Spencer Hastings
From Iwe
| Spencer Hastings | ||
| Pretty Little Liars character | ||
| Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings in the television series | ||
| First appearance | Pretty Little Liars (2006) | |
| Created by | Sara Shepard | |
| Portrayed by | Troian Bellisario | |
| Voiced by | Cassandra Morris (Pretty Little Liars–Wanted) Katie Schorr (The Liars) | |
| In-universe information | ||
| Full name | Spencer Jill Hastings | |
| Alias | Television: Jane Doe • Mary Smith | |
| Nickname | Television: Jane Bond • Harriet the Spy • Doctor Amateur • Veronica Mars • Lucy Liu • Nikita • Nancy Drew • Velma • Spence | |
| Occupation | Novel: College student Legal Aid Television: "A" (formerly) Law student Paralegal at the Hastings & Hastings firm | |
| Affiliation | The Liars The A-Team (formerly) | |
| Spouse | Television: Toby Cavanaugh (husband) | |
| Significant other | Novel: Ian Thomas (flirt) Wren Kingston (boyfriend) Colin DeSoto (crush) Zach Pennythistle (flirt) Andrew Campbell (ex-boyfriend) Reefer Fredricks (ex-boyfriend) Television: Ian Thomas (kissed) Alex Santiago (ex-boyfriend) Wren Kingston (kissed) Caleb Rivers (ex-boyfriend) Marco Furey (sexual relationship) Jonny Raymond (kissed) Colin (kissed) | |
| Nationality | American | |
| Hometown | Rosewood, Pennsylvania | |
| Alma mater | Novel: Princeton University Television: Georgetown University (formerly, graduated) | |
| Family and relatives | ||
| Parents | Novel: Veronica Hastings (mother) Peter Hastings (father) Television: Mary Drake (biological mother) Peter Hastings (father) Veronica Hastings (adoptive mother) | |
| Siblings | Novel: Melissa Hastings Alison and Courtney DiLaurentis (half-sisters) Television: Alex Drake (younger twin sister) Melissa Hastings (paternal half-sister) Charlotte Drake (maternal half-sister; deceased) Jason DiLaurentis (paternal half-brother) | |
| Relatives in the novels | Daniel (maternal uncle) Genevieve (maternal aunt) Jonathan (cousin) Smith (cousin) Penelope (paternal aunt) Duncan (great-great-great grandfather) | |
| Relatives in television | Alison DiLaurentis (maternal cousin) Jessica Drake (maternal aunt) Grace DiLaurentis-Fields (first cousin once removed ; by Alison) Lily DiLaurentis-Fields (first cousin once removed ; by Alison) Daniel Cavanaugh (father-in-law) Marion Cavanaugh (mother-in-law; deceased) Mrs. Cavanaugh (step mother-in-law) Jenna Marshall (step sister-in-law) | |
| Seasons | 1–7 | |
Spencer Jill Hastings is a fictional character, one of the five main characters who appeared in the Pretty Little Liars novels and its television adaptation. Created by American author Sara Shepard, she is member of the group known as the Liars, and is best friend to the four other members, who are also protagonists. She is portrayed by Troian Bellisario in the television series. The character was developed for television by the series' showrunner I. Marlene King, and appeared in each of the show's 160 episodes during its seven-years-long run, from its premiere on June 8, 2010 to its finale on June 27, 2017. Spencer is known in the fictional town of Rosewood for her sophisticated charm, intelligence, hardheadedness, and, at times, dangerous dedication to achieve her life goals. She is part of the very wealthy, powerful family; Spencer's parents, Veronica and Peter, are both linked to politics and her sister, Melissa is an equally accomplished grad student.
For her role as Spencer, Bellisario was nominated thrice for Choice Summer TV Star: Female in the Teen Choice Awards, in which she won once. She was also nominated twice for Choice TV Actress: Drama, in which she won one of the two nominations.
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[edit] Character in print
Spencer is one of four primary protagonists in all sixteen of the Pretty Little Liars novels, starting with 2006's Pretty Little Liars. She is portrayed as a competitive girl who strives for perfection in everything she does. Spencer is willing to do whatever it takes to win, often to the detriment of herself and others. She is known to have a dark side and suffers from rage-induced black outs, which leads her to question whether she had anything to do with the death of her friend Alison. She also exhibits symptoms of OCD but it is never confirmed whether she has the disorder.
In later books, Spencer is briefly addicted to drugs, which she takes to help her improve her grades at a University of Pennsylvania summer school. It is also revealed that her father had an affair with Jessica DiLaurentis around the time of Spencer's conception, making her the half-sister of Alison and Courtney DiLaurentis.
