Emily Alyn Lind Has A Theory About That We Were Liars Twist Ending

Emily Alyn Lind was left in “utter shock” after reading the ending to E. Lockhart’s 2014 novel, We Were Liars. “I pride myself in calling out a twist before it happens,” the 23-year-old actor tells Elite Daily, but what happens to Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat is something she never saw coming.

Fans of the new Prime Video series were also not expecting such a dramatic reveal (unless they’d read the source material prior). “People online are saying ‘I thought I was going to watch a little summer show and then they did this to me,’” Lind says. “There’s something so beautiful about knowing that the work we did was able to come through how we intended it to.”

Spoiler alert: The rest of this post discusses the We Were Liars finale.

In We Were Liars, which came out June 18, Cadence “Cady” Sinclair (Lind) attempts to piece together what happened to her two summers ago with the help of her cousins, Johnny (Joseph Zada) and Mirren (Esther McGregor), and family friend Gat (Shubham Maheshwari). It’s revealed in the finale that the Liars set their family’s house on fire, and Cady was the only one of them to survive.

After the ghostly revelation, We Were Liars becomes an entirely new watch. “There are so many Easter eggs,” Lind says. Some fans have even gone back to find the subtle foreshadowing they missed the first time around, and there’s a debate on TikTok about whether or not the Liars are ghosts or just hallucinations. Lind says that according to co-creator Carina Adly MacKenzie, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are spirits from beyond, though she’d like to believe there’s more to it than just the supernatural. “There’s something very metaphorical about the fact that they come to her mostly when she’s under the influence,” she says.

In the final episode, Cady’s aunt and Johnny’s mother, Carrie (Mamie Gummer), starts seeing her late son when she ditches her sobriety, which feeds into Lind’s theory that “when we’re under the influence, we see the ghosts.” This revelation, plus the 2022 prequel novel Family of Liars, leaves room for a second season of We Were Liars, which showrunner Julie Plec has already said she has ideas for.

As for coming back to Cady, Lind says, “There’s nothing I would like more than to go to Beechwood Island with my friends.” She also knows that her character is “not safe from this family, especially her grandfather, who knows what she did.”

Prime Video hasn’t confirmed a Season 2 of We Were Liars, but it would have to be a minute before they could return anyway because Zada is set to star as young Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. When Lind found out her co-star had landed the role, she called him right away. “I knew that he was going out for it, and I knew he’d get it because he’s so charming,” she says. “I knew he was going to be a movie star, and I don’t say that lightly. He really is a special person, and I’m so f*cking proud of him.”

There’s a bit more excitement that comes from seeing people discover something by themselves.

Zada is joining Lind’s former Gossip Girl co-star Whitney Peak in the Hunger Games prequel. The 23-year-old says she’s still close with her GG castmates. “I hang out all the time with Thomas [Doherty] and Eli [Brown]. I love everyone so much.”

Although Gossip Girl and We Were Liars may share some teen drama DNA, Lind emphasizes that the two shows are “so different.” “Gossip Girl had this built-in network of people who loved this show before, and then we came in with this continuation. It was a weird situation,” she says. “There’s a bit more excitement that comes from seeing people discover something by themselves.”

Lind’s also looking forward to her next project, Pretty Babies. The indie drama directed by Tyler-Marie Evans also stars Ashley Benson, Madelaine Petsch, and Sadie Stanley. “We all had dinner the other night,” Lind says. “The movie will be a lot different than We Were Liars. We’re ready to get our feet dirty and have a great time.”

As she prepares for her next chapter while awaiting a potential return to Beechwood Island, Lind dishes on her favorite book-to-screen adaptations and the last show she marathon-watched.

Elite Daily: What’s your favorite memory from making We Were Liars?

Emily Alyn Lind: We were filming in this little town called Lunenburg [in Nova Scotia, Canada], and one night we all met up and played Scrabble, drank beer, and ate pizza from the only place that was open. It kind of felt like summer camp. There was something so magical about the isolation. It was very dreamlike.

ED: We Were Liars reunites Julie Plec, Carina Adly MacKenzie, and Candice King from the Vampire Diaries universe. Did you watch the show?

EAL: I watched it when I was really young. I really liked Damon. It’s so funny that he is such a classic toxic man that we just all swooned over.

ED: What was the last TV show you marathon-watched?

EAL: My little sister’s [Alyvia Alyn Lind] new TV show that’s coming out on Netflix called Wayward. It’s f*cking amazing. It’s not out yet, but she got a screener.

ED: What is your dream summer vacay?

EAL: Majorca, Spain.

ED: Who is your favorite fictional ghost?

EAL: Sylvie and the Ghost. It’s a French film.

ED: What’s your favorite plot twist from any movie or TV show?

EAL: I love Gone Girl. I love Zodiac. Any [David] Fincher film usually has a great plot twist.

ED: What is your favorite comfort watch?

EAL: The Social Network.

ED: What is your favorite book-to-screen adaptation?

EAL: Christine Vachon did a great Mildred Pierce adaptation. Also, Burning and Drive My Car — the [Haruki] Murakami adaptations are really good. I have a list of my favorites on Letterboxd.

ED: What’s your Top 4 on Letterboxd?

EAL: I don’t have an overall Top 4. For comedies, I love Raising Arizona or This Is Spinal Tap. For drama, I'm going to go Phantom Thread, In a Lonely Place, and What Happened Was. Thriller/action is going to be No Country for Old Men tied with Zodiac, tied with Night of the Hunter. And then for documentaries, American Movie, Streetwise, and Rolling Thunder Revue.

ED: What is your current favorite fashion or beauty trend?

EAL: I love suiting on women. I love an androgynous look. And then, either a fresh face or an extremely black eye. Go all or nothing. And always a red lip, because I can’t not say that.

ED: Who do you predict will be on your Spotify Wrapped?

EAL: I’ve been listening to a lot of Loudon Wainwright. And Father John Misty, Adrianne Lenker, Leonard Cohen, and Neil Young, too. Also, Bob Dylan, obviously. I just don’t want to say that all the time.

ED: Who is your dream co-star?

EAL: It would’ve been Philip Seymour Hoffman. I think now I would die to work with Daniel Day-Lewis. Clint Eastwood directed me, but before that, I would’ve loved to work with Clint Eastwood as an actor.

ED: What are you manifesting next?

EAL: To finish the scripts that I’m working on and get them made.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.