HERE’S LUCY

‘Liars’ star Hale earns a ‘Life Sentence’ on The CW

LUCY Hale’s breakout role on “Pretty Little Liars” consumed most of her 20s — which is why she wanted her next starring series role to be very different.

“When you’re part of something for so long, I think people kind of pigeonhole you,” says Hale, 28, who co-starred on the ABC Family/Freeform drama from 2010 to 2017. “A lot of things that were coming my way were great but very similar to [‘Pretty Little Liars’]: A mystery or a death or a girl on the run. After eight years of doing all that, I wanted to do something on the complete opposite end.”

The “opposite end” turned out to be The CW dramedy “Life Sen

tence,” premiering Wednesday at 9 p.m. It follows Stella (Hale), a cancer patient who lives every day like it’s her last. In the series opener, Stella is suddenly cured — but she also discovers that, in an effort to keep her ailing years blissful, her family has been shielding her from many secrets.

“We’ve all seen sappy cancer movies, and we typically always know the end,” says Hale. “And so the creators [Erin Cardillo and ‘Fuller House’s’ Richard Keith] were like, ‘What if we took this idea and flip it on its head? The Manic Pixie Dream Girl doesn’t die, but she has to live with all these choices she made while living like she was dying.’ ”

Hale’s preparation for “Life Sentence” was made easier by her familiarity with the subject matter; she’s a fan of the cancer movie genre it simultaneously pays homage to and pokes fun at. “I love those films like ‘The Fault in our Stars’ and ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ and ‘Sweet November,’ a classic one with Keanu Reeves,” she says. “And I had grown up in Memphis, Tenn., the home of St. Jude’s [Children’s Research Hospital]. I’ve been to St Jude’s dozens of times.”

Since she was well-versed in most of the show’s subject matter, Hale focused her research on its medical jargon. She was surprised to discover that Stella’s cure isn’t fictional.

“I didn’t realize [oncolytic virotherapy] was truly a real thing,” she says. “It’s very rare, but what they do is infect the cancer patient with a disease that normally is harmful to humans. It kills the cancer cells but leaves the healthy cells alone. I read a lot of articles [about that]. It’s amazing.”

Hale says she expects “Life Sentence” to attract a mixed audience of “Pretty Little Liars” fans and new viewers.

“What was so great about ‘PLL’ is that the fan base is so passionate and supportive,” she says. “So I’m expecting a lot of that audience. But the show is about a dysfunctional family, so hopefully we’ll be drawing in some new viewers.”

Hale was already attached to “Life Sentence” during the final season of “Pretty Little Liars,” which aired last June.

“I instantly fell in love with it,” she says. “It was scary to take thatt plunge [into leading a new show], but I’m really glad I did it. It’s been the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced — it’s been the most weightt on my shoulders and the busiest I’ve ever been.

“I’ve never worked this hard for something.”