to take anything away from the stars of Charmed, as they're iconic in their own right.
Holly Marie Combs is also still very protective of Charmed. When The CW reboot was announced, she actually some salty words about the new show, as she was not pleased that the show was getting revamped. That aside, over the years, she's frequently reunited with her former co-stars at conventions, and she has a podcast with her on-screen husband Brian Krause and their on-screen son, Drew Fuller. The late Shannen Doherty was also part of the podcast until her death in 2024.
Despite how different Charmed and Pretty Little Liars were, it seems like Holly Marie Combs can draw positive elements from both working experiences. The actress certainly has a unique perspective in that she played a role in what are arguably two of the most iconic young adult series of all time. Needless to say, she and her various co-stars deserve their flowers, in spite of any issues that might have occurred.
You can stream all eight seasons of Charmed now using a Peacock subscription.
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