Ashley Benson may not have attended prom herself, but turns out the actress knows a thing or two about shopping for— and wearing— fancy dresses.

After all, there’s absolutely no question this girl can work it on the red carpet (just check the entire Spring Breakers press tour for evidence!), but she’s also the face of Faviana, the New York-based label that designs celebrity-inspired special occasion gowns.

We stopped by the company HQ recently to check out the new prom styles and get the lowdown on all the offerings from Ashley herself.

In between chatting about all things Spring Breakers-related, she filled us in on her new spokesmodel gig and the best parts about helping girls pick out dresses for their own big nights. She also dished on her signature red carpet steez, gearing towards “edgy, chic looks” that’s a more glamorous extension of her casual everyday uniform.

Oh, and one more thing: clearly we’re not the only ones obsessed with the Olsen twins around here, because Ashley admitted that MK&A have been her style icons since Day One (and still are today!). Get the scoop on all this and more in our interview!

Listen up PLL fans! We’ve got some good news for you — and some not-so-good news for our four Little Liars: Two new investigators are coming to the felony-filled town of Rosewood.

The Rosewood PD must not be doing its job (you think?!), because Sean Faris is joining the cast as state investigator Gabriel Holbrook. And EW exclusively learned that Faris won’t be showing up alone: Roma Maffia — known largely for her role as Dr. Liz Cruz on Nip/Tuck — will play Gabe’s partner, Linda Tanner. Maffia’s character will first appear in the fourth episode of the upcoming fourth season, which premieres June 11, and is another state investigator who ABC Family describes as “smart, patient, and with a military background.”

Will new law enforcement mean good things for the Liars? We certainly hope so, but based on what we’ve seen with certain detectives — ahem, Wilden (Bryce Johnson) — we’re willing to bet Gabe and Linda will start to question the girls almost immediately upon their arrival. But what does this mean for Wilden? Is he being demoted? Is he leaving Rosewood or — perhaps — dead?! And what case do you think is the reason for the introduction of state investigators? Our bet is that it has something to do with the mystery item the Liars found in Wilden’s trunk in the season three finale.

Regardless of why, Rosewood is bringing in the big guns, and with two new investigators in town, the only thing we’re sure of is that the Liars’ names will likely show up on a suspect list (or two).

In my review of “Spring Breakers” for The Suffolk Voice, I referred to it as our generation’s version of “Easy Rider.” It has the potential, like Dennis Hopper’s initial directorial masterpiece, to transform the way that this generation views movies altogether.

It could also change the way that films are financed so that auteurs are given more freedom, and so that people like Harmony Korine are given the resources that they need in order to make unhinged masterpieces like this.

However, Korine has never been one to be exempt from directorial freedom. The writer of “Kids” has made a handful of movies since 1996 that can, in the simplest way, described as experimental. They include “Gummo,” “Julien Donkey-Boy,” “Mister Lonely,” and most recently “Trash Humpers” – none of them receiving wide distribution. “Spring Breakers” has already grossed more than all of Korine’s other films COMBINED, in part due to the fact that it has a highly recognizable cast – including a role played by “Pretty Little Liars’” Ashley Benson.

The Suffolk Voice recently got the chance to interview Korine and Benson about “Spring Breakers.” The interview was completed over the phone with The Suffolk Voice along with other members of the press.

Harmony Korine: Hello, Ashley?

Ashley Benson: Hey Harm!

Harmony Korine: What’s up?

Ashley Benson: I don’t even know what we’re doing…

Harmony Korine: Me neither. Is anyone else here?

Press: How does music influence your writing and vision of films? Does it serve as a guiding force?

Harmony Korine: Music is a huge part; sound is a huge part; energy is a huge part. I listen to music constantly. Sound is half of what a film is. I definitely pay attention to it.

Press: Ashley, you’re known for your role in “Pretty Little Liars” – most of your audience knows you from that role… So why the huge jump to this?

Ashley Benson: I don’t know, I’ve been on that show for 4 years now and I feel as if people see me a certain way because of it. I wanted to do a film that was different than anything I’d ever done. I read Harmony’s script and I liked it. I wanted the chance to work with Harmony and James [Franco] and do something different.

Q: This film really starts off showing spring break as something like a wet dream, but it progressively evolves into more of a nightmare. Do you see spring break as a wet dream or a nightmare, or both?

Harmony Korine: A wet dream… Damn, wet dream… You know, I see it as it is in the movie. I guess if you want to say some of it’s a wet dream that’s okay, but it is what the movie is. It’s how it plays out. There are emotions, images, ambiguities, strangeness, and horrors all kind of mixed up and dancing together – kind of a cultural mash-up or interpretation of all these feelings.

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The Pretty Little Liars cast members have many talents: They are experts when it comes to lying, deceiving and surviving near-death experiences. At least, that’s what they do when the cameras are rolling. When the cameras are off, however, they prefer to have a little more fun. Example A? Keegan Allen recently posted a video to his Keek account of a handful of cast members taking a break from what appears to be a table read to join the Harlem Shake craze.

