People always bash Vanessa Ray (CeCe) and Lindsey Shaw (Paige)'s acting, but imo I'd rather watch their scenes on PLL than a solo scene of Shay Mitchell imo.
I like Emily and she's a decent character but Shay was clearly added to the show based on her basic generic beauty.
Ashley Benson's acting is underrated imo
Shay feels more hired for her looks, but she does have decent moments. She needs A LOT of work with channeling her emotions. It feels like Emily has become Shay in real life instead of Emily, the fictional character.
Never was a fan of Paige, but Lindsey's acting is pretty good and so is Vanessa's.
Ashley definitely seems to have more chops than people are willing to credit her for
Keegan is wooden as all get out that even his villain-esque phase was a let down. Villains definitely need to have more emotional range because of how dark they can be made. I could get more emotion out of a stick than Keegan will ever reach.
Dre.. I'm just going to say this.. UGH! I couldn't stand her and she's just as wooden as Keegan.
Troian is the strongest with Sasha in second and follow that up with Janel.
Out of the Liars, Shay definitely is the weakest, but she's not completely hopeless; experience and some acting classes could go a long way for her. If she gets casts in anything else besides her recent projects, she will be nothing more than a plaything for people's eyes to ogle. Do I think she'll become the best thing out there? No, but she could get more out of it.
I agree with the assessment the others have made. Shay is definitely the worst of the main 4 (or 6 if you include Janel and Sasha). But Lindsey and Vanessa are actually pretty good. And I definitely agree that Ashley is very underrated. I don't like Hanna very much but there's no denying that Ashley does a good job portraying her.
Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.