The actress is the cover star of Cosmopolitan‘s March 2020 issue, and in her interview, she defied the public perception that she’s the stereotypical girl-next-door type, even if those are the characters she plays.

The 30-year-old star played high schooler Aria Montgomery in Freeform’s PLL and will be playing an optimistic, happy-go-lucky 20-something in the upcoming Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. But the Hale we see on screen is far from Hale IRL.

Now that her 20s are officially behind her, the star shared with the outlet the things she’s happy to have evolved out of (for example, some of her tattoos, which she’s in the process of removing).

As she explained, “When I was younger, I was constantly wanting to be with or date someone because I was so deathly afraid of being single or by myself.”