On Set With the ‘We Were Liars’ Costume Designer: Fitting Room Stories, Set Life and Cast Bonds (EXCL)
From what a day on set looks like to who she liked working with, she held nothing back
E. Lockhart’s best-selling summer mystery novel, We Were Liars, swept readers away when it first hit shelves in 2014. And now, nine years after its initial release, Amazon Prime Video adapted it into an eight-episode series filled with just as many twists and turns as the text it was based on. But what exactly goes into creating a book-to-screen adaptation? And how do they make beloved characters authentically come to life? Well, Woman’s World recently sat down with the We Were Liars costume designer, Amanda Riley, to discover what went on behind the scenes. Read on for more.
The ‘We Were Liars’ costume designer shares behind-the-scenes secrets
We Were Liars follows 17-year-old Cadence (played by Emily Alyn Lind), who returns to her family’s private island determined to figure out what really happened the previous summer. While there, she reconnects with her cousins and never-revealed secrets soon emerge.
“I had seen the book. I didn’t know about it, but the second I got the call, I literally devoured it in one day,” Riley told Woman’s World. “I just kept reading and when I finally made it to the end, it took me a while to kind of come down from that huge plot twist.”
“Once I became the costume designer, I just felt the responsibility to do the written material justice,” she continued. “We’re telling a story that is quite an important one, which was something that really touched me, and I wanted to work hard to make sure that I was able to fulfill all of that.”
As mentioned above, the show follows a teenager and her underage cousins, but it also features several scenes with adults. While designing a specific look for them could be challenging for some costume designers, Riley said she enjoyed it.
“I think that the actual story itself does such a good job of setting up the archetypes of who these characters are,” she said. “When we get into each individual’s backstory and the different things that have brought them to this particular summer, we learn that each of the characters is quite different from one another.”
The same can be said for the actors and actresses as well, because according to Riley, they were all so “collaborative” and easy to work with.
“I think Mireen Sincalir’s [played by Ester McGregor] costumes were my absolute favorite,” she noted. “She was just always so ready to try and see what we could create to mix and match pieces together. But truthfully, I had fun with each and every one of them, because on a series like this, we’re going for six months, so these fittings become full-on hangs. I think Emily [Alyn Lind] and I have had fittings that have lasted upwards of five and six hours on a Saturday, and that really bonds you.”
What a normal day on set looks like
Many movie lovers always wonder what a normal day on set looks like for both the cast and the crew, and Riley is willing to share some secrets regarding the We Were Liars set specifically.
“You come in in the morning, depending on if you’re filming or not, and once filming has started, you’re off to the races,” Riley said. “It’s fun, it’s intense, it’s fast moving and has a very small margin for errors of anything at all. You’re also working with a great, big team of people and there’s something really fun about just having everybody together. You’re eating lunch six hours after you get in, surviving on coffeeand then hopefully having a bag of chips or something like that for dinner.”
Riley also suggests that if you aspire to become one of those people, just remain hopeful, hardworking and never give up.
“We’re dealing with changes in the world with AI and all of these things, but I always like to inspire people who are interested in doing this kind of work to continue to just keep the dream alive,” she said. “One thing that has really helped me is working under people who have a lot of experience. Find ways to intern and pursue your own projects. Stay creative and follow your dreams.
“I am just a young girl from Wisconsin who had a job when I was 13 years old, and moved to LA by myself. If I can do it, anybody’s dreams can come true. I just want to inspire anybody interested in taking something on, especially in the industry, that there’s always going to be room, there’s always time, and just continue to follow your heart, because it will lead you where you need to go.”
Be sure to stream Season 1 of We Were Liars on Amazon Prime Video now.
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