By Shaun Daily and Kenn Gold

India Eisley caught her first big break with ABC Family’s dramatic series, The Secret Life of The American Teenager playing Ashley Juergens, younger sister of Amy.  Ashley’s wit and outsider persona add a unique mix to the show’s chemistry, and it would seem that Ashley is just getting started. The daughter of Olivia Hussey and David Glen Eisley, India enters the family business with a vengeance taking on what is likely to become an ever increasing role on the young network’s most popular series.

India recently came onto the TV Talk radio program to talk about her character, and what it has meant to her being on a part of the ABC Family hit series.

Shaun> Congratulations on the success of the show!  We’ve been behind it right from the start.

India> Thank you very much!

Shaun> How do you feel about the success of the show?  We’ve had Shailene, Francia, Kenny and others on, and no once can believe how successful the show is.  Are you shocked still?

India> I am.  I am.  It’s just so incredible to go to go to work everyday, and there’s a spring in everyone’s step. It’s fun to do what you want to do, but to be successful at it, there’s no other feeling.

Shaun> What did you think when they first came to you to play this character?  You were going to play Ashley, the sister of Amy who is pregnant.  Did you think they were crazy or what?

India> Not really.  A lot of other girls went in doing the whole valley girl thing, and I knew that wasn’t really going to fly with me.  So I just said, “What the hell!”  And I brought my own humor to it, and they seemed to like it.

Kenn> Would you say that you are the comedy relief on the show?  I loved the scene that you did with the preacher, and it was really fun.

India> I guess so. I haven’t really thought about it.  I guess Mark Derwin, who is incredible on set and who plays my dad, and I kind of work together to be the comic relief.

Kenn> What’s it like working with Molly Ringwald?  I think you have most of your scenes with her.

India> She is very, very fun.  When you are working with her, of course you know who she is.  But she never has the attitude of, “I’m above it all.”  She’s just very down to Earth and very real. 

Kenn> What has been your favorite part of the show, or your favorite scene so far?

India> Like I just said, I love working with Mark Derwin.  He’s so much fun. He’s a really great person.  I recently got the opportunity to work with Daren, who plays Ricky.  And he’s just a really lovely person and a great actor.  I hope to work with him much more in the future.

Shaun> How did you feel about doing the scenes with Molly where you are telling her off?  Those are some great scenes.  How did you feel going into that?

India> Well, I do have a lot of pent up anger about lots of things.  So it’s really great doing scenes where you have to stick it to someone.  It’s great!  It’s a relief!  Molly is such a sweet person, it’s almost hard to be mean to her.  So in between takes, I’d be like, “Oh, I’m so sorry!”  She’d be like, “Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine.” 

Shaun> The chemistry between all four of you is just incredible, especially Ashley with her father.  Are you surprised at how good it is?

India> Not really.  When we filmed the pilot, I was only in the dinner scene.  But when we met we really meshed in a really unique way.  Mark and I were the black sheep of the family.  It’s like Ann and Amy are one side, and we’re the other side.  So there’s always that kind of underlying tension.  But I think we just really kind of clicked the moment we met.

Kenn> What has the success of the show meant for you?  Do you get recognized when you go out in public?  Do people come up to you on the street and want to talk about the show?

India> Sometimes.  In the beginning, when Ashley was still kind of in the goth look, people would come up to me, but weren’t really sure it was me because I look completely different.  I’m completely different in my everyday life, so they were kind of unsure.  It’s really great though to hear what they have to say about the show.

Kenn> What do your friends and family say about it?  Are they pretty happy that you have such a great part in a successful show?

India> Yes.

Kenn> Do you watch the show every week, or do you get screeners from the network?

India> I watch it when it comes on TV.  It comes on twice and my family and I watch it twice.  The first time, my mom watches me more than anyone else.  The second time she can kind of catch up on everything else.    

Shaun> How did you feel when they told you your character was going to figure this out without anyone telling her?  Here’s Ashley, making all these sarcastic remarks, but she’s the first one to figure out that Amy’s pregnant?

India> Yeah, I think Ashley is kind of the eyes and ears of the family.  She’s kind of the observer.  Even though she does make her remarks, she still has a very mature quality in her.  I think you start to see that as the series goes on, in more of the episodes that haven’t aired yet. 

Shaun> What were your thoughts when ABC Family told you that you’d be coming back so fast, and have such a short hiatus?

India> I was so happy because I just love working.  I’m not one of those people who can just sit on the couch and twiddle my thumbs.  I have to be doing something, or I’m just miserable.  Of course I’d like to find other projects on our upcoming hiatus.  But I’d never ever be upset to be coming back to the work, especially on this project. 

Shaun> I think it was Francia I was talking about this with.  I think ABC Family should take you all out on mall tours like they did with Beverly Hills 90210 in it’s heyday.  The fans would be all over you guys. 

India> Yeah, I’m sure.  That would be interesting.

Kenn> Do you like your character? Is she someone you’d hang out with?

India> Yeah, I do.  I definitely do.  There are lots of aspects of Ashley that I feel very close to.  Of courts there are other qualities that are much younger than me, and that’s the twist in the relationship between me and the character.  I would be friends with her, if she’d be friends with me.

Kenn> Are you anything like the character at all in your real life?

India> I am in the respect of our humor.  I have a dry sense of humor.  Not so much the deadpan stuff, but if I’m feeling something you’re going to notice.  Really, like I said before, there are little qualities in Ashley that are completely different than me.  For instance, her being so forceful about being against her parents getting a divorce.  It’s understandable considering her age, but God forbid,  if my parents ever decided to, I think I’d be supportive because I know them both very well and we have a very open relationship.  I’d feel comfortable knowing they were doing this for themselves?

