The Grant High School kids are back together again!
Shailene Woodley, Francia Raisa, Megan Park, Ken Baumann, Allen Evangelista, Renee Olstead, Camille Winbush and Molly Ringwald from The Secret Life of the American Teenager reunited virtually via a JustJared-hosted video chat on Friday, Oct. 30. The event marked the first onscreen reunion for the cast since the ABC Family show ended its five-season run in 2013, and was aimed at encouraging fans to vote in the 2020 election.
"We already we feel like we're actual high school friends," Park said. "Even if lots of time has passed, and you see whether it's kind of like no time has passed, because we just sort of had these formative years together. So to me, you guys actually feel like my like OG high school friends, which is kind of cool."
"I feel like you've all grown up," Ringwald said. "I was already grown up. And now you're all the age that that we're really trying to reach, you know all the Millennials. I feel like the fanbase of the show is really the people that are going to change the course of our, our wretched existence."
Check out highlights from the reunion:
What happened to Amy?
During the reunion, the cast answered questions submitted by fans. Woodley was asked if she was happy about the way The Secret Life of the American Teenager ended.
"Do Ricky and Amy stay together?" Raisa asked, holding a wine glass. "What happened?"
"Rick and Amy got married, and then divorced, and then married again," Woodley said. "And they're divorced again. But it's okay, because she's back with Ben and they have two more children together."
Woodley continued, "To be honest, it's awful, I haven't watched Secret Life since Secret Life finished however many years ago that was. I can't tell you, really, what happened in the finale with my character, because I honestly don't remember. If my memory serves me right, what I wanted for Amy is that she stepped into herself and her own shoes to and felt empowered to make decisions that were going to be, you know, fruitful for her life and for her child's children, whatever, their lives, because I'm sure she has more by now."
"I think in a fantasy world, I'd like to have seen her be one of those parents who had all of her kids really young and is now like rocking in her mid 30s, child-free, because they're off like, whatever, and she has a whole new lease on life, whereas all the friends around her pregnant for the first time," Woodley said. "So I hope Amy's traveling the world and meeting new people and learning new languages and eating great food."
Amy + Grace?
Woodley also commented on her character's sexual identity.
"I don't think she identifies now as anything and I also think that she's just fluid in her sexuality," she said. "So I don't know that she's with Ricky or Ben. She might be with Grace."
"Hey, hey, hey, I called her first," Raisa joked. "I got dibs on that first. Don't you dare. I was there first. You already took Ricky away from me."
Reboot Ideas
The cast was also asked what they thought was the most important top that The Secret Life of the American Teenager would address, were it remade today.
"Something that would be important for me would be gun violence in schools," Park said. "If this were to be a show about American teenagers in school, that's something that would scare the s--t out of me every day. If I had to go to school right now as a teenager, I'd be really worried about getting shot in my own classroom."
Ringwald said, "The show was bold in terms of talking about sexuality. But I don't think that we had any characters that were trans. Did we? So I think that that would be something that I would want to see explored."
Winbush said she wanted to see more diversity.
"The show did a good job at showing different characters that were diverse and from different walks of life, so I would like to see more of those stories from people of color, people that come from a different place, and exploring how all of these people come together and how they mesh," she said. "And just tell more stories that you don't always get to hear."
Raisa said she thinks it's "super important" nowadays to highlight interracial relationships, which the show did.
Woodley said, "Exploring the mental health ramifications of Instagram and Twitter and Facebook would be a really important thing for me to explore on the show amongst teenagers."
Must-See TV?
Woodley, who has no children in real life, said her future kids "are going to be forced to watch every episode" of The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
"I have hardly watched any episodes," Park commented. "I think it's just a little strange when you're in it so much and you kind of are like, oh you know, judging yourself."
Will There Be a TV Reunion?
The actors said during the chat they are open to the idea of shooting a one-time reunion episode.
"I mean, I kind of have the idea that we should sort of do like a PEN15 take on the show, where we just redo the same episodes but [we're] our ages now," Woodley said. "If you guys are down for that, I'm down."
Members of the Secret Life of the American Teenager cast have kept in touch and reunited sporadically over the years.
In 2015, Woodley, Baumann, and Raisa, as well as former co-stars Greg Finley, Daren Kagasoff, Josie Bissett and Marielle Jaffe reunited at Park's wedding to One Tree Hill actor Tyler Hilton.
Find out what the cast of The Secret Life of the American Teenager has been up to in recent years:
The actress was just 16 when she got her big break playing Amy Juergens, a teen whose unplanned pregnancy sends shockwaves through her high school. Shailene, now 31, has gone on to climb the ranks of Hollywood's A-list after her breakout performance in 2011's The Descendants, going on to front the Divergent film franchise and most recently starring in HBO's Big Little Lies.
Shailene was engaged to NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but the couple broke up in February 2022 as she was filming the upcoming drama series Three Women.
"It was hard to film because I was going through the darkest, hardest time in my life; it was winter in New York, and my personal life was s---ty, so it felt like a big pain bubble for eight months," Shailene explained to PORTER in January. "I was so grateful that at least I could go to work and cry and process my emotions through my character."
Daren, 35, became an instant teen heartthrob thanks to his performance as Ricky Underwood, resident popular guy and father to Amy's baby. Since moving on from the ABC Family series, the actor has appeared on several television shows, including S.W.A. T. and The Village. He most recently co-starred in Devotion.
The Canadian actress, who played the religious Grace Bowman, has found success behind the camera after Secret Life ended. She's directed music videos for Billie Eilish and Gucci Mane, and made her feature film directorial debut with The Fallout, which won three awards at South by Southwest in 2021.
Megan, 36, tied the knot with singer Tyler Hilton in 2015, and welcomed their daughter Winnie in December 2019.
After finishing his run as nice guy Ben Boykewich, the 33-year-old moved on to another passion. Baumann has authored several fiction and non-fiction books, and in 2018 landed a fellowship at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is married to actress Aviva Farber, whose best known for her role in Superbad.
Following her time on Secret Life as fiery Adrian Lee, the 34-year-old landed starring roles on Freeform's Grown-ish and Hulu's How I Met Your Father. In 2017, Francia made headlines after donating a kidney to close friend Selena Gomez, though the pair reportedly had a falling out in 2022. Francia recently opened up about dealing with online harassment amid their rumored tension.
"It's not good at all. It's not fun either," Francia told TMZ in May of the messages she's received. "They are pretty bad but I think the one that probably hurt the most was, 'I hope someone goes up your p--sy and rips out your other kidney you f--king whore."
After dedicating the early years of his career to playing sensitive jock Jack Pappas, the 38-year-old went on to nab guest roles in shows like Star Crossed, iZombie and The Flash.
Aside from her role as Amy's best friend Madison Cooperstein, the actress, 34, is best known for starring on CBS' Still Standing. She continues keeping fans up to date on her latest endeavors, including new music and modeling gigs, on Instagram. After six year of marriage, Renee divorced pianist Tommy King in 2020.
Following his time as Ben's close pal Henry Miller, the 41-year-old went on to appear on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and in the 2015 film Project Almanac. The Zoey 101 alum has been married to Christina Burhoe since 2013 and the couple have two sons, Harrison and Hudson.
The 33-year-old actress, who starred as smart and practical Lauren Treacy on Secret Life, still continues to act on smaller projects and remains close with Francia and Renee.