The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Shailene Woodley

16-year-old actress Shailene Woodley plays teen Amy Juergens on the new ABC Family series, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager", which premiered last week. The show claims to be teen-truthful and relatable. Amy plays a "nice" girl who ends up with a teen pregnancy. Creator/writer is Brenda Hampton of "Seventh Heaven" fame so we know the show will be tasteful and still hit the heavy issues. Shailene has been acting since age five and has a long resume of guest spots and sustaining roles on several TV shows like "The O.C." and "Crossing Jordan".

We wanted to know all about the actress and the new show so we sat down for a chat. Check it out!

TeenTelevision: Can you tell us what the series is about and what it's going to explore throughout the season and then a little bit about the character of Amy?

Shailene: The show explores teenagers and decisions they make in high school; like when to have sex decisions. And the awesome thing about our show is it doesn't really refer to drugs or alcohol, which is very rare in TV these days. So I think it's definitely important for the public to know what teenagers do and talk about at high school and for parents to know what their teens are doing, because often they're completely clueless. Amy Juergens is a go-getter, she's excited for life, she wants to go to Julliard, she has all these amazing goals. And then she finds out she's pregnant, and her world kind of comes crashing down and her sense of optimism turns to pessimism. She freaks out, because all she's ever known has been completely turned upside down. And she has no one to talk to about her pregnancy. So it's definitely a hard time in her life.

TeenTelevision: How long is it going to be before the secret gets out and her family finds out?

Shailene: Amy tells her friends pretty quickly, obviously, and the rest of her family, they progressively find out.

TeenTelevision: What originally drew you to this role? Why did you want to play Amy?

Shailene: I have a few similarities to my character, Amy. I think the biggest thing is it definitely has improved my range of what I can do as an actress, because Amy has so many things going on in her head. She has her parents' issues, her dad moving out, her pregnancy, her little sister who she bickers with all the time, and so I thought it would be so fun to be able to explore this young woman who's going through all of these tragic horrors basically. It's been hard, because most of the episodes I've been crying and a lot of depressing things have been happening in Amy's life, but I'm still trying to give her that sense of optimism, trying to be happy, and trying to accept what's going on.

TeenTelevision: How many episodes have been shot so far?

Shailene: We have ten episodes so far. At the end of the ten episodes she'll still be pretty early on in the pregnancy.

TeenTelevision: How challenging has this role been for you? And also, have you received any criticism for portraying a teenage pregnancy?

Shailene: So far I haven't looked for it, so I haven't received any criticism. The role has been challenging in some sense, because she's basically sad and lost in tragedy but still a teenager, still excited about school dances, and she has a new boyfriend and she's finding love for the first time. So it's a bunch of different colors that I kind of have to put into one rainbow, so it's been fun to figure out.

TeenTelevision: How would you say this show is different from other teenage dramas that have been on TV in the years past?

Shailene: I think my show is different because a lot of the teenage dramas that have been on or are on now all deal with drugs and alcohol and teenagers adding negative things to the world. The nice thing about our show is it's all about the confusion about sex and the questions teenagers have and trying to figure out who they are. We focus on the positive things on teenagers, because the public have a negative outlook on teens. Myself being a teenager, I want to change that and be able to show that we have just as much power to change this world as anyone does.

TeenTelevision: Molly Ringwald is playing your mother in this. She was a huge teen star in the 1980's and in 1988 she did the movie For Keeps, where she played a pregnant teen. Have you talked to her at all about that?

Shailene: We have talked about it, and it's funny because I didn't know she had done that movie until she had told me. We kind of laughed about it and how ironic it was that she was now playing the mom of a pregnant teen. We both decided that it's not more of an issue now because there were, we think, just as many teens back then that were getting pregnant, it's just not as looked down upon quite as much as it was back then. So, we think that by bringing it up again we're able to stir up different emotions and different feelings and different controversies and be able to put it in terms that are understandable for everybody.

TeenTelevision: How did you decide you wanted to go into acting to start with? You've been doing it since you were five?

Shailene: Yes. It was kind of an accident, actually. My cousin used to be a model and one day brought a talent-call audition thing with her and my mom was like, 'Hey, you want to act today?' and I was like, 'Sure!' And it just kind of happened. I was never forced to do it, and I never forced them to take me to auditions. It was just kind of one of those things that worked for everybody.

