Shailene Woodley initially didn’t realize her mother in The Secret Life of the American Teenager was actually an ’80s teen icon.
The actress revealed during a recent appearance on Vanity Fair’s “Scene Selection” that she had no idea who Molly Ringwald was when they first started working together on the ABC Family drama, which ran from 2008 to 2013. Ringwald played Anne Juergens, the mother of Woodley’s Amy Juergens, on the show.
“I didn’t know who Molly Ringwald was,” Woodley confessed. “I was 15, didn’t grow up with a TV. Like, every one of my parents’ friends were like, ‘You’re working with Molly Ringwald!’ And I was like, ‘What is her… Why? I don’t get it.’ Because I had never seen Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles or any of her films.”
However, the Three Women actress said having not watched any of director John Hughes’ films that launched Ringwald to stardom as a teenager actually worked out in the end.
“I got to know her as just this, like, beautiful older sister motherly figure to me, who was really protective of honoring, like, my authenticity as a young person and who I was and just being, like, a kiddo playing a kiddo,” Woodley explained. “She protected me in that way and I’m so thankful for that because there is a pressure for people to grow up very quickly, especially when it comes to Hollywood.”
The Divergent star added that she “learned a lot” working on The Secret at a young age, including storytelling and “the types of messages that I want to be putting into the world or maybe not putting into the world.”
While Ringwald was already well-known once The Secret Life of the American Teenager premiered, it was Woodley’s first time starring role on a TV show.
