Shailene "Shai" Woodley began her career at the age of 5, when an agent recognized her potential and offered to take a chance on her. She's been working steadily ever since. Shai got her first job in 1999, when she booked a role in the TV movie Replacing Dad. She's had recurring roles on Crossing Jordan, The OC, and Jack & Bobby, and also guest starred on Cold Case, My Name Is Earl, CSI: NY, and Close to Home.

You may remember her as the title character in the WB's Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, produced by Julia Roberts. Shai had a lead role opposite Ann-Margret and Matthew Settle in the telefilm Close to Home, and she's appeared in more than 20 national commercials. She's awaiting the release of her first film, Moola (not yet rated), which stars William Mapother and Treat Williams

Shailene is currently in the hit series The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family. Nothing's easy for Amy Juergens these days. Of course she loves baby John, but a baby definitely complicates a teenager's life! At least she isn't the only mom in the house anymore, now that Anne's given birth to Robie. And the whole family's under the same roof again, with Ashley living in the redone garage.

And Amy's been getting out more -- she had a distance romance with Jimmy, and then she and Ricky got friendly again -- so friendly, they actually kissed -- just for "practice." Ben's been playing the field too, but he confessed he'll always love her -- even though he slept with Adrian just to spite Amy. It's all so confusing! No matter what, Amy can still count on her friends and family to see her through the tough times.

Do you think that Ricky could make a committed husband?

I think that Ricky could make a committed boyfriend and a committed lover, but to be a husband is a big deal especially when you're in high school. So, I don't know if Ricky's ready and honestly I don't if Amy's ready, just because that is such a huge lifelong commitment.

Where do you see Amy the most happy in the future?

I see her the most happy with Ricky, with John, in an amazing comfortable job where she makes a good salary and she also still gets to play her French horn.

Now can you talk about how confusing Amy's living situation is these days and how that informs the way you play the character?

Absolutely. I think that it's super confusing for any teenager to have a boyfriend, especially a boyfriend in a relationship like Amy and Ricky's. Then to have to live together or not live together and all the pressures of other kids in high school and the pressure of wanting to feel grown-up , but not really being grown-up yet and wanting to prove to her parents that she can do it on her own, but she can't really do it on her own yet. So, I think that affects her life in a lot of different ways, because she's always got that in the back of her mind, trying to prove that she's older because she does have a two-year-old son, trying to prove that she can do it, when she might not really be in the space to be able to.

What's it like for you as an actress to work with a small child at your age?

It's amazing. I love kids. I live for kids. To have those little boys on set all the time is so much fun. We have dance parties in the trailers. They laugh. They call me Shai-Shai. It's great to have their young, youthful energy on the set.

I wanted to ask you about how Amy and Ashley's relationship really is.

Amy and Ashley's relationship, well, they are siblings and they are-I mean in a lot of ways polar opposites, but in a lot of ways, they're kind of similar too. Ashley definitely is an old soul, I would say. She has a lot of knowledge that she was probably just born with, a lot of commonsense, street-smart knowledge. Amy's more book-smart. So, I think they kind of rub each other wrong or they rub each other wrong with that department of their life, a lot in the sense that Ashley thinks she always knows and Amy thinks she always knows, but I think deep down, of course, they love each other. Of course, they would do anything for each other. We'll see that coming up, I'm sure, just because as teenagers get older, they kind of become closer with their siblings.

But, I think there's also a jealousy factor between Ashley and Amy, because Amy does have the boyfriend. Amy does-even though she has a child, and we're not glamorizing. It's really difficult to be a teenage mom, Amy has a lot of responsibility and Ashley doesn't really have anything. So, I think Ashley's always trying to prove that she's more mature. She can do it on her own. I think that kind of gets in the middle of them as well.

How did Amy feel about Ashley liking Ricky and wanting to be with him?

I think it would be hard for one of your friends to like the father of your child, I can't even imagine a sibling liking the father of your child, but I think Amy reacted in a very fair way. She wasn't crazy, mean about it, but she also didn't let Ashley walk over her. She told her how she felt and I think that's a big milestone to get over. For Ashley to accept the fact that it might not be the best decision to like or fall in love with the father of her sister's baby. So, I think that was really difficult on Amy. Even if she wasn't as vocal about it, I think that emotionally it took a toll on her.

What message do you want to send to the fans of the show?

Personally, I would say it is so important to live from your heart and to let your heart kind of rule in your life versus your mind. Because, I think a lot of times when you start letting your mind rule your life, your ego, your pride, your opinions, all of those things kind of get in the way and skew what you really are trying to do and steer your path. But if you live from your heart, I truly believe that everything will always work out the way it's supposed to. I think your intuition always knows best. Just live from a place of compassion. I think that if everyone would live from a place of compassion and a place of patience and love that this world would be phenomenal.

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