12 Dates of Christmas allowed Lucy Hale and Ian Harding to play love interests again after Pretty Little Liars — but do they have plans to reunite again in the future?
“From your lips to God’s ears. How fun would that be?” Hale, 37, said during an exclusive interview with Us, to which Harding, 40, replied, “What if we just went through every genre?”
The pair suggested a horror movie next where they are a “newly married couple” but one of them “is a ghost.” For Hale, the project didn’t matter as long as she got to share the screen again with Harding.
“Ian actually is the best. I love working with you. I love you as a person,” she told him. “And it was just nice to have all that built in history and something new to do.”
Harding felt the same way, adding, “It was so fantastic. We were kind of remarking on this earlier about how we just stepped back into it. There’s the novelty of a new movie, a new set that you’re on and your very first day. Maybe there’s a little bit of jitters but I felt that way for about seven seconds and then it just was good to be back and getting to play with a dear friend.”
Hale and Harding captured our hearts when they played Aria and Ezra, respectively, in Pretty Little Liars. After the show came to an end in 2017, Hale and Harding weren’t in a rush to find their next collaboration.
“This was our first attempt and our last. No, I’m kidding,” she quipped. “This was our first attempt. Of course we’ve kept in touch here and there. But we live across the country from each other.”
Hale continued: “I just thought he was perfect for this and I was hopeful that he would say yes.”
Harding was thrilled at the prospect of sharing the screen with Hale again, telling Us, “I obviously enjoyed working with Lucy many years ago and I also know the love that people have for that show and perhaps even our dynamic. So I didn’t want to waste it on something ridiculous and so I loved this idea because it kind of plays on certain tropes. I just wanted to really play with her so this gave us the vehicle to do it.”
12 Dates of Christmas follows a woman who has prioritized her work life over her personal life and is persuaded to go on 12 dates in 12 weeks just in time for Christmas. One of the disastrous dates was played by Carter Jenkins, which served as a throwback for Hale after she went out with the actor in real life.
“I’ve known since I was 15. He was actually my first boyfriend. That was my first boyfriend and we’ve been friends ever since,” Hale told Us. “He’s the best. I can’t remember where he took me on a date. I think the date was a movie he was in. And I think we got sushi with his mom after.”
While Hale’s character went on 12 disastrous dates, the actress didn’t pull much inspiration from her life, telling Us, “I’ve been fairly lucky. I never did the dating thing in my 20s. I was always in monogamous relationships. But I did do a fair share of dating a couple of years ago. But I must be very lucky because I don’t have any disastrous dates. Compared to [my character] Christina in [the] movie, nothing too crazy.”
12 Dates of Christmas is streaming now on Hulu.
