Shailene Woodley Spills on 'Secret Life' and George Clooney/Annie Potts Finds Nest Empty Earlier Than Expected

First it was 15-year-old Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley) getting pregnant by cool but troubled guy Ricky (Daren Kagasoff) in a rash moment at band camp. Now it appears that when ABC Family's "The Secret Life of The American Teenager" returns for its third season Monday (6/7), it'll be bad girl Adrian (Francia Raisa) facing a very unplanned baby-on-the-way.

Will this season be a case of deja vu all over again? We asked show star Woodley. "There are a lot of differences, but there's always going to be the similarity between the shock of being a teenager who is pregnant and having to choose what to do — to give up the baby or keep it," she notes. "Amy was obviously more naive than Adrian. Adrian is accepting it quicker, but it's still a struggle. Adrian and Amy will kind of create a bond. ... Amy is always going to be there for Adrian."

Woodley points out, however, that there remains a huge issue standing in the way of their becoming BFFs. The sticky point, as "Secret Life" viewers know all too well, is that sadly, the father of Adrian's baby is none other than Amy's true love, Ben (Kenny Baumann), while Adrian is in love with Ricky, aka Amy's baby daddy.

It shouldn't be a big surprise that there is another pregnancy on "Secret Life" considering the show's obsession with sex — the act itself and the constant talk of sex, including one installment where the S word was reported as being dropped a whopping 70 times. A drinking game in which viewers tipple at every mention of sex grew in popularity across the land last season.

"As long as they're doing it in a way that's safe, I think it's funny," says Woodley.

America's most famous unwed teenage mother, Bristol Palin, guests on the show this season. "We worked together a few months ago. It was a one-time thing. She was nice. She seemed like a normal teenager," Woodley reports.

As for how she likes working with all those babies — playing not only her son, but her brother — on the set, she says, "They're fun. They get distracted easy, pointing at microphones or lights on the ceiling. You have to be patient."

Life has been a whirlwind for Woodley in recent weeks. She's been in Hawaii making the feature "The Descendants" in the role of George Clooney's daughter, between "Secret Life" camera calls. She returned to the mainland the night before we caught up with the 18-year-old beauty, and she had already put in a full day on her series set.

"I'm going on adrenaline right now," she says.

How was working with George Clooney?

"All I can say about George is he's one of the most amazing guys I've ever met — so intelligent, so hysterically funny and so down to earth," she replies.

Clooney has such a bachelor image, will people buy him as a dad?

"He did an amazing job."

GRADUATING: Annie Potts admits, "I was not quite prepared to have an empty nest" — but such is soon to be the case for the former "Designing Women" star, whose three boys "are just about all grown. The oldest is 29 now. The middle son is graduating this week, and the youngest is a freshman off to boarding school in the fall. My work is done."

She adds, "The little one chose to go to boarding school. He saw the older one leaving for college and thought, 'If he's going, I'm going.' I thought, 'Oh, man. I thought had another four years,' but I'm thrilled for his opportunity. He's going to a fine school. I believe we have arrived at this place now where they will now take their place in the world. I do have mixed emotions about it. Nothing has been as comprehensively overwhelming as it has been to have been raising three boys and working all the while."

Turning to the professional side of her life, however, "all options are now open," she says. Not that things have been quiet in that regard. She recently finished a run of "God of Carnage" on Broadway and is dying to get back onstage. She stars with Drew Seeley in the Hallmark Channel in HD's "Freshman Father" original movie, debuting tomorrow (6/5). It's drawn from the true story of a young man who somehow got through Harvard on a scholarship while caring for his baby son after the mother left the scene.

"You don't often see movies about men who step up. It's usually the woman who's been left forlorn to raise children by herself. It's refreshing to see this young boy who had so much promise, caring for his son at the same time he put himself through school. I had the pleasure of meeting the real guy. He's quite successful, charming and sweet, and you just love him for what you know he did."

Potts plays the neighborhood psychic who befriends and helps Seeley. "There's not many categories of roles for women over 40. You're either a psychic or a naughty mother-in-law or a mother," she dryly observes. "I like the psychics."

WINNING BY LOSING: It's a sign of the times — the ongoing parade of story lines in films and on TV of late that give us silver linings to economic hardships. Tom Hanks' forthcoming "Larry Crowne" is about a middle-aged man who goes back to college to reinvent himself after losing his job — and finