PPL' Stars on Big Twists: "They Have to Protect Each Other" (Exclusive Video) 

'Pretty Little Liars' Stars Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale on Big Twists: "They Have to Protect Each Other" (Exclusive Video)

Hale says that the main characters are "a little jaded toward life" as they head into Tuesday's season-six premiere.

' lead characters have endured ridiculous amounts of adversity over the show's five seasons thus far, but perhaps they can take solace in knowing that there might be some benefit to it all. 

 exclusively premieres a video clip from the forthcoming season-five DVD set's bonus features and in the segment, the ABC Family drama's stars reveal how A's ever-watching eye has shaped who their characters are today.

"They have become stronger, and they have to protect each other because they're the only ones that know what they're going through," Ashley Benson (Hanna) says.

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Lucy Hale (Aria) is a bit less optimistic in her assessment. "I feel like they're a little jaded toward life because they've had to experience so much, and they've had to grow up so quickly," Hale explains.

Keegan Allen (Toby) acknowledges that the show has meant "an extreme form of trauma" for each of the characters, though he points out that they have all "elevated from it."

It's good that the cast has such a positive spin on what their characters have dealt with, since season six is likely to up the ante. When executive producer Oliver Goldstick spoke to

shortly after the season-five finale, he confirmed that the Liars still would be trapped in Charles' lair at the start of the season, saying, "They're stuck in there for a period of time, and we will basically revisit that period of time through their individual traumas throughout six A." 

Read More 'Pretty Little Liars': First Season 6 Promo Promises "Summer of Answers" (Video)

Goldstick said that the series would show Charles' face by the end of the ten-episode summer season, promising that the identity would be a "shocker." He also let slip that a "real juicy clue" would be revealed within the first few episodes of the season.

Pretty Little Liars: The Complete Fifth Season

is available June 2 on DVD. The show's sixth season premieres June 2 at 8 p.m. on ABC Family. 

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