Interview with the cast of The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Exclusive chat with Daren Kagasoff, Shailene Woodley and Ken Baumann from The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Keeping it real with Kiwi fashion in the mix
Brad Pitt, move over. For me, Kagasoff is the epitome of
the male Hollywood image. One to watch? Most
definitely. It's therefore no surprise to learn he was rated
37/50 as one of the sexiest men of 2008.
Not only is he blessed with good looks, he possesses a natural
talent for acting. He explains how his role as Ricky in The
Secret Life of the American Teenager is his first professional job
after he started taking lessons.
The network was initially disinterested in him because he had no
prior experience but after eight auditions he won them over beating
hundreds of wannabes for the role and, well, the rest is
history.
Woodley, (who plays pregnant Amy) wears Rebecca Taylor
(America's most famous Kiwi fashion designer and based in New
York).
Eloquent and self assured, Woodley doesn't think life has changed
for her since being in the show apart from the people who talk to
her in the mall.
For Baumann who plays Ben, Amy's boyfriend in the show, he finds it
interesting losing his anonymity when he's walking in the mall or
down the street.
However, he's confident that if this is the biggest issue he has to
deal with, then it's really no drama at all.
Baumann likes the sincerity that acts as the foundation of the
show. He feels this is the reason why teenagers connect to it
because "it depicts real problems that teenagers across the country
deal with anyway, and in a very honest way. A lot of other shows
just glamorise sex, drugs, rock and roll, and fame and this doesn't
at all."
Woodley also loves the show and but feels the very real problem of
teenage pregnancy is scary for anyone at 17 years old.
She also feels the topics of divorce, the things that happen in
school and the fighting between friends (she's vocal that this is
something she's kept away from) teaches viewers to accept life as
it comes to try not to add unnecessary drama in their lives.
Even though she gets to go on the red carpet she readily admits
they just hang out with each other and go home to live their
lives.
Dakota Fanning (the youngest person to ever to have been nominated
for a Screen Actors Guild Award) is her inspiration.
"I think it's so cool when you open magazines and you see paparazzi
taking pictures of her at her high school cheerleading thing ... I
think that's cool that she is able to, you know, sustain that
amount of success in the industry but still be a normal child and
go to high school and be on the cheerleading squad. I think that's
really important."
Kagasoff is also oblivious to life in the limelight. He
feels as if he's just a working actor it's his job. He tries
to stay under the radar and just do what he's go to do.
Baumann on the other hand, tries to keep level-headed but jokes
around when he challenges me to approach him in a year to see if
they've all turned into egomaniacs.
Although Baumann feels he's like his character in the way they can
both be socially awkward and fall back on their sense of humour
very easily, he believes they (as a group) are the type of kids who
stayed out of trouble which is very different to the drama their
characters are involved in.
He also outlines how he finds the show morally correct and more
so than 90210 and Gossip Girl.
He feels, "it does kind of have the 'message of the week', but not
in an obnoxious way. Not in a way where it's in your face, but
it certainly focuses on problematic issues and it deals with them
very frankly, not in a way to make anything glamorous, just in a
way to tackle issues and present them in the truest light
possible."
For Woodley, it's momentarily about aesthetics as she adores
their wardrobes! She's vocal that Gossip Girl is a very
different type of show as for her personally, it has "an altered
sense of reality" with regard to the fact it's a slice of fantasy
something the average viewer won't experience each day and in terms
of penthouses and teenagers hosting all night long
parties.
She acknowledges the fact she loves watching it and that it does
make her want to be one of those characters, but she feels The
Secret Life of an American Teenager is more about real
life.
She relays a perfect example of the show reflecting real-life
situations, which can be seen in the traumatic storyline
involving Ricky (Kagasoff) who is dealing with the aftermath of
being abused by his father.
Both Baumann and Kagasoff feel comforted and supported when they
receive fan mail ranging from 11- to 23-year-olds who love the show
as much as they do.
And Baumann extends his thanks by attempting to answer every email
that enters his inbox a simple hi to his fans is the least he can
do.
Rock on. I'd have been beside myself with glee if my idol had sent me a personal email at 17 years old!
