Pretty Little Liars: Lucy Hale almost turned down the toon 

Lucy Hale almost turned down her role on

fans know and love almost didn’t exist. In a new interview with Cosmopolitan.com, Lucy Hale revealed that she almost didn’t accept the role on the hit Freeform show.

“I was offered another pilot, but my gut kept telling me to go towards 

Pretty Little Liars,” Hale said. “There was just something about that name that kept replaying in my head and I knew that that was probably the right decision to make.”

Hale explained that the other offer had bigger stars, among other things, which tempted her. “It’s very easy to get excited about the glitz and glam of something, or how much you’re getting paid for something, or get distracted by who else is involved,” Hale said. “But I think the reason I made the choice for PLL was that creatively it really excited me … You can be advised by really great people, family, friends, agents, managers, publicists, hairstylists, whatever it is. It’s always great to surround yourself with wonderful people, but at the end of the day, you’re left with yourself. And I think that inner voice that you have is the strongest and most important.”

More than seven years later, we have that inner voice to thank for the small but mighty Aria.