'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin': Who Is Zaria?

There are so many familiar and unfamiliar faces in the Pretty Little Liars reboot, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. For instance, you might recognize Zaria, the actress who plays Faran Bryant on the HBO Max show! So, who exactly is Zaria and where have you seen her from? Scroll to find out!

First things first, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin has a very similar premise to the OG series, but with an entirely new set of characters. Per Deadline, “Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped Millwood apart. Now, in the present day, a brand-new set of Little Liars finds themselves tormented by an unknown assailant.”

Zaria’s character of Faran is described as a “poised, disciplined ballerina with aspirations to make it out of Millwood. But ‘A’ isn’t the only villain in Faran’s life. In the world of ballet, it is death by a thousand microaggressions.”

The young actress is most well-known for her role in the 2020 short film, Two Distant Strangers, which won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Other than that, Zaria has starred in shows like Black-ish, Millennial Jenny and Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!

“Before Pretty Little Liars came out, I read the books and I was obsessed,” Zaria told HBO Max in a July 2022 YouTube video.

“In the beginning, Faran is not one to open up to the other Liars,” she said of her PLL: OS character. She’s very closed off, she doesn’t want to trust anyone — and then in the drama and thrill of it all, she realizes that these women are the ones she has to lean on.”

In an interview with Teen Vogue in September 2022, Zaria spoke more about her character in PLL: Original Sin. “Faran feels that she is the glue to everything in her life,” the HBO Max star explained. “I find personally that Black women in this culture and in this society are expected to be strong. Her mom has taught her that weakness is illness, and is bad. That it’s only important to be strong and to have a veneer to protect yourself from this really scary world … she has been using the tools that her mom taught her, and she’s going on a journey of realizing which tools to keep and which tools to do away with.”

Scroll through our gallery to find out more on Zaria and her character in PLL: Original Sin.

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‘Irish Exit’

Two days after Original Sin season one wrapped, Zaria filmed Irish Exit, a short film she wrote, directed and starred in based on a story she was inspired to write while temporarily living in upstate New York. In July 2022, the movie premiered at the 2022 L.A. Shorts International Film Festival. “It’s about a young woman that’s understanding her place in the world, and it’s funny because it’s a different type of coming of age story,” she told Teen Vogue in September 2022.

“It’s a story about love and loss and the cyclical nature of both of those things and being surrounded by something unavoidable like grief, but trying to avoid it, nonetheless.”

She’s a Poet

“In high school, I wrote a lot of poetry to work through all the teenage angst,” she told VoyageLa in August 2020. “I also participated in acting competitions nearly every week. In these speech competitions I won state Dramatic interpretation and Duo interpretation. Nationally, I placed top 7 for my poetry interpretation.”

Meet the StarWho is Zaria? The Actress Plays Faran Bryant in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’

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‘Irish Exit’

‘PLL: Original Sin’ Character

She’s a Poet

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