Kenn>  This is your first series right?  I think you had another entry in your IMDB profile though for a movie or something?

India> Yeah, I had a little bit part in it that got cut out.  It was really tiny and I had one line.  Really, this is my first big role and first big break.  I’m really just so grateful for it, because where better to start than with all of these great people to work with.

Shaun> Someone on twitter is commenting that they loved the scene where you didn’t want your father to leave and said it was because he was the only one in the house that you liked. That was a strong scene too. 

India> Yeah, I was pretty brutal in that.  No parent would want to hear that from their kid.

Shaun> How do you feel with all of these serious scenes?  Do you have a hard time leaving Ashley behind and becoming India again?

India> Not at all, not at all.  There are differences, but they are kind of minute so it’s easy to just flip in and out. 

Shaun> People are also commenting that they liked the scenes you had with Henry in Adrian’s apartment.  Those were pretty cool scenes as well, when you were kind of telling him off, but you realized he liked you so you became nicer to him.

India> Yeah, I loved filming those.  I love working with Alan.  He’s just a really cool person, and I really enjoyed doing those scenes.

Shaun> Also someone is asking, will Ashley be going to the same high school as Amy next year?

India>  She will.  She will, God help them all.  The answer to that is yes.

Shaun> She’s angry at her mother, do you think it’s because she feels neglected? Why is she so mad at Ann?

India>  I think it’s because she always felt that Amy was Ann’s favorite.  It’s the other sister and I think she was always kind of irritated with Ann, because Ann never got her.  She never really understood Ashley.   I’m not going to spoil anything because there are lots of interesting little clips coming up in the episodes.  But she does have a little breaking point between the two of them.

Kenn> What would you like to do after this show?  Would you like to get into comedy more, or another dramatic series, or maybe a couple of movies?  Or have you really thought about that yet?

India> I’d love to get into film.  That’s the main reason I got into acting is that movies are just something I love more than anything else; definitely more dramatic stuff.  I think I’m better suited.

Kenn> Do you have a favorite movie?

India> Oh, there are so many!  It’s so hard to choose just one.  I’m a huge Charlize Theron fan, and I really like Maggie Gyllenhaal.  One of my favorite performances is I really loved Maggie Gyllenhaal in Sherry Baby.  I thought she was fantastic in that.  I can’t really pick a favorite film at all though.

Kenn> Fair enough.  I’m sure you look at them differently since you are in the industry, and maybe going to be up there yourself someday.

India> I hope so.  I hope so, fingers crossed.

Kenn> What kinds of things do you do in your free time when you aren’t on the set?

India> It’s going to sound very dull, but I watch movies.  That’s basically what I do, and it’s hard to explain, but most of the time when I’m not working, I try to catch up on sleep.  That’s basically it, I watch movies, I sleep, and I eat.  Then I work.

Shaun> Do you have any tips for memorizing your lines?  Someone in the chat is an aspiring actress and wants to know that.

India> A lot of the time, I work with my mom on them because she’s just really good at that.  I think really the key is just reading them out loud, over and over again.  If possible, if you have them much earlier than you are going to film or work on it, just go over it as many times as possible so it sinks in.  You don’t ever go in unprepared and not having learned your dialogue because it’s very humiliating. 

Shaun> Also some one is saying, “Tell her to stay away from Ricky!”

India> Oh, thank you!

Kenn> I think Ricky would have met his match with Ashley if he ever tries to go there.

India> That actually is coming up, when I said I worked with Darren.  I give him hell!  It’s a really interesting scene. 

Shaun> That’s good that he has it coming from someone in the family. The parents kind of rolled over, but it’s good that someone hasn’t. 

India> Yeah, Ashley is not intimidated by him at all. 

Shaun> Someone else is asking, how did you get the role?

India> I auditioned.  That’s basically how I got the role.  I auditioned and it was a very hectic process.  I auditioned, then got a call back, then got another call back.  Then I went for a test with the network along with a few other girls, and I got it. 

Shaun> Is this the role you wanted from the start, or is there someone else you wanted to play?

India> No, I always felt kind of a strong connection to Ashley because she’s kind of the odd one out.  I’ve always felt like that.

Kenn> What do you think the show says about Teen pregnancy?  I don’t know if you look at the message boards or blogs, but there are some people who seem to think it promotes it.  Others think it really down plays it.  What message do you think is coming out of the show?

India> It does not promote teen pregnancy.  It really does not.  It’s just merely showing the effects that it can have surrounding the girl who is pregnant. It doesn’t promote it at all.  The message is, “If it does happen this is what the long term effects are, and always take precautions.”

Kenn> Is the cast pretty close?  It seems like everybody should get along, just watching the show. Do people hang out and talk to each other off the set?

India> Yeah, unfortunately I haven’t really gotten a chance to work with everyone on the show.  In the begging, Ashley kind of dressed up, pissed of her parents, and moped around the house.  That’s pretty much what she did.  I think that I’ll be able to hang out with all of the others after Ashley is in high school. 

Kenn> When they give you the scripts, do you get the full scripts or only your parts?

India> Yes, I get the full scripts. 

Kenn> So you know all the secrets and all of the spoilers?  Don’t worry; we won’t pump you for those.

India> Yes, I do.  I know all!

Kenn> Someone else is saying they loved the scenes between you, Amy and Mimzy.  That’s so sad about her.

India> Yeah, it is so sad about Mimzy.  But I thought that Alice, who played Mimzy; her performance was very touching.  It was really lovely to work with her.

Kenn> Thank you so much for your time today.  We’ll watch you tonight and every Monday night on the show.  By the way, do you know when the episode that you mentioned with you and Ricky airs?

India> Yeah, it’s like episode 22.  You’ve got a ways to go.