Spencer has an ongoing rivalry with her older sister, Melissa, who is equally competitive. The two slowly come to an understanding and eventually have an improved relationship.
[edit] Relationships
- Ian Thomas: Spencer and Ian kissed while he was dating Melissa and their flirtation was condemned by Alison, who threatened to expose it to Melissa.
- Wren Kim: Wren is Melissa's fiance who moves into the Hastings' barn with Melissa. He and Spencer flirt, culminating in them kissing and being caught by Melissa, who breaks up with Wren and kicks him out. Spencer and Wren continue to secretly date, but eventually break up. In the final book, Spencer reconnects with Wren and they begin a relationship, with Melissa's blessing.
- Colin DeSoto: A handsome young man that Spencer and Melissa meet with they are visiting their grandparents in the companion novel Pretty Little Secrets. Spencer and Melissa compete for his affections but when they find out that Colin is actually a 33-year-old married man with a child, they team up to get back at him by spiking his soda water with Viagra before a tennis match.
- Chase and Curtis: After enlisting a blogger's help in finding "A", Spencer meets with blogger Chase and they share a mutual romantic attraction. However, she later discovers that the guy she thought was Chase was actually his brother, Curtis. She meets the real Chase at the end of the novel; though they do not begin an official relationship, it is implied that they will stay in touch. Throughout the final book, the two become closer during their mission to take down "A" and her accomplice.
[edit] Character on screen
[edit] Casting
[edit] Characterization
Spencer is similar to her book counterpart: she is portrayed as a highly ambitious, intelligent young woman from a wealthy family who frequently competes with her older sister Melissa for accolades and the approval of their parents. However, in the show, Spencer is portrayed as more emotional and sentimental, and more humorous than her book counterpart. She's the most academically gifted of her friends, and in the running for valedictorian. Spencer is on the Rosewood Day field hockey team, and plays tennis at her family's country club. She was the only one who could ever stand up to Alison, although she still deferred to Alison.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Season 1
Spencer Hastings is a preppy, ambitious, and competitive student who strives for perfection due to her parents' high expectations. She is resentful of her older sister Melissa, to whom she is always compared to. Spencer is attracted to her sister's fiancé, Wren, whom A warns Spencer to stay away from. Wren kisses Spencer and they are caught by Melissa, who insists that Wren move out. Melissa is angry and resentful towards Spencer afterwards. Spencer feels especially guilty because years earlier, she flirted with Melissa's boyfriend Ian and he kissed her, culminating in his break up with Melissa. She attempts to help Wren reconcile with Melissa but both parties are uninterested.
Spencer starts dating Alex Santiago who works at her family's country club. Her mother initially dislikes him, but later reveals it is because she is embarrassed that she drunkenly revealed her breast cancer scare to him. Alex confides in Spencer that he had received an invitation to a prestigious tennis clinic but was uninterested in pursuing it. A sends Alex's application to the clinic and fakes messages that Spencer sent the application, which causes Alex to break up with her, believing that Spencer betrayed his trust.
Spencer is the most suspicious and paranoid of the group, and she opposes Emily's friendship with Toby. But after the two spend time together in a motel room in the episode "Person of Interest", the two begin a romantic relationship. Spencer's family disapproves of their relationship and "A" also conspires to keep them apart. Nevertheless, Spencer insists on staying with Toby.
Ian returns to Rosewood as Spencer's field hockey coach and he reconciles with Melissa, which makes Spencer nervous given their past relationship. Spencer becomes concerned when Melissa and Ian suddenly elope and Melissa becomes pregnant, especially after it is revealed that Alison had a secret relationship with Ian, making him a suspect in her murder.
Spencer and the rest of the Liars strongly begin to believe that Ian was Alison's murderer and he realizes that Spencer knows about his relationship with Alison. The two have a tense relationship and Ian successfully convinces the Hastings family that Spencer's erratic behavior is due to jealousy of him and Melissa. Spencer sends anonymous text messages to Ian, threatening to expose him. When Spencer and Melissa get into a car accident, Spencer goes back to the church to get Melissa's phone, where Ian is waiting. He reveals that he knows Spencer is behind the messages and attempts to kill her but he is then attacked by a mysterious figure, who then kills Ian. The rest of the Liars join Spencer and call the police but when the police arrive, Ian's body is gone.
A flashback reveals that Spencer and Alison got into a major argument on the night of her disappearance, suggesting Spencer is also a suspect in Alison's murder.