TeenTelevision: There's a big young cast in this series. How has it been working with a group of people who are pretty close in age?

Shailene: Everyone on the cast is just incredible. There's not one person that doesn't fit in. Everybody just meshed together from day one. Everyone's so down to earth and just so optimistic about the future, and everyone wants to inspire and change the world. So it's such a great setting to be in. It's like a second family, and I am the youngest out of everybody. The age range goes from 16 to 25, and everybody is just so welcoming of each other and accepting. It's really cool to be able to have new friends that you get to spend time with every single day.

TeenTelevision: Is there anything that surprised you as you were learning about this role, anything that kind of shocked you about teenage life, being a pregnant teenager?

Shailene: If I were to have a problem I always went to my mom or my friends and told them right away. The thing that's surprising to me is my character Amy, when she found out she was pregnant, she didn't tell anyone for a long time. Then she told her friends, and progressively she'll tell her family. It's very different for me because I've always been the kind of person that if I have an issue, I usually share it with somebody who's really close to me right away. So I learned about teenagers and how introverted [some of them] are, because I've always been an extrovert. So it was definitely cool to be able to explore that side of life.

TeenTelevision: ABC Family is going to be working with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and I was wondering if you're doing anything to support that effort?

Shailene: So far I've done a PSA saying how teen pregnancy is preventable and how parents and teenagers can handle it. I definitely hope to be a part of it, because I want to express my feelings on teen pregnancy and how girls can be helped and how they can realize that they're not alone in this situation.

TeenTelevision: Did you do anything to watch the premiere last week? Did you get friends together and did you have a party or anything?

Shailene: My family and I went to my agent's house and we all hung out with my agent and managers and just had a blast.

TeenTelevision: Do you eventually want to go to college?

Shailene: I do.

TeenTelevision: What do you want to study?

Shailene: I've gone to public school my whole life. Three months ago before the show I was planning to apply to NYU in a couple of months. So it's crazy how life changes so quickly. I do want to go to college. I want to live in New York at some point in my life. I want to go to NYU, and I want to study psych and interior design. They're completely opposite, but I'm creative and I love the arts, so that's why I like interior design; and I think psychology is just so fascinating to be able to study the human mind and human characteristics and the way that we work. So I think that's definitely up my alley. I want to have options.

TeenTelevision: Do you think you'll eventually get out of acting then?

Shailene: I'm the kind of person who likes to try everything in the world, and I will always act just because it's really the one thing I can express myself in fully. It's my passion, but I want to do other things on the side, too. So we'll see where the path takes me.

TeenTelevision: What do you like to do in your free time, or do you have any free time?

Shailene: Lately free time has been hard to find, but I love to sew. I love to make bags or shirts or dresses or whatever. So I do a lot of sewing, and my best friend, she wants to be a fashion photographer when she's older, so we'll go to the mountains and we'll take pictures and I'll pose for her so she can get a portfolio together. We're just very creative. We like to make things out of random scraps of anything.

Also, I think that nature is very important, and I dedicate a lot of my time studying awareness about recycling and the effects of bamboo and how it can be incredible over wood and a lot of random things. But I think the environment is something people need to start paying attention to and they have so that makes me very, very proud.

TeenTelevision: Are there any specific groups or charities that you support?

Shailene: Currently I support the Ronald McDonald Organization and the National Elizabeth Glaser AIDS foundation. I've been doing a lot of research, and I haven't really found an organization that I have connected to completely. I want to start an organization that provides families with money to let them [afford to] go on vacation. I've been fortunate enough my entire life to go on one vacation a year, whether it be to Mexico or on a cruise or something, and a lot of my friends never had that opportunity. I think it's important for kids to be able to have that one time a year where they can get out of the jungle of life and be themselves.

TeenTelevision: Who should be watching "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and why?

Shailene: I haven't really figured out a minimum age, because it all depends on the maturity level of the young individual, but definitely it should focus on teenagers, and I think parents should watch it, too, because there's a whole other side to the show that I don't think people realize right off. Parents can learn so much. [For example] Adrian's mom on the show has no idea what her daughter is doing half the time, so I think it's important for parents to be able to realize that when they leave for a week, their teens aren't necessarily studying algebra, they're doing something else. So I think it's important to open parents' eyes all around America.

See "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" Tuesday's at 8/7 Central on ABC Family or check your local TV schedules.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.