Actress Shay Mitchell doesn't mind if
folks think she's gay.
The 25-year-old Mitchell currently
plays Emily Fields in ABC Family's mystery drama Pretty Little
Liars. Her character is considered the group's “jock” and is
openly gay.
In a cover interview for Teen Vogue,
Mitchell said that she had no trepidation about playing a lesbian.
“The casting directors told me Emily
was gay and asked if I was cool with that, but I didn't have to think
twice,” Mitchell
said. “I have a lot of friends who are gay; my aunt had a
girlfriend. It's just normal. And the way that fans have reacted
[to my portrayal of Emily] has been amazing: I'm not playing the
gothic chick dressed in all black who eats lunch in the corner and is
a lesbian. If you look at the poster, you wouldn't necessarily be
able to pinpoint which one of us is the lesbian, and that was really
important to me.”
“People always ask me, 'Are you gay
like your character?' But I don't feel like I need to answer,
because honestly, it doesn't matter. And it means so much to me when
someone says, 'Thank you for playing this role.' It's one thing to
entertain people, but it's something else to actually have a small
impact on their life in a positive way, and that's why it's important
for me to meet my fans. Whenever there's a meet and greet, whenever
I can do a signing, I love that.”