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Master Fan
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 21,414
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I went to check out Kenny's Twitter only to find it's been deleted  How sad! Daren's is still up though.
I was also surfing the net and found this old article... it's about the second half of this past season but it's still cool to read 
Quote:
I had the opportunity to interview Shailene Woodley, the star of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” on ABC Family. The second season premiered January 5th. Shailene plays Amy Juergens, a 15-year-old pregnant high school student. But what about the real person behind the character?
Sarah Eve: “How have your real life high school experiences compared with the show?”
Shailene Woodley: “Well, let’s see. Let me go back to freshman year. As a freshman, me and my friends — every teenager on the show is talking about sex and talking about picking their friends and all of that, picking their boyfriends, being the next level or whatever — as a freshman, me and my friends definitely talked about that. We talked about more mature things than we did like in middle school.
“Actually, my parents got divorced when I was a freshman. So, I can definitely relate to Amy as far as what she’s going through and how hard that is to balance. The first year in high school is just totally different than middle school and your first boyfriend while having your parents divorce and your family life kind of crumble. So, I can definitely relate to a lot of things on the show and there is always the Christian girl at our school who preached God… and who preached happiness and purity and everything. Then there is always the girl who is kind of thought of as the provocative one, who people were usually intimidated by, but really didn’t know that she was a nice, smart girl. I think it is right on cue with all sort of storylines as far as how they relate to normal high schools.”
Sarah Eve: “You have a lot of crying scenes. I was wondering: how do you physically manage all of that?”
Shailene Woodley: “Honestly, I don’t know. It comes. I guess it’s in the writing. If you feel the words and you feel the emotion that’s evoked in the script as far as if you put yourself in the place that Amy’s going through, it’s really simple. I feel like to just cry. Then again, I don’t know how I do cry. It just kind of comes… crying so much or if it just comes naturally. But, Molly definitely helps. You just look into her eyes and like we’re both in tears.”
Sarah Eve: “Wow; isn’t that exhausting?”
Shailene Woodley: “I think it’s fun. Those are the fun scenes for me because you go through real emotions.”
Sarah Eve: “If you had to pick a character on the show that you’re most like, who would it be?”
Shailene Woodley: “I guess a little bit of every character. I’m definitely not… like a provocative person, but I’m definitely not Amy who is quiet and introverted, and I’m not Grace who goes around preaching the gospel and everything. So, I’m a little bit of everyone, I feel like, kind of combined together.”
Sarah Eve: “Do you have any input on the clothes that you wear on the show?”
Shailene Woodley: “Yes. Wardrobe — we get along great. They’re awesome. It’s a trio of them and they’re so funny and so awesome. We were talking; I told Sherry — she’s like, ‘What’s your style personally?’ I was like, ‘I like a lot of different things.’ She was like, ‘Oh, that’s perfect. I happen to have a lot of vintage clothes in the closet.’ So, we talk about what’s right for the character. So, she kind of takes it in moderation, puts a little bit of my flair in there and a little bit of her flair and a little bit of Amy’s flair. It’s fun. We always have a great time.”
Sarah Eve: “Well, it definitely works. Thank you so much for talking with me.”
I found Shailene to be the sweetest, most down to earth girl. When asked by another reporter if her life has changed now that she’s famous, she responded:
“I go back on hiatus in February. I’m going to go back to my high school and graduate. It’s definitely different. When you go to a grocery store and you go anywhere there are people staring or pointing or whispering, and every now and then you have a brave girl come up and be like, ‘Are you the girl from Secret Life?’ It’s neat to have that happen, but it’s also a little bit awkward because I feel like I should have a conversation with them, like, ‘Hello, I’m Shai. What’s your name?’ versus just being like, ‘Oh, yes. Here’s my autograph. Bye.’ I feel like I need to make it more personal. It happens.
“As far as just my friends and where I can go, I still go all the places that I normally went. I might have to wear a hat or something, but other than that it’s no different because my friends, they treat me the same. They known I’m goofy, spontaneous, weird Shai and they accept me for that.”
Shailene also had plenty of exciting insights about the new season:
“Season two, we’ve already established our characters and we already kind of know who we are, so season two is more focusing on the context versus the characters because we’ve already gotten a sense of how Amy would react or how Grace would react. It’s more establishing the storyline, I feel like, versus establishing the character.
“So, it does skip a little bit of time between the first season and the second season. There’s definitely a wedding that’s being talked about between Amy and Ben. There are lots of different things happening with all of the families. Of course, Amy’s parents are still going through a rocky time and they’re trying to figure out if the dad is going to stay or move out or what’s going on with that. Amy is trying to decide if she needs to get a job or if she shouldn’t get a job to pay for insurance and stuff for the baby. She’s going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl. She’s going to find out if she’s going to give it up to adoption or if she’s going to keep the baby. There’s a gay couple involved who might adopt the baby, but might not depending on what Amy feels is right for the baby at the time.
“There are lots of different things. Apart from my character, Grace’s character is debating on whether she really likes Jack or really likes Ricky or if she really likes being single. Ben is going through still again the first love and how he should handle that and how much he should be in control of her life or not. So, there are tons of different things that are going to happen, lots of new drama.”
The question was asked whether or not “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” glorifies teen pregnancy.
Shailene responded: “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, 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.
“I feel like everything that the show goes through and everything that it explores happens in everyday life, in normal teenagers’ lives: divorce, the whole Christian family, the girl is debating whether she has to follow her faith or not, boyfriends and cheating, and everything that the show goes through happens. So, I would definitely tell someone if you’re a teenager and you’re lost or you want comedic release or you need help with something or you’re going through something and you feel alone, check out our show because I feel like it definitely defines each situation and gives it a solution. Whether or not it’s the solution that the viewer might choose for themselves in their own lives, who knows, but it’s one aspect of how to solve a problem emotionally and keep up the faith.”
Thanks Shailene for the interview for TotallyHer.com.
I know I will be watching the second season! I found the first season to be one of the few teenage dramas that actually addresses teenager issues with facts and natural consequences. While the story lines may seem over the top at first, the more you watch the more you realize that you know someone just like every one of these characters. Furthermore, as parents of teenagers, it’s important to not be oblivious to the real struggles that teenagers face. This show provides insights and an avenue for parents and teenagers to discuss these issues. Overall, I recommend watching “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”. So get your popcorn ready, because Season 2 premiered Monday January 5th and will continue in the Monday 8pm time slot.
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An oldish (January 09) interview from Seventeen Magazine:
Quote:
Seventeen got to sit down with Shailene Woodley who stars in The Secret Life of An American Teenager. She talked about everything from what it's like to play a pregnant teenager to what it's like being recognized on the street!
17: Do people recognize you?
Shailene: Yeah, and I don’t know how to respond when they come up and they’re like “Oh, hey, can I have your autograph?” I’m like “uhh...sure” because I know if I asked someone that I admired and they said no I’d be mad, but it’s awkward for me.
17: What’s it like to play a pregnant girl?
Shailene: It was bizarre but it was exciting to take on the role. I saw Ellen Page in Juno and I loved the movie before I even got the show. It’s so cool that she got to express like “if I got pregnant this is how I would act.” And then the opportunity for me came up and I was like “if I was pregnant, how would I respond?” [My character] Amy’s much more introverted and shy compared to me as a person. But it was interesting, and I thought it would increase my range as an actor. I thought it would be fun to be a character I don’t get to be very often.
17: What’s going to happen this season?
Shailene: Well there’s thought about marriage, a wedding between her and Ben. And she has the baby, and tries to figure out what she’s going to do with it.
17: Are you getting feedback from pregnant girls at all?
Shailene: I haven’t personally heard anything, but my manager gets some stuff sometimes and he’ll tell me about girls who have said that it’s helped them a lot, or it was completely different from how they responded to having a baby. Or like, on ABC Family's web site there are a lot of girls that go on there and say they’ve been pregnant, and how the show’s helped them.
17: Switching gears, we have a section in the magazine called The Seventeen Body Peace Treaty.
Shailene: Wait, is this where you say 'I vow to..” I have the funniest story about this.
17: Oh, tell!
Shailene: My best friend has this on her wall - it's on her corkboard and she was like, “Shaiiene, we have to do this because we’re always like 'I don’t like my arms' and everything." She’s going through a really hard time right now and she’s like, "I’m sick of not liking myself. I just want to love myself.” That’s awesome because we both are into it!
17: That’s cool! Is there something that you would want to add specifically for you?
Shailenne: Yeah! I’ve always been like super skinny and not tall. I grew now but I was like super-short growing up. I was always the runt and now I’m like towering over everyone. But my family - we all just have like fast metabolisms, so we’re all lanky. I’m always like “I’m too skinny, I can’t gain weight, even when I try." I'd like to try to not let that get to me.
Catch Shailene on the new season of The Secret Life of an American Teenager, which airs on ABC Family Monday nights.
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"It's you and me, together for always."
Tate & Violet ♥
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Thanks for that!
UH HUH!! Does it now, Shai? She was totally thinking about Daren there..lol
