Sasha Pieterse

Early life

Pieterse was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 17, 1996, to Sean and Zizi. Pieterse's family is of Afrikaner descent and moved to the United States in 2001. She was raised in Las Vegas, before moving to Los Angeles. She became accustomed to a career in entertainment at an early age, as her parents were a professional acrobatic dance team who performed internationally. Pieterse was homeschooled and graduated when she was 14 years old.

Career

Modeling

At four years old, Pieterse began modeling and appearing in commercials. She appeared in an advertisement for Wenner Bread Products at five years old, and later appeared on a national billboard for hair salon franchise SuperCuts and modeled for Macy's Passport fashion show. Pieterse appeared in numerous magazines, including on the covers of BELLO's "Young Hollywood" issue (December 2014), TeenProm (2015 issue), Seventeen (August 2016), Social Life (August 2019).

Film and television

At the age of six, Pieterse got her start in television, co-starring in 2002 as Buffy on The WB's remake of the CBS sitcom Family Affair. She guest starred in the Stargate SG-1 episode “Grace” with Amanda Tapping as a little girl named Grace. In 2005, she appeared on an episode of House titled "Autopsy", portraying Andie, a young girl with terminal cancer. That same year, she made her film debut in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D as Marissa, the Ice Princess, and also appeared as Millie Rose for two episodes of the short-lived TNT series Wanted, alongside her former Family Affair co-star, Gary Cole.

Pieterse appeared in the 2007 film Good Luck Chuck, playing a young goth girl who places a curse on the titular character. She played the younger version of Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in the 2007 film The Air I Breathe, along with such co-stars as Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, and Emile Hirsch. She also played a leading character in the Hallmark original film Claire, also released in 2007.

Pieterse was 13 years old in late 2009, when she was cast in the Freeform teen drama television series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017) as Alison DiLaurentis, the former "queen bee" of her high school clique. She had a regular role in the series from the first four seasons, until later became a main role in the fifth season, with one of the five girls. Since its debut, the series has received mixed reviews from television critics, but remained a success for Freeform, garnering a large fandom. Pieterse reprised her role as Alison, in the spin-off series titled Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists on Freeform in 2019. On Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, she portrayed the grown-up version of Alison who is working as a teaching assistant at Beacon Heights University.

Other roles Pieterse has had include a 2009 appearance in Without a Trace, and a recurring role as Amanda Strazzulla, an abandoned daughter, in Heroes. In 2011, she appeared as Amy Loubalu in the Disney Channel Original Movie Geek Charming, and also as a teenage girl in the film X-Men: First Class. Later, Pieterse appeared in the film G.B.F. and in an episode of Hawaii Five-0 as a terrorist pupil named Dawn Hatfield. Pieterse played Japonica Fenway, a young lady involved with cocaine, in the film Inherent Vice (2014), based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon. In September 2017, Pieterse was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Gleb Savchenko. They were the 4th couple eliminated, on October 16, 2017, finishing in 10th place.

On August 16, 2021, Deadline announced that Pieterse had been cast in Netflix's film adaptation of Annie Barrows’ New York Times bestselling book series Ivy + Bean alongside Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jane Lynch and Nia Vardalos. In July 2023, Deadline reported that Pieterse had been cast in psychological thriller film The Image of You (2024), starring in a dual roles of twin sisters of Anna and Zoe.

Music

Pieterse describes her music as "country with southern rock". Her debut single "This Country is Bad Ass" was released on April 12, 2013. Pieterse described the patriotism behind the song: "I just love this country so much and I would never have been able to be where I am if I wasn't in America, so we decided to come up with this [track]." Her second single, "R.P.M", was released on June 13, 2013.

Pieterse's third single, "I Can't Fix You", was released on July 12, 2013. On December 10, 2013, she released her fourth single "No", an upbeat track about "standing strong in your convictions" and saying no when an unfaithful, lying ex-boyfriend asks for a second chance.

Other ventures

Pieterse's cookbook Sasha in Good Taste: Recipes for Bites, Feasts, Sips & Celebrations was published by Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins on October 8, 2019. In the book Pieterse shares cooking and baking recipes, tips for inexpensive party planning, do it yourself projects and ideas for desserts. San Francisco Book Review wrote that the book is "full of good ideas".

Pieterse has a lifestyle website called "Sasha in Good Taste".

Philanthropy

In June 2019, Pieterse and her husband worked together with Habitat for Humanity to help build houses in New Orleans.

Personal life

On December 22, 2015, Pieterse became engaged to her long-term partner Hudson Sheaffer. They were married on May 27, 2018, at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Ireland. On May 27, 2020, Pieterse announced that she and Sheaffer were expecting their first child. Their son was born in November 2020. As of 2022, the family resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

At the start of season 25 of Dancing with the Stars, Pieterse revealed that she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which causes symptoms such as irregular periods and weight gain.

Pieterse speaks Afrikaans, English, and French.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

Bibliography

• Pieterse, Sasha (2019). Sasha in Good Taste: Recipes for Bites, Feasts, Sips & Celebrations. Dey Street Books.

References

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2. "Interview with Sasha Pieterse".
3. Petzer, Brett. (11 November 2013). "Top Ten South African actors about to make it big". The South African.
4. (March 19, 2019). "Sasha Pieterse on Why "The Perfectionists" Need Alison's Help".
5. "Sasha Pieterse Stands Up to Bullies After Horrific Fat-Shaming Experience".
6. (March 20, 2019). "Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish Are Bringing 'Old Married Couple' Energy to The Perfectionists".
7. (April 3, 2019). "'PLL: The Perfectionists': Sasha Pieterse Reveals Finding Nolan's Killer Is Alison's #1 Priority 'For Now'".
8. (March 19, 2019). "PLL: The Perfectionists: Sasha Pieterse on Why This Is A New, Changed Alison".
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13. "Sasha Pieterse Sheaffer on Instagram: "Just found this gem from a job I did when I was 5...and I gotta say...it fits my #quarantine mood 88.9% of the time. #breadislife 🥖🥐🍞🥯🧈…"".
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34. "Sasha Pieterse Sheaffer on Instagram: "So so glad @hudsonsheaffer and I could be apart of [sic] this awesome new build for @habitatforhumanity in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina…"".
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38. (November 13, 2020). "Sasha Pieterse and Husband Hudson Sheaffer Welcome Their First Child: 'We Are Absolutely in Love with Him'".
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41. (October 5, 2017). "Sasha Pieterse Wows on People's Ones to Watch Red Carpet as She Reveals Why She's 'So Thankful to DWTS'".
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