Coverage: Pretty Little Liars’ Shay Mitchell 1st Ever Manila Press Conference

TV Actress Shay Mitchell is currently in the Philippines for vacation only with her family but ETC channel managed to do a promo for the Pretty Little Liars star while she’s here in Manila.

The half-Filipina actress is off to Palawan while on break from her busy schedules but she manages to squeeze a few hours yesterday to meet members of the press (including Orange Magazine TV) and some of her Filipino fans she called Mitchies who won a meet&greet passes from ETC.

Shay Mitchell arrived at Makati Shangri-La Hotel with her lovely mother, Precious, who immediately connect with the invited press because of their bubbly personality. The event was hosted by Cerah Hernandez, a DJ from RX 93.1 FM.

Shay Mitchell stars in the thrilling one-hour drama Pretty Little Liars as Emily Fields, a quiet, athletic girl who has come to terms with her sexual orientation, but still struggles over the loss of her friend Alison and, now, the tragic murder of her girlfriend, Maya.

Mitchell, born Shannon to a Filipino mother and Irish/Scottish father, is a native of Toronto, Canada. Even as a young child, Mitchell was interested in the performing arts, declaring to her parents that she would pursue such a career. She began dance lessons at the age of 5, and she and several of her classmates toured the city to compete with a variety of other dance schools.

At the age of 10, Mitchell’s family moved west to Vancouver, British Columbia. Within a year, an international modeling agency had an open casting call for teen and pre-teen girls who were vying for representation, and Mitchell was one of the girls selected.

By her late teens, Mitchell had successfully modeled for a variety of companies in cities as varied as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Barcelona. Wanting to focus on her true passion, Mitchell returned to Toronto and began to study acting with great focus and determination. Her hard work paid off and, after signing with her first theatrical agency, she appeared in the hit series DeGrassi: The Next Generation and booked several national commercials. She also landed a recurring role in the Disney series Aaron Stone, is featured in the music video for international recording artist Sean Paul’s hit song “Hold My Hand” and appears in the series Rookie Blue.

During the press conference, Shay Mitchell talks a lot about how proud she was being a half-Pinay, and proved it by saying how much she loves Filipino foods (she mentioned she have tried eating at Goldilocks, Red Ribbon, and Jollibee) like pansit and her favorite, turon. Although this was her very first visit to the Philippines, she managed to speak Filipino words fluently. She also suggest that Filipinos should be proud of our moreno/morena look.

She also gamely answers all questions about her TV character and her co-stars, what’s it like playing a lesbian at Pretty Little Liars, her connection to Lea Salonga, her vacation plans, and her hopes to do a movie project here in the Philippines.

Check out our complete video coverage for her press conference + meet & greet with the Filipino Mitchies below:

After the press conference, Shay Mitchell met some of her Filipino Mitchies, who were given a chance to ask a few questions and give their gifts to the lovely actress. She even did the “mirror” pose!

And check out her reactions to the gifts given to her by her fans:

Shay Mitchell also stayed for a couple more minutes to do a photo opportunity and Orange Magazine TV managed to get an EXCLUSIVE video message which you will all find below. May we add that even though she looked gorgeous already in our photos, she is actually much. much prettier in person!

Watch Shay Mitchell’s video message below:

Kick off the New Year with the return of Pretty Little Liars Season 3 on ETC. With the “A-team” taking control of the game, can the Pretty Little Liars put the clues together to finally reveal “A’s” cruel plans? Premiering this January 12, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Match aired with the U.S., the mid-season premiere looks to unravel more deception and drama as we get closer to discovering who’s behind all the lies and trickery.