From what we can tell, cast members Ashley Benson, Keegan Allen, Shay Mitchell, Tyler Blackburn, Lucy Hale and Troian Bellisario are fans of dance breaks. Check out the video below!

If you’ve noticed Facebook and Twitter going red all of a sudden, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. The Human Rights Campaign, or HRC, released a red version of its equal sign logo, and Ashley Benson has joined in on the campaign that’s all over the place — and for good reason.

Ash Tweeted this short and sweet Tweet:

Live & let live. #MarriageEquality instagram.com/p/XVTVrEhEOP/— Ashley Benson (@AshBenzo) March 26, 2013

 

HRC is an org dedicated to LGBT rights, and the new red logo is specifically so people can show their support of marriage equality. Why red? “Red is a symbol for love, and that’s what marriage is all about,” said spokesperson Charlie Joughin. “We wanted to give people an opportunity to show their support for marriage equality in a public and visible way.”

Talk about marriage equality is especially big right now, because this week the Supreme Court is hearing arguments for two separate cases involving same-sex marriage. SCOTUS might issue one ruling for both cases, or separate rulings for each. And if you’re looking at a timeline, we may not know how the Court will rule until June.

Ashley and many others are going to social media to let the Supreme Court know how they feel about the issue. HRC started its viral red logo campaign yesterday, and by 4 pm, the logo had been shared more than 100,000 times on FB. Some people are changing their profile pics red — like Sophia Bush and Lance Bass on Twitter — while others are following Ashley’s lead by sharing the image with words of support. But this “Pretty Little Liar” tells nothing but the truth!

ABC Family is expanding the world of Pretty Little Liars with a spinoff. Ravenswood, from Pretty Little Liars executive producer Marlene King, will premiere in October.

Also on Tuesday, ABC Family greenlighted a fifth season of Pretty Little Liars just days after production on the fourth season began.

Ravenswood centers on a town not far from Rosewood, Penn., which has suffered under a deadly curse for generations. Five strangers find themselves connected by this fatal curse and need to dig into the town’s mysterious and terrible history before it’s too late for all of them. The series will premiere after this year’s Pretty Little Liars Halloween episode.

King, Oliver Goldstick, Joseph Dougherty and Leslie Morgenstein are executive producing Ravenswood.

The news comes after the March 19 season-three finale of Pretty Little Liars dominated social media and averaged nearly 3 million viewers for the premiere telecast. The season closer was the first time a TV series amassed more than 1 million tweets during its broadcast, accounting for one-third of Twitter activity.

“Pretty Little Liars is brand-defining and demo-defining for ABC Family,” channel president Michael Riley said. “We are proud to be able to grow the PLL franchise in two ways — both by adding additional seasons of the original and by extending the storytelling into a spinoff. Ravenswood will become another ‘must-tweet TV’ series for us.”

Said Kate Juergens, ABC Family’s executive vp original programming and development: “Pretty Little Liars has maintained the No. 1 spot in its cable time period in all core women demos since its premiere in 2010 with fans who are passionate, loyal, social and mobile. Ravenswood will have plenty of mystery, drama, friendships and suspense that will inspire the same dedication from its fans. We are very excited about both series.”

Pretty Little Liars has proved to be an invaluable property for ABC Family. Based on the Sara Shepard novels, the drama has served as a launchpad for new network series like The Lying Game and sneak peek of upcoming murder mystery Twisted, which will lead out of Pretty Little Liars in the summer.

On the new season of Pretty Little Liars, the Liars strive to make sense of the mysterious Red Coat and what plans he or she might have in store for them.

Pretty Little Liars is the latest property eyed for expansion in the past few months: The CW is mulling a potential The Vampire Diaries spinoff with The Originals, and NCIS: LA is looking to add NCIS: Red to its growing franchise.

Pretty Little Liars returns for season four at 8 p.m. June 11 on ABC Family.

It’s a tough decision, but Rachel Korine, Ashley Benson and Selena Gomez reveal their Movie Award picks for “Best Musical Moment” on Rated MTV, airing Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

If you’ve been anxiously anticipating the release of Spring Breakers—in theaters today, starring Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and James Franco—you might be interested to know that there are now stylish souvenirs up for grabs.

Opening Ceremony has unveiled a playful clothing and accessories range inspired by the racy flick and designed by stylist Heidi Bivens, just in time for beachside hijinks, wild bar-hopping and other mischevious activities the young kids entertain themselves with these days.

Given that Gomez, Hudgens and their costars are scantily clad in bikinis throughout the movie, it should come to no surprise that there are, of course, a few colorful teeny, tiny two-pieces offered in the collection, as well as screen-printed tanks, tees, hoodies, bandanas and rubber wristbands (emblazoned with “Spring Break 4Ever Bitches”) available for purchase.

Maddie: Pretty Little Liars’ finale was amazing! Any scoop on season four?
Episode three of the new season is called “Cat’s Cradle” and will introduce fans to a Tim Burton-ish character named Hector Lime, an unkempt sculptor who makes props and statues for horror movies. Oh, and he specializes in masks. Hmmm…