Shailene Woodley Spoils ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’s Return
When ABC Family’s hit drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager returns on January 5, central character Amy Juergens will still be 15, in high school, and very much pregnant. But, those are probably the only things in her already complicated life that will remain the same. As series star Shailene Woodley, who plays the teenager, revealed recently during an interview, numerous changes are on the way for the young mother-to-be.
According to the 17-year-old actress, Amy has become “much stronger personality-wise” since we last saw her. “She’s learned to accept the fact that life isn’t going to be perfect and that there are going to be many, many obstacles that she has to go through throughout her life. She’s accepted the fact that she has this baby and she has to have the baby, and whether or not she’s going to give it up for adoption or keep it herself or whatever the ending might be, she’s accepted that it’s going to happen.”
Although much further along in her pregnancy, Amy doesn’t give birth immediately when Secret Life resumes. That fact actually created a few challenges for Woodley, who, never having been pregnant before, had to learn how to play a visibly pregnant teen convincingly during later episodes.
“Once the belly started getting bigger and stuff, I had to do lots of research on what contractions felt like and how you’re supposed to walk when you have a baby in your belly,” she explains. “So, I asked a lot of questions to mothers who had previously been pregnant. I did research online as to what contractions felt like. So, I guess the hardest thing was resembling and reenacting what an actual pregnant woman would feel when I’ve never had any situation even close to what she would feel.”
Succeeding at that task would be difficult for any actress, but in Woodley’s case, there’s the additional factor that she and her character have very different personalities. As a result, while her initial reaction might be partially similar to Amy’s if she became pregnant at such a young age in real life, Woodley supposes she would handle the predicament differently in some aspects, too.
“I’m more of an extroverted [person], outgoing, where Amy keeps things to herself and is more of a quiet introvert. So, I definitely would have told my best friend right away. I’d tell my parents right away. I’d totally be just as scared and emotionally unstable as Amy was. But, I think I’d go a bit differently as far as the way I spoke to people and who I told. I’d definitely sit down and plan out what I want to do with the baby.”
Woodley is also quite aware that The Secret Life of the American Teenager has generated considerable negative feedback from people who disagree with the show’s sensitive subject matter and/or how it approaches the issue of teen pregnancy. Her response to those individuals is firm and confident.
“I don’t feel like this show glorifies pregnancy because if you see my character, she’s obviously not jumping up and down,” Woodley insists. “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. If anything, I think it makes it seem like a very hard and difficult situation to go through, especially as a teenager.”
Moreover, Woodley elaborates that when the show returns, viewers will “see the other aspect of having a baby, like if [Amy] 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 [Secret Life] glorifies
. I feel like [the show] handles it in a very mature and real-life way, as far as if a teenager got pregnant and how she would react.”
Well said!
ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager returns with fresh episodes on Monday, January 5, at 8pm EST, starting with the midseason premiere “The Secret Wedding of the American Teenager.” Catch up on the show’s first eleven episodes beforehand during the network’s marathon of episodes 1–9 from 2pm to 11pm EST on January 4 and episodes 10 and 11 from 6pm to 8pm EST on January 5.
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[...] an interview with Shailene Woodley on Grrl TV, who plays Amy, which offers spoilers about what’s ahead for Amy’s [...]
i love this show!
love it!!!!!!!!!!!!