SHAILENE WOODLEY REACTS TO 16 YEARS SINCE “SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER ”PREMIERED: 'WE'RE THIS OLD ALREADY?'
The series — which ran for five seasons and also starred Daren Kagasoff, Megan Park and Francia Raisa — premiered on July 1, 2008
It's been nearly two decades since Shailene Woodley played a teen mom on TV — and she can hardly believe it.
Monday, July 1 marked the 16th anniversary of The Secret Life of the American Teenager's premiere episode, and Woodley, 32, shared her shock at how much time has passed as she wrote on her Instagram Stories, "We're this old already?? 16 years ago this premiered?!"
Her costar, Daren Kagasoff — who played Ricky, her eventual love interest and the father of her baby — also posted on his Instagram Stories to mark the anniversary, writing, "Crazy😭."
Kagasoff, 36, posted for the show's 13th anniversary, too, in 2021, sharing a cast photo as he wrote alongside it, "13 yrs ago today was the premiere for The Secret Life of the American Teenager..... holy shit we were young. ❤️❤️❤️."
Woodley and Kagasoff starred as on-again, off-again couple Amy and Ricky on the show, which ran for five seasons on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) and also starred Ken Baumann (Ben), Megan Park (Grace), Francia Raisa (Adrian) and Greg Finley (Jack).
In the pilot episode, 15-year-old Amy found out she'd gotten pregnant after losing her virginity to the 16-year-old at band camp. The Divergent star previously said that she signed on to the show — and signed a six-year contract — at a time when the storyline "hit home" to her, but that changed.
"I had friends in high school who were pregnant. It felt like everything that I wanted to be sending into the world," she told Bustle.
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As the show progressed, though, and her character became more of a pariah than someone who changed opinions, Woodley said she and "a lot of the cast disagreed with" some of the plot points.
"There were belief systems that were pushed that were different than my own. Yet legally I was stuck there," she said. "To this day it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. So being on Secret Life propelled me to be more vocal about my own belief systems."
Related: Shailene Woodley Says She Wants to 'Be a Mom' but Help Clean the Planet First (Exclusive)
However, the role launched Woodley's career — and she made some lifelong friends out of it. She told BuzzFeed in 2018 that she had remained particularly close to Megan Park, who played Grace in the show.
"I actually had a dream a couple weeks ago about the whole cast and that we all had this little reunion dinner. I told Megan about it and she reached out to Francia and I reached out to a couple cast members. I think, hopefully, we might do a cast dinner soon," she said at the time.
She and Park reunited on The Fallout, Park's directorial debut starring Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler, and Park, 37, told PEOPLE that her former costar has been "such a supporter."
"We were very, very close friends. There was never even any kind of like, 'Okay, the show's over!' and then I see her again 10 years later," Park said of their enduring friendship after Secret Life. "I mean, I spent more time with Shai for more years than I did with my actual high school friends, so she feels like another high school friend to me in so many ways."
"She's just been such a great friend to me over the years, " she continued, adding that it was "so fun" to work together again.
"We have to get into our serious mode, though, because we're so used to just being total idiots around each other. But we were able to pull together and be professional for one day!"
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The Secret Life of the American Teenager can be streamed in full on Hulu.
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2024-07-02T15:16:48Z dg43tfdfdgfd
