The “Pretty Little Liars” star is our July 2012 Girl Crush.

As the daughter of a Filipino mother and Irish/Scottish father, the Toronto, Canada native actress Shay Mitchell had a hard time in high school. Featured in the August 2012 issue of Seventeen Magazine, Shay says “All my friends had fair complexions and blue eyes–in high school, I was an outcast.” From juggling friends to not appreciating her natural beauty, Shay Mitchell is one star we can all relate to.

After moving to Los Angeles when she was out of school, Shay auditioned for the role of Emily on “Pretty Little Liars.” The very next day, she learned she had gotten the role.

Shay has made appearances on “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” and “Rookie Blue,” though her real claim to fame is through ABC Family’s addictive hit drama. Shay said to Seventeen Magazine that this season on “PLL,” Emily will learn things about Maya that she never had known and there will be three or four new characters coming into Emily’s life. Shay said, “Emily finds out she didn’t know Maya as well as she thought she did. In fact, Maya’s secrets may have led to her violent and tragic death.”

Although playing the role of a girl who is in love with another girl may have caused some controversy, we can all agree that Emily is inspiring. The fact that she is a competitive high school swimmer, or was, is inspiring enough. Emily stands up for what she believes in on the show and stays true to herself. She might not always do the right thing, but she definitely has great impulses. Plus, she has three very stylish and cool best friends – not to mention her perfectly styled hair. We at Pink and Black have a major case of hair envy for Shay Mitchell’s natural brunette waves. Can you believe that she used to straighten her hair in school?

Along with Emily’s good intentions, Shay is passionate about inspiring people. She posts what she calls “Take a Moments” to her Twitter account every day – or at least when she can. These are inspirational quotes that Shay sees on photos. The goal is to literally get people to ‘take a moment’ and read them. How cool is that?

If you want to see more of Shay you can catch her on “Pretty Little Liars” every Tuesday night at 8/7c on ABC Family.

Follow Shay on Twitter

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