Last summer, no one knew what we were in for when ABC Family premiered a little show about a pregnant teenager, called THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER.  Equal parts JUNO and 7TH HEAVEN (from the latter’s creator), this show came out of nowhere, and easily became a hit.  Now about to start a third chapter/season, I had the chance to speak with Daren Kagasoff (Ricky) and Megan Park (Grace) about what’s coming up this year, and what their craziest fan reactions have been, after going from little known to super stars overnight!

Quite a whirlwind you guys have had for this show in the past year!
Megan: Yeah, it’s been crazy!

So let’s jump in – where did your characters end at the end of last season, and what can we expect coming into season 3?
Megan:  Well, my character last season was really struggling with doing the right thing as a person in her relationship. She has this boyfriend who pressures her to have sex, and she really doesn’t want to, so the first couple of episodes really deal with that, and whether to take her relationship to the next level.  And also, there’s a very tragic death of a main character in the first episode, that you see everybody deal with throughout the season because it’s very life changing.

Daren: Well, in the first season, you kind of got to see my character, he’s the player, he got Amy pregnant.  He didn’t take responsibility for his actions, and now with this season, with the baby out, he has a lot of responsibility, so he’s definitely stepping up to the plate now and trying to be the best dad that he can. I’m excited for the fans to see that side of Ricky.

Why do you think that a show like this is so important, to have on the air right now?
Megan:  I think it’s important to have a show on TV like this that doesn’t sugar coat anything, that’s really honest, and shows real teens, all different types of families.  There’s single parent families, there’s adoptive families, that’s real life America now, and kids can see that families are all different varities.  There are all different kind of characters on the show that people can relate to.  I think it’s important to have something like that on TV.

How has fan reaction been?  Are you guys getting attacked everywhere you go?
Megan:  Kind of yeah!

Daren:  Yeah, we’re getting there.  The mall is not a good place.

Megan: Movie theaters and malls are not a good place!

Daren: [laughs] Anywhere where there are young kids!

What’s the craziest reaction that you’ve had so far?
Daren:  Well, this one time, I was walking and this girl almost got hit by a car.  She fell in the street, and she almost got ran over, so that was pretty intense. [laughs].

Megan: The fans are hardcore.  But it’s cool though.  I mean, they always just want to tell us that they love the show, and they love the characters, so they’re always really positive, which is cool.

Is there anybody that you get to work with this season that you haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with previously?
Daren:  Yeah, I mean, last year, I wasn’t able to work with Molly [Ringwald, Amy’s mom], because her character, I guess really didn’t like Ricky, too much.  Now that the baby’s out, you kind of get to see their relationship develop.

Megan:  I think for my character, last season, she was close with her mom, but this season, it’s a whole different relationship, kind of.  She has a lot of bonding experiences with her mom (played by Josie Bissett), and they go through some ups and downs, so that was really interesting for me to play.

And one last thing – why should people tune in?
Daren: Because this season, from the first episode, just starts out with a bang.  It seems like the writers, each season, they’re stepping it up, it gets better and better.  This season is just intense, and I know that the fans are going to like it.  They’re going to like where the storylines are going.  I’m excited for it to come out again!

Megan: Definitely the best season so far!