Lucy Hale.Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty
Lucy Haleisn’t in a rush to find “the one.”
Over a Zoom call from her home in Los Angeles, the actress, 32, tells PEOPLE that while she’s open to love, she’s “not settling for less than what I think I deserve.”
Though she’s single, Hale (who waslast linkedtoSkeet Ulrich) still has a full life at home with her two dogs,Ethel (named after theI Love Lucycharacter)and Elvis.
“I love waking up with my dogs and drinking my coffee and watching the sunrise from my home,” she says. “I used to think one day I’d have these big hobbies, but it’s more just quiet moments with myself. I don’t know if it’s because work constantly pulls me in a million different directions, but I love solitude. It’s not unusual for me to not do anything social for months at a time.”
Currently shooting the filmThe Storied Life of A.J. Fikryin Boston, Hale — who also stars in the AMC+ seriesRagdolland in the upcoming rom-comThe Hating Gameout Friday — says she’s gotten to “a point now where I love what I do, but I also like who I am outside of that.”
“That, to me, is a big accomplishment because I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to say that about myself,” she says.
She says her journey to self-realization began after her seven-year tenure playing Aria Montgomery on the hit Freeform teen dramaPretty Little Liarsended in 2017.
“It was such a crazy experience to be a part of something that was massive on a global scale,” she says. “The show changed our lives overnight. We were so young, so busy and over worked. But you’re up on this mountain, and you’re like, ‘Everything is so great! People love us!'”
“When you step outside of that, you’re like, ‘That’s not normal,'” she continues. “After the show ended, it was a dark time in my life. It made me realize, ‘Oh God, I actually don’t know what I like about myself.’ "
Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario and Sasha Pieterse on Pretty Little Liars.Freeform/Eric McCandless
After taking a step back and looking inward, Hale says that in time she started recognizing the “small” things she valued about herself outside of her career, including that she’s a good friend and loving dog parent.
“I just really had to hang out with myself,” she says.
Through everything, Hale says she’s learned the importance of putting her mental health first.
“You know what I love about Adele? She recently said in an interview, ‘I lost all this weight, and I’m really sorry that that triggered a lot of things in other people, but that’s not my job to make everyone happy.’ I thought that was so accurate,” says Hale. “In our industry, I do feel a responsibility to be open and honest, but I also have to take care of my mental health.”
“Feeling like I have to please so many people made me hate myself,” she continues. “I can’t live my life wondering what people think of me. I hope people like me, of course. And I hope people relate to what I’m saying, but if they don’t, that’s not my problem. Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship you’ll ever have in your life.”
For all the details on what Lucy Hale’s life is really like, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
