The drama on The Secret Life of the American Teenager apparently did not stop when the cameras were off.
Molly Ringwald, 58, made a startling admission this week, describing her time on the ABC Family series as the “worst” acting job of her career.
Ringwald appeared in 96 episodes of the teen drama, playing the mother of Shailene Woodley’s character, a 15-year-old girl who becomes pregnant.
The actress surprised viewers when she addressed the role during an appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, where she was asked to rate some of her past acting experiences on a scale from one to 10.
When The Secret Life of the American Teenager was mentioned, Ringwald did not hesitate. “The worst,” she said.
The beloved ’80s star was quick to clarify that she had affection for the cast, including Woodley, but indicated that her difficulties centered on one person in particular.
’80s icon Molly Ringwald has said The Secret Life of the American Teenager was her “worst” acting job
She played the mother of a pregnant teenager, portrayed by Shailene Woodley, on the hit ABC Family series
‘It was a hard,’ she said. ‘I love the cast, I love Shailene, there’s so many people that I worked with… there was one person that was really difficult.’
Ringwald didn’t reveal who exactly the ‘difficult’ person was and refrained from specifying if they were an actor or worked behind the scenes.
Yet her memory of this individual caused her to rank the show the lowest.
‘I’m not going to say who that person is,’ she said, though noted they tanked the score ‘down to a one.’
From 2008 to 2013, Ringwald played Anne Juergens on all five seasons of the show and earned a Teen Choice Award nomination for ‘Choice TV Parental Unit.’
In a 2009 interview with MovieWeb, she described the show as being ‘well cast’ when the on-screen chemistry between the actors was brought up.
‘I think there’s a lot of just very charismatic actors on the show. I think all of the kids in the show are just really charming and smart and they all get along. I think that they just work really well together. I think the show is really well cast.’
Ringwald also had high words to say about the actor who played her husband, Mark Derwin, and their on-screen daughters.
Ringwald stressed she loved the cast and co-star Shailene, but struggled with one particular individual on the set
In contrast, she rated Pretty In Pink as one of her best movie making experiences
The acting icon, pictured on Sixteen Candles, starred in three films by directing legend John Hughes
Ringwald memorably starred in Hughes’ teen drama Breakfast Club
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‘I think we liked each other from the get-go, but I think as time goes on, obviously you get to know the person more and you get more comfortable with them.
‘I think our relationship has definitely grown and as the characters have grown, we’ve gotten to know each other better and it just really helps to get it even more sort of realistic. You develop little quirks together and impressions and it just makes it more realistic.’
While the show now leaves Ringwald with a sour taste in her mouth, the actress said Pretty In Pink was one of her best movie making experiences.
‘That was pretty great,’ she said. ‘I’ll give that a 10.’
It was Ringwald’s third Hughes movie, with Andy Cohen noting they had become a ‘well-oiled machine’ by this point.
‘It was written for me,’ she added. ‘He wrote the movie for me.’
