Karen Lucille Hale, born on June 14, 1989, is an American actress and singer. In the early stages of her career, she was sometimes referred to as Lucy Kate Hale. She first came to prominence as one of the five winners of the reality show American Juniors, which was a children’s spin off of American Idol. Take a look below for 27 more fun and interesting facts about Lucy Hale.

1. She’s best known for her role as Aria Montgomery on the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars, which won her a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Cable TV Actress in 2014.

2. In 2014, Hale released her debut studio album, Road Between.

3. Hale was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Julie Knight and Preston Hale.

4. She was named after one of her great-grandmothers.

5. Hale has an older sister, Maggie, and a step-sister, Kirby.

6. She was homeschooled as a child, however, she still took acting and singing lessons outside the home.

7. In August, 2012, Hale revealed that she had suffered from an eating disorder.

8. Hale moved to Los Angeles when she was 15 years old in the hopes of getting a record deal. Shortly after her move, she started auditioning and received a minor role on Drake & Josh, and other guest roles on shows such as Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, The O.C. and How I Met Your Mother.

9. Hale appeared in two episodes of the Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place.

10. She was the oldest member of American Juniors, before the band was dropped.

11. Hale sang the 1980s hit “Call Me” on American Juniors, which was the performance that got her into the group.

12. She has a Yorkshire Terrier called Bentley, which was a gift on her 15th birthday.

13. She’s the former girlfriend of David Henrie.

14. Before moving to Los Angeles and being homeschooled, Hale attended Cordova Optional School in Memphis.

15. She shares her name with Lucy Lambert Hale, daughter of a United States Senator who was secretly engaged to Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.

16. She appeared in NBC’s short lived re-imagining of the Bionic Woman as Becca Sommers, the younger sister to the title character of Jaime Sommers.

17. She made her big screen debut in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 portraying Effie, the younger sister of Lena Kaligaris.

18. In December 2009, Hale was cast as Aria Montgomery in the television show Pretty Little Liars, which is based on the book series by Sara Shepard.

19. Hale won the 2010 Teen Choice Award for her portrayal of Aria on Pretty Little Liars.

20. She was cast as Katie Gibbs in A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song, which is the third installment of A Cinderella Story series and was released on direct to video in September 2011.

21. Hale described music as her first love and not acting.

22. Her early musical influences were Shania Twain and Faith Hill, but what really ignited her interest in pursuing music was Britney Spears‘ “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”

23. She recorded songs for the movie A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song.

24. On June 12, 2012, it was announced that she had signed a record deal with Hollywood Records.

25. Hale’s debut single “You Sound Good to Me” was released on January 7, 2014, with her debut album following later on in the year. The song’s music video was directed by Philip Andelman.

26. On June 11, 2013, Hale announced that she’s the new Ambassador of the beauty brand Mark Girl.

27. On March 16, 2017, Hale was cast as Olivia Barron in the Blumhouse supernatural thriller movie Truth or Dare, which was released in theaters on April 13, 2018.