Ashley Benson on Being 'Too Fat' For Hollywood

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Child star, pretty little liar, and social media darling, Ashley Benson can now add "it girl" to her canon. We all know her from her hit (and addictive) TV show Pretty Little Liars, but as the star of this month's issue of Ocean Drive Magazine, she opens up and gives us a glimpse at her personal life: beauty issues in show business, her everlasting tango with the tabloids, and that one time she went to Ultra with Selena Gomez.

You'd think Ashley Benson would be immune to the pressures of Hollywood (she's literally flawless), but there's always room for "improvement" in this industry.

"I was just told I was too fat for a part. I'm a size 2! I cried for 30 minutes, but then you have to let it roll off your shoulders or it could cause a serious eating disorder. A lot of people in this industry hear they need to lose weight more times than they should. It does make you stronger, though. Because if you let that affect you, you can't be in this industry-you'd go crazy."

And she doesn't want young girls who look up to her to try to reach those unrealistic ideals because those ideals don't even exist.

"I saw photos from a shoot of myself just the other day and thought, What the hell? That doesn't even look like me! I was so disappointed. I hate to think that girls are like, ‘She's so skinny! Her skin is so perfect!' I have pimples just like they do. I wanted to show people I'm not per­fect- no one is."

As for her love life? You can find her cuddling with her two beaus: Her Brussels griffon dog, Walter, and her Maltese-shih tzu, Olive. They're have been recent rumors about her dating life, but all are just that: rumors.

"I've known Taylor [Lautner] since he was 12 years old, and he's one of my best friends, and Nat [Wolff] is a good friend, too.  Every time [the press says I'm dating one of my friends], we text each other like, ‘Ugh, did you see this?' It's almost a joke at this point. The press makes every­one's life out to be much more exciting than it really is. Trust me."

Along with her dogs, Ashley is just enjoying her twenties to the fullest, including nights out in Miami with her best friends.

"I flew there for a photo shoot once and brought Selena Gomez with me. We hung out on a yacht, then went to the Ultra Music Festival [where she was photographed with Ellie Goulding and Skrillex], and stayed out all night. I don't think you could ever get bored in Miami."

You can look for Ashley on the next season of Pretty Little Liars premiering January 12th. The show will feature the girls five years into the future, which means there was huge change for all of them, but she assures you that her character, Hanna, has gone through the most changes.

"Hanna has graduated col­lege and has moved on. She's in a new relationship and is engaged. She's very confident in who she is. She works in fashion now and is the most successful out of all of the girls. There's going to be twists and turns in her new relationship, and Caleb's going to be there. He's very much a part of her life. Fans are going to be surprised at how everything has turned out, but I think it will be a fun journey for them."

Besides watching her every Tuesday night, you can catch her in this year's upcoming film Elvis & Nixon, where she plays an airline stewardess. After that, she's slated to star in a coming-of-age drama Chronically Metropolitan alongside heartthrob Shiloh Fernandez.