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ABC Family's hit series The Secret
Life of the American Teenager has made quite an impact.
Ever since its pilot episode broke the record for the highest
rated debut on ABC Family in Summer 2008; it has been successfully
winning the hearts of females and teenagers all over. Although
the show focuses on dating and relationships as any teen series
does, it also is infused with family values catching the hearts
of those who might have been in these complicated situations.
The series started with the school's "bad
boy" Ricky Underwood (Daren Kagasoff) getting Amy Juergens
(Shailene Woodley) pregnant. This life-changing situation
put strain on some of Amy's relationships while bringing her
closer to others. In season three, everyone finds out that
Adrian Lee (Francia Raisa) is pregnant with Ben Boykewich's
(Kenny Baumann) baby. However, at the end of the season Adrian
unfortunately loses the baby.
PCM got to participate in a conference call
with Raisa and Baumann as they discuss the hardships during
this tragic season three ending, their characters, and their
personal interests!
Question: Can you talk about how the loss of Adrian's
baby affects your characters?
Raisa: Sure. Adrian was really just all about having
this baby. Her whole life revolved around it right now. She's
had a baby shower, she is getting married, she is starting
a new life, and then for all that to be just be crashing down
and I mean, there's no baby now, so, it really affects her.
It affected me as well to shoot the episode. It's something
that I'd hope never to witness again.
Baumann: It was rough. It's material that as actors
we feel very lucky to take on because it is such a challenge,
and represents an experience that you don't often see on TV.
So you feel lucky to be able to portray that, and give those
people, who had the unfortunate experience, give them some
representation, make them feel like they're thought of, too.
But at the same time, it takes an emotional toll on you. You've
been just living in that situation for a short amount of time,
it's rough, it's terrible. Nobody wants that to happen. So,
yes, it was both strenuous and really pretty incredible opportunity.
Ben was devastated as anyone would be, and he's going to have
to struggle for quite a long time to recover.
Question: Can you share anything you did special
to prepare for such an emotional episode?
Raisa: Yes, I didn't know what to do. I was trying
to listen to some really depressing music, and the best thing
that I could have done is I went on YouTube and I typed in
stillbirth and there was a few videos that popped up, and
there was one in particular, I think it's the first one that
comes up when you research it, and it's about a couple who
actually went through what my character goes through. You
see the woman pregnant and how happy they are and the whole
process of waiting for her to be born, and then you see them
hold their dead child and you see her in a coffin and you
see pictures of her, and you just see the whole family just
crying and grieving. So, yes, that sold me, and that's how
I prepared for it, and the song that they added in the video
I had on my iPod and I just listened to it over and over again.
The flashbacks of that baby just sticks and came back into
my head every time they called action.
Question: Before you lost the baby, what would
you say was the most difficult part of playing Adrian up to
this point, the most challenging storyline per se?
Raisa: The most challenging storyline I think was
when I looking for my father, and I found him and I went to
meet him and he rejected me. That was a bit difficult. I had
never been through that and I know that's happened unfortunately
in some people's lives, and trying to put myself in that position
and play that character was tough. I mean, you know when the
two people that are suppose to love you and be there for you
when you're first born, when you first come out of the womb,
are your mom and dad. So to be rejected from that and broken
from that, it can be very difficult.
Question: Francia, let me ask you, Adrian's realization
that she has very few friends has really fueled the last few
episodes, and then we saw the end of the baby shower episode
that more people than she realized are actually in her life,
and I was wondering with everything thats going on, does Adrian
start to foster these friendships, or do they not really affect
her, and she just goes back to be more of a loner?
Raisa: Yes. Adrian was carrying the baby for nine
months and she really felt emotionally attached to it. Like
I said, her whole personality and her whole character changed
into this welcoming person, and she felt blessed that everything
was coming together in her life: her family; her friendships;
educations; and then it all just came crashing down. So she
becomes very angry and bitter, and she just wants to be left
alone, and handle her own sorrows. Even if people try to come
and try to be there for her, she just wants to be left alone.
She just becomes, I guess, some sort of a loner again, and
doesn't really want to accept anyone because all she wants
to do is grieve about her baby.
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