Premiere Date, Cast, Plot and More Details

The cast of We Were Liars is officially heading back to Beechwood to film Season 2, which will be based on Family of Liars! While Emily Alyn Lind, Joseph Zada, and more Season 1 stars are set to return, Prime has officially cast six new roles, including the younger versions of the Sinclair family!

In September 2025, Prime Video greenlit a second season of its hit mystery-thriller series. Featuring Lind as Cadence, the oldest grandchild of the affluent Sinclair family, the show revolves around a mysterious accident cracking the outward image of a seemingly perfect American dynasty. Set off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, We Were Liars blends sun-soaked romance and twisted mystery, making it the ultimate summer binge-watching experience.

As for the Season 2 plot, Deadline teases, “In an effort to confront her truth, Cadence (Lind) returns to Beechwood. As she digs deeper into family secrets, she learns about the Sinclair Sisters’ summer of 1999 — a summer rife with first love, rivalry, and even murder. In flashbacks, we see Carrie, Penny, and Bess navigate their own teenage summer, as they come to terms with their past in the present day.”

The renewal announcement came after the major cliffhanger ending of Season 1. Viewers learned that Carrie, played by Mamie Gummer, could see the ghost of her son Johnny, played by Joseph Zada. This twist perfectly set the stage for a second season based on E. Lockhart‘s sophomore We Were Liars book, Family of Liars.

Not only are we officially returning to Beechwood Island for more We Were Liars, but we have new details about Season 2. So, when can we expect Season 2 to premiere? Who’s been cast? Here’s everything we know.

Courtesy of Prime

Who has been cast in We Were Liars Season 2?

On May 7, Prime Video announced that Josh Dallas (Manifest) has been cast as young Harris, and Peyton List (Mad Men) has been cast as young Tipper. The young Sinclair sisters will be played by Madison Wolfe (True Detective) as Bess, Parker Lapaine (House of the Dragon) as Carrie, and Elysia Roorbach (The Pitt) as Penny. Costa D’Angelo (Tell Me Lies) has also been cast as Pfeff, another key Family of Liars character.

“[Season 2] is going back to experience to see what happened with the sisters when they were teenagers on the island,” Candice King, who plays adult Bess, told Us Weekly. “That is going to be very fun — even though technically I won’t be a part of those scenes. For Bess, what I would like to see her experiencing is maybe wearing loose cashmere [and] lounging by the beach.” King, who is currently expecting her third child, didn’t say whether or not her pregnancy will be written into the show.

During their interview with Swooon, the show’s creators shared that while Family of Liars does not involve Cadence or many of the other characters from the first book, viewers could expect the present-day storyline to continue. “We do love our present-day cast. We wouldn’t want them to go anywhere either,” Carina Adly MacKenzie said.

One returning present-day cast member who may surprise fans is Dempsey Bryk, who played Mirren’s love interest, Ebon, during Season 1. In March, Deadline confirmed that Bryk will return to We Were Liars as a series regular. Could this mean that Cadence and Ebon will join forces? Could love be in the air for the two grieving teens, as our sister site, Swooon, predicted? Only time will tell…

What will Season 2 of We Were Liars be about?

While Season 2 is set to continue Cadence’s story, the series will also flash back to the Summer of 1999, when the Sinclair sisters were in high school. Deadline teases that a “family crisis” occurs during that summer, pulling the family apart and bringing secrets to the surface.

As for the sisters, Deadline revealed, “In the summer of 1999, Carrie (Lapaine) is sensitive, quick-witted, and yearning to be loved. Ostensibly, she is the Harvard-bound, well-heeled, obedient eldest daughter… until an intriguing new boy arrives on the island, and tempts her with a very different kind of future. With a competitive streak a mile wide, Penny (Roorbach) is charming, popular, and a hopeless romantic – for now, anyway. She deftly hides her struggles with her body image and a burgeoning panic disorder hidden from everyone, until someone unexpected sees beyond her ‘Perfect Penny’ mask. The summer she turns 16, Bess (Wolfe) dreams of being a songwriter, an adventurer, and most importantly… nothing like her mother. Desperate to fit in with the older kids, especially the three college-age boys who have unexpectedly moved into the guest house, Bess will do anything to impress them… including some things she’ll live to regret.”

