The Deadbolt Interview - Sharing Secrets with American Teenager Shailene Woodley

Sharing Secrets with American Teenager Shailene Woodley
by Troy Rogers

ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager has become one of the most talked about new shows among both teens and parents. The Secret Life centers around 15-year-old Amy Juergens, played by up and comer Shailene Woodley, who loses her virginity at summer band camp and becomes pregnant before she's had the chance to grow into her own person as an adult. During the first season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Amy struggles with telling her parents (Molly Ringwald and Mark Derwin) and what to do about her secret while her body transforms into a mother-to-be as she attends high school. Although Secret Life reflects the real life issue of teenage pregnancy, tackling it head on, the series has sparked debate over whether TV glories teens and pregnancy or if it helps by opening things up for honest discussion through the life of Amy Juergens.

After a successful freshman season, The Secret Life of the American Teenager makes its sophomore premiere on January 5 at 8pm and there's even more to talk about as Amy and her new boyfriend Ben (Kenny Baumann) make a hurried decision to get married while Season 2 will see the new mother struggle with whether to keep the baby. With the second season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager about to get underway, we had the opportunity to get a few minutes with young ABC Family star Shailene Woodley to get underneath the controversy behind the show and find out what she thinks about the heated debate and what she'd do if in Amy's secret predicament.

THE DEADBOLT: I was reading a blog on the official site and most of the responses were positive. But I wanted to know what you thought of the people who were in there basically saying the show promotes and glorifies teenage pregnancy and that it probably shouldn’t be on TV.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I personally don’t read the blogs. But I feel like people who say that the show glorifies it, I don’t believe that. I don’t feel like this show glorifies pregnancy, because if you see my character, she’s obviously not jumping up and down, she’s in the bathroom crying 24/7. Definitely, there is an emotional spin on everything. Her best friend, they kind of grow apart because her best friend’s mom won’t let her come over and she has a boyfriend and she has the dad of the baby she can’t stand. And she has a mom that she’s dealing with and her dad that’s she’s dealing with, so I don’t feel like it glorifies it at all. If anything I think it makes it seem like a very hard and difficult situation to go through, especially as a teenager.

In season two, for instance, also you’ll see the other aspect of having a baby, like if she should get a job or not. The baby is actually going to cost money and she’s actually going to have to take care of it herself. So I don’t feel like it glorifies it. I feel like it handles it in a very mature and real life way as far as if a teenager got pregnant and how she would react.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you think getting married at 15 is a good idea?

WOODLEY: Personally, I don’t think I would ever get married at 15. I don’t know if I’d ever even tell a guy I loved him at 15. But it works for Amy and Ben, and they’re in a different situation. Who knows? If I was pregnant and I was 15, if I was Amy, if I was the kind of person she is and had the same personality as her, if it was the right time and the right day, who knows? It all depends on situations and it’s all relative.

THE DEADBOLT: You’d probably have to have a lot of family support, too.

WOODLEY: Definitely.

THE DEADBOLT: I was speaking to Jason Priestley a couple of months ago and he mentioned that he was directing a few more episodes. What he’s like to work with?

WOODLEY: He’s great. He’s hysterical. Oh, my God. Every time he’s on-site, he never says, 'cut'. So it just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling, and you get like great outtakes because we start bursting into laughter. He’s a great guy. He’s super funny and really nice and he gives great tips and tells great stories. He just exudes this positive vibe into the studio and it’s really great. Everybody responds to it.

-- Troy Rogers