Emily Alyn Lind's We Were Liars Premiere Look Is Gothic, Glamorous, and So Good

When We Were Liars, the best-selling novel by E. Lockhart, hit shelves in 2014, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon—passed between friends, dissected in book clubs, and shared across social feeds. Now, 11 years later, it's poised for a revival. The Prime Video adaptation debuts on June 18, and if the response at its Tribeca Film Festival premiere is any indication, the fandom is alive and well.

"Last night at the premiere, we were doing a Q&A, and when they asked everyone in the audience who had read the book, everyone raised their hands," Emily Alyn Lind shares over the phone. "It was really cool to see that energy before the show has even come out."

Lind—who has carved out a steady path in Hollywood with roles in The Secret Life of Bees, Revenge, Code Black, and, most recently, the Gossip Girl reboot—now takes center stage as Cadence Sinclair Eastman, the protagonist and narrator of We Were Liars. Cadence is an emotionally layered and inherently complex teen who spends her summers on a family-owned island, grappling with memory, trauma, and truth.

Lind approached Tuesday night's premiere with excitement rather than nervousness. "I was really excited for everyone to see [the show] and celebrate with the people I've worked so long with," she tells us. That sense of ease carried over into the process of choosing her look, which she took the time to curate with longtime stylist Elizabeth Saltzman. After trying on multiple options, she ultimately gravitated toward a Patou cropped black jacket with gold buttons and epaulet detailing. The matching A-line skirt balanced the silhouette with refined grace. For finishing touches, she chose Jimmy Choo's glossy black platform pumps with gold chain accents, a Jennifer Behr black hair bow, and a Gianvito Rossi leather bag—a "Chanel meets Gossip Girl" look. "I tried on a lot of options," Lind says. "However, the skirt set really stood out to me because I loved its structure. It felt gothic classical. I thought it would be sweet to add a bow because it gave the look a little something extra."

As for how the outfit reflected her and her character, Lind laughs, "I can see Cadence wearing it to the funeral, but I would probably wear it to a wedding."

With her ensemble sorted, we were keen to know the inspiration behind what Lind and her beauty team—hairstylist Mia Santiago and makeup artist Nova Kaplan—had planned for glam. "My makeup artist is amazing and always makes me thousands of boards, so I go through them and say 'Yes, this is amazing' or 'No, veto,'" she shares. "But in the end, I end up just saying, 'You know what? Just do what you think is best' because I get overwhelmed." The final result echoed the mood of her look: natural tones on the eyes and skin punctuated with that signature red lip—polished, purposeful, but not too precious. "I love a red lip. I always have," Lind tells us. "When I can do it, it's always my go-to. I think it's impossible to overdo a red lip."

With just a week to go until the show's release, Lind shares that she's currently back in the glam chair, coffee in hand, getting ready for yet another event. Before we say goodbye and hop off the phone, we have to talk about We Were Liars. After all, it's the reason behind this entire fashion moment.

"I'm really looking forward to people watching the show because I think it's something that they'll have a really good time with," Lind shares. "It's an amazing summer show. It's adapted from a book by Emily Lockhart, which I think is so awesome because I was able to step into the shoes of that character who was already loved by so many people."

Still, stepping into Cadence's world wasn't without its challenges. "I had to push myself to be okay with playing a flawed character who is trying to be portrayed as put-together," Lind reveals. "There was a lot about Cadence that was, in a sense, unlikeable because she was from this Norman Rockwell–type family on the outside, but on the inside, she's really yearning for something else. Plus, she's an unreliable narrator, so basically, I was trying to make an audience trust me at the same time as like me. There were a lot of elements to it."

According to Lind, the show has everything: mystery, romance, nostalgia, and a dose of drama—the makings of a truly entrancing psychological thriller. After watching the trailer a dozen times, we can confirm that we're counting down the days until its release.

Photographer: Jingyu Lin
Stylists: Elizabeth Saltzman and Amelia Levin-Sheffield
Hairstylist: Mia Santiago
Makeup Artist: Nova Kaplan