Here’s what Shay said about getting cast in Pretty Little Liars: “I was living in Canada at the time and I got the pilot script from my manager in L.A. So I put myself on tape for one of the characters, and they came back saying, ‘We’ve already cast her, can you audition for this one?’ So I went out to L.A. two days later, auditioned for the network and the studio, and the same week found out that I’d landed the part. Then it was on to getting a visa. We shot the pilot a month after in Canada, so it all worked out. But otherwise…”

On how much TV has changed in the last 20 years, Shay commented, “There’s tweeting. My show is one of the top five most talked about on Twitter. Who would have thought that we’d be on set, doing a scene, and then turning around and tweeting a photo from behind the scenes? Every single director who comes into our show has to do that too. When you’re off set, you’re still working all the time now.”

On the most difficult part of audition for TV: “You still have to go through the whole testing process, and then you’re at a whole other level.”

On whether auditioning on tape is more conducive for TV: “I think so. At the end of the day, if you get close enough to that position, you are going to have to audition in front of them anyway. It depends on what the project is or what the script is. In certain cases I do feel more comfortable on tape, because I can do it 500 times and pick the one that I like the best. But then in other cases I like to get in the room and for them to feel my energy.”

Source: Backstage, Backstage