Wednesday, June 16, 2010

8 Things I Learned from India Eisley

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Yes, I know that last Wednesday I mentioned that I was going to start a couple weeks of drinking game ideas for television shows. I started drafting a few posts for this, but the last week has really been a whirlwind in a lot of ways. In the way related to this blog, I had two unique opportunities come up, and the first one is going to be addressed today.

On Monday, I took part in a telephone Q&A with India Eisley, who plays Ashley Juergens on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It was a fun experience, and I hope it was the first of many. I made up a whole list of potential questions (which was good, since some other participants asked questions I was going to), and ended up asking two (I had four "first-choice" questions, but my other two seemed to be hitting one area that was getting beaten like a dead horse, so I chose to keep those two silent). However, I learned a lot more than that, and thought I'd share. (The "8" doesn't come from anything specific.)

1. She has a slight British accent. I was taken by surprise. Of course, now I can hear it a little on the show (I thought it was apparent in one scene in Monday's episode, which I'll mention on Friday in the review).

2. The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens came out today. It's a book written by the Ashley character. India Eisley had no input on it, and had only read a few excerpts (I presume the ones that ABC Family put on their website, but I don't know for sure). She said she'll probably read the book at some point. She personally has never kept a journal or diary.

3. Minor Spoilers: Ashley and Anne are going to get closer. Ashley's character will not be as calm this season. She's becoming more vulnerable.

4. India says that she is nothing like Ashley (and also noted that she couldn't compare herself to any of the show's characters). She prefers the emotional side of Ashley, not the sarcastic side. I gotta say, this means she does some great acting!

5. India does not hang out with the cast off-set. She wasn't even sure if anyone in the cast had relationships with one another off-set.

5. India is not planning to go to college, unless a certain course interests her. She wants to keep working (acting), since she's happy doing that. I think that's great, and I look forward to seeing her in more things.

6. She says she watches the finished episodes once in a while. I find this interesting specifically because there's a February 2009 interview on the internet that mentions she watches every episode with her mother TWICE. I guess once you know the character inside and out, you don't over-analyze.

7. She would pair her character with Ricky without thinking it taboo (but never Ben).

8. She's close to her mom. She goes to her to talk about things, and considers her to be her best friend.

Special thanks to ABC Family and India Eisley for the opportunity to be part of the Q&A!!
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a great post! This is one of the shows that I think is so awful, but I can't stop watching it. Ashley is one of the few characters that I actually like, and one of the only actors that I think is any good!

Thanks for posting this!