Lea Salonga has been cast as a series regular in the reboot of the drama series Pretty Little Liars. She will play a character named Elodie, the mother of Minnie, played by Malia Pyles.
Also cast in the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is Sharon Leal, a Filipino-American actress who appeared in the movie Dreamgirls. She will play Sidney, the mom of Tabby, who is played by Chandler Kinney.
The news was reported by Deadline.
Besides Salonga and Leal, the new cast announcements include Elena Goode, Carly Pope, and Zakiya Young. Previously announced cast members include Chandler Kinney, Maia Reficco, Bailee Madison, Zaria, Malia Pyles, Alex Aiono, Mallory Bechtel and Eric Johnson.
The original Pretty Little Liars first aired from 2010 to 2017 on the basic cable channel Freeform before moving to ABC Family. It centered around a group of best friends whose leader disappears. Afterwards, each of the girls start receiving messages from someone named "A." The series has since been spun off into two other spin-offs: Ravenswood, and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.
The reboot will air on HBO's streaming service HBO Max.
Salonga is best-known as a Tony and Laurence Olivier-winning musical theater actress. She had previously appeared in the 2019 musical drama film Yellow Rose.
Besides Dreamgirls, Leal, whose mother is Filipino, also appeared in films like This Christmas, Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too? and TV shows Legacy, Guiding Light, and Boston Public.
The casting announcement follows two other Hollywood castings of Filipino talents in recent weeks. In August, Lovi Poe was cast in the film The Chelsea Cowboy opposite Alex Pettyfer and Poppy Delevingne, while Inigo Pascual is part of the TV series Monarch along with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon.
