This American teenager now has a 16-year-old.
Before Shailene Woodley starred in Big Little Lies and was (briefly) engaged to Aaron Rodgers, she was the lead of ABC Family’s drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which premiered on July 1, 2008. In the series, Shailene played Amy, a 15-year-old who becomes pregnant after having sex for the first time with the most popular boy in school Ricky Underwood (Daren Kagasoff). Complicating matters? Since their experience, they had both begun dating other classmates.
Helmed by the creators of 7th Heaven, The Secret Life of the American Teenager aired 121 episodes before ending its six-season run in 2013. In a 2020 interview with Bustle, Shailene reflected on her time on the series.
I can only speak [about my characters’ sex lives] through my experience with sex,” she shared. “When I signed onto Secret Life, I read [three] episodes and I signed a contract for six years. [Those episodes] all hit home. I had friends in high school who were pregnant. It felt like everything that I wanted to be sending into the world.”