What has the creative team shared about We Were Liars Season 2?

In the Season 2 official announcement from Prime Video, Lockhart shared, “[Carina Adly] MacKenzie and [Julie] Plec have big, big plans for Season 2, including everything readers of my books are dying to see onscreen —  and a lot of surprises as well.” President of Universal Television Erin Underhill added, “The Season 2 renewal of We Were Liars is yet another testament to Julie and this cast and crew’s extraordinary talent. This series, which Julie and Carina crafted so beautifully from E. Lockhart’s beloved books, absolutely deserves a deeper dive. And we‘re grateful to Amazon MGM for their collaboration and partnership.”

Plec and MacKenzie have both revealed their Season 2 hopes as well. Plec and Carina told our sister site Swooon that they included a cliffhanger at the end of Season 1 with the intention of garnering interest for a second season. Plec shared, “Really, we just wanted the audience to know that the story didn’t have to be over. [They] know that there’s a party that can keep going if they’re enjoying themselves. So hopefully they did enjoy themselves and beg for more.”

Is We Were Liars Season 2 filming now?

In a casting announcement for We Were Liars Season 2, Universal Television and Amazon MGM Studios announced their upcoming filming dates. According to the announcement, Season 2 will film from June to October 2026.

When is We Were Liars Season 2’s release date?

Since filming begins this summer, Season 2 won’t arrive until at least 2027. If it follows precedent, it’ll likely drop in summer 2027. Season 1 was shot during the summer of 2024, and it was released almost exactly a year later in June.

Will We Were Liars Season 2 be based on a book?

Yes, Season 2 of We Were Liars would be based on Family of Liars, the second book in the We Were Liars universe. At least, for the most part. According to Plec, “[Family of Liars] is the direction that we’ve planted the seeds for, for sure.” Seeing as Family of Liars is a collection of stories told to Johnny from his mother Carrie’s perspective, it’s safe to say the Sinclair sisters will play an even bigger role in the second season, or as MacKenzie put it, “the Sinclair sister villain origin story.”

King also confirmed that the prequel story informs Season 2. “I have yet to get my baby present from Julie and Carina, which is all the spoilers for season 2,” she joked to Us Weekly. “But I do know that there will be elements or a thick line of storytelling from Family of Liars.”

Family of Liars also answers what happened to Rosemary, the youngest Sinclair sister, who is referenced during the first season of the adaptation. Throughout the book, young Carrie can see the ghost of her late sister, who drowned at eight years old while a nanny was supposed to be watching her. Given the last scene of the first season, where Plec and MacKenzie chose to reveal that Carrie can also see the ghost of her son, Johnny (Zada), viewers can expect to see Gummer take a more central role in the next season.

What happened at the end of We Were Liars Season 1?

At the end of Season 1 of We Were Liars, Cadence learns that she is (partially) responsible for the fire that burned down Clairmont, killing her cousins Mirren (Esther McGregor) and Johnny, as well as her longtime love, Gat (Shubham Maheshwari). Throughout the first season, Cadence cannot recall how she ended up in the ocean or how she injured her head, which caused her memory loss. As it turns out, Cadence had returned inside the house to grab her grandmother’s black pearls, causing Gat to go in and look for her. Ultimately, she realizes that she made it out of the house, but the other Liars were not so lucky. This means that all summer, she has been asking their ghosts for answers.

During the last scene, it is revealed that Carrie, who has reunited with Ed (Rahul Kohli) and returned to her past addictive habits, can see Johnny, mirroring the first scene of Lockhart’s Family of Liars. Upon Carrie saying she thought Johnny had already left, viewers are left with his eerie confession, “I don’t think I can.”

Are you excited for We Were Liars Season 2? Comment below!

We Were Liars, Season 2, TBA, Prime Video