Candice King

“Caroline Forbes may have been the vampire, but Bess Sinclair has a bigger bite” — Candice King trades eternal youth for the burning truth.

Queen of Hearts

NEW YORK, June 16, 2025

DRESS: DALOOD | EARRINGS: VASSIA KOSTARA | SHOES: ALIAS MAE

Debuting on June 18th, We Were Liars became an instant success and quickly rose to the top of Prime Video’s global streaming charts. “Don’t Google the show or what happens,” King advises to anyone who hasn’t found themselves lost on Beechwood and the world of the “crazy Sinclair family” yet. “It’s hard to speak about it without giving anything away, because there is a sense of getting to know these characters throughout the season — who you think they are and who you find them to be. What’s so beautifully written on the back of the book is: ‘If anyone asks you how it ends, just lie.’”

The 38-year-old actor, best known for her fan-favorite role as Caroline Forbes in The Vampire Diaries, is no stranger to being part of a cultural phenomenon. “I feel like I hit the jackpot pretty early on and it’s hard to top that,” she says. “I’d never done TV or a series before Vampire Diaries, so I learned a lot working on that show. I feel lucky that a majority of the productions that I’ve been able to work on have involved these really wonderful ensemble casts — and people I feel lucky enough to get to work with.” Few series have carved out a legacy like The Vampire Diaries, which debuted over a decade ago and ran for eight seasons on The CW. “It was a really rare opportunity to be part of a show that was so beloved at the time that it was on air. And it’s pretty wild that, now with streaming, people continue to watch it — to the point where these characters feel like they are their friends.”

Since The Vampire Diaries series finale aired eight years ago, King has left the whirlwind of her 20s behind and is thriving in her 30s. “There is obviously a very big difference in day one of a job when you’re a 21-year-old girl versus being 38 and having a family. I think that becoming a parent puts anyone in a position of considering a lot of things before they make decisions in their career. I don’t think it’s unique to acting or me.” Going into We Were Liars, she felt “very different,” even though “the nerves that come at this point are still the exciting ones — almost like before your first day of school.”

JUMPSUIT: KOKHIA | EARRINGS: CAT JANIGA

Joining the show felt like “a dream come true” for King — not just because she couldn’t put the book down once she started reading it, but also because she reunited with Julie Plec all these years after The Vampire Diaries. “I love Julie — not only personally, but I also professionally love working with her. She directed one of my favorite moments [in episode two] where Bess, Carrie, Penny, and their mother Tipper are all sitting around the fire pit, and we were all having a glass of wine with ocean views. It’s this really lovely scene amongst women who are mothers, daughters, and sisters — and all the little subtext to the conversation that goes with family members like that. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was an important scene that sets up big events later on in the series.”

That creative trust extended beyond Plec, with King equally eager to collaborate with the rest of “this dream team of creative writers and showrunners,” including Carina Adly MacKenzie. “I have known [Carina] personally for a long time, so I was so excited to finally be working with her. Caroline [Forbes] got to speak some of her words in The Originals, but this felt like a completely different capacity,” King says. E. Lockhart, the novel’s author, was also closely involved in the TV adaptation, and even wrote the fiery season finale. “I do feel that the show itself is a love letter to the book. Julie and Carina know how much people love these characters and the books themselves, so they really respected the source material. The biggest difference is that we’ve expanded on the characters — funny enough, a lot of that expansion that we see in this first season was pulled from the book’s prequel, Family of Liars.”

Set on the Sinclair family’s private Beechwood Island, We Were Liars took King to Nova Scotia, Canada, where she spent five months filming. “Even though we were not on an island, we were quite isolated from where we would all normally be living — and from our friends, family, and loved ones. It definitely set the scene for us all to get to know one another and spend time together off-set as well,” she says, recounting how they all forged a special bond. “I’m grateful that the production hosted this welcome dinner for the cast and some of the department heads of our production and crew. But then, we decided — just as a cast — to get together for dinner before we start filming scenes together. We all wanted this family dynamic to feel lived-in, and everyone came to that dinner with that hope and intention. I hope that audiences can feel that.”

The location, with its blend of coastal charm and opulence, is a character in its own right and contributes to building the mystery and drama around the Sinclair family. But unlike Cadence “Cady” Sinclair [Emily Alyn Lind] — the narrator and protagonist who has to unravel the truth about her accident during Summer 16 — King remembers it all. “It was really beautiful when we were indoors — but nothing compared to the days where we got to be on the beach and look at the ocean and the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen in my entire life! It was one of those moments where I was like, ‘Wow, this is a very cool job and I feel very lucky to be here.’”

For King, there is such beauty in performing and the magic that comes from collaboration — something she feels this project perfectly encapsulated. “We were filming a scene early on last summer for We Were Liars. It was very late, probably one or two in the morning, and I was standing on a dock that was moving, in heels,” she says with a laugh. “We still had a lot of the scene to film. And normally, it’s very easy to look at that and think, ‘We’re cold, it’s late, everyone’s tired.’ But that’s my favorite part of the process — those long days when it feels like everyone is there to support one another, and you cannot make a thing without everyone who needs to be there. When I have moments like that in projects, it makes my heart smile.”

With this return in style, King reminds us why she is a television darling. It’s as though the role of Bess Sinclair was meant for her, and it turns out she was in the showrunners’ minds from almost day one. “Julie Plec and Carina MacKenzie have both loved the book for a decade. I knew that they had been working to option it. I remember when they did get the option and were developing it, and I absolutely wanted to throw my hat in the ring,” King explains. “That means the whole world to hear that [they] could see me filling a role like Bess Sinclair and it felt really great to take on a role like her — someone who is very messy, complicated, and grappling with realities that a lot of women and mothers grapple with.”

TOP: CHLOÉ | HEADSCARF: KOKHIA | SUNGLASSES: BIG HORN

Bess is the youngest of the three Sinclair sisters and “wears that as if it’s a badge of honor.” In a show about legacy and memory, the wardrobe also becomes a narrative force. “I wish I could dress like Bess Sinclair every single day. Her outfits were one of my favorite elements of the production,” King acknowledges with a laugh while recalling the sculpted silhouettes and floral prints that define her character’s style. It’s tailored, tasteful, and quietly commanding — a façade of perfection that hides layers of vulnerability. “I loved that in this show, even though they are isolated on their own private island and amongst their own family members, there is all the pomp and circumstance of getting dressed for these big family lunches and dinners. I think that says a lot about them.”

The series delves into family conflicts alongside the complexities of love, identity, and self-discovery. “I was really excited to play with the sisters [opposite Mamie Gummer and Caitlin Fitzgerald]. These are very competitive siblings and cut-throat sisters who don’t hold anything back, and those are still some of my favorite, fun, delicious scenes,” King says. “We’re all mothers to young children and we had them with us. And we found this great support system within each other off-screen, which lent to a really safe place when we had to be awful to each other on-screen and throw verbal punches in those scenes.”

Bess Sinclair strives for excellence in every aspect of her life, always hoping to measure up — especially in her father’s eyes. “David Morse, who plays Harris [Sinclair], is such a pro, welcoming, kind, and respectful to everyone around him. He sets such a lovely tone from the get-go. All of these daughters and the kids don’t want to disappoint Harris Sinclair, and that’s maybe a little bit scarier and taken a little bit too literally in the show. But creatively, I have such respect for David and wanted him to enjoy our scenes together, almost like I wanted to make dad proud.”

While bringing all the little sister energy and portraying the dutiful daughter and wife splendidly, King also delivers drama, grace, and emotion in her role as Mirren’s mother. Mirren [Esther McGregor] is Bess’s eldest daughter and one of the four Liars that season one revolves around. “They are so incredibly talented and the material that they had on the page to bring to life is emotional and complicated. And I think they upheld the material so wonderfully,” King adds with a thoughtful nod to her younger self. “I remember my first day on Vampire Diaries — it was a pilot and we were filming in Vancouver. I was 21 or 22 years old, which is a combined age of the Liars, and I was so scared, excited, and nervous. So, to see the energy, excitement, and ideas they had, it definitely brought me an extra pep and the biggest smile on my face.” 

LOOK: KOKHIA

When asked about her own Summer 16, King pauses and then replies, “I remember my Summer 17, but I need to think about my Summer 16. Now I feel like Cadence trying to figure out what happened that summer.” After a moment of reflection, she shares. “My whole life was about to change, because I started my junior year in high school later that fall, and by the time I completed my first semester, I had the opportunity to go to LA. And then, I never went back. I moved to LA at the end of that year, got a record deal, and a whole new chapter of my life started.” King may have started out in music (and once toured as a background singer for Miley Cyrus), but it’s now more part of her personal life — though We Were Liars offers a glimpse of her singing voice. “I love going to concerts, and I sing with my children in the car quite often. But that’s probably where it begins and ends,” she admits.

While waiting to see if We Were Liars will get a second season, King remains refreshingly candid, with a vibrant personality that continues to charm fans. When invited to reveal an unspoken truth about herself before we hang up, she offers a playful answer. “I’m pretty much an open book, but maybe if anyone wants to explain TikTok to me, I’m ready to be taught. I feel like an old person and I’m making all the videos, trying to fit in with the cool kids, but this mama just doesn’t get it.”

We Were Liars is now streaming on Prime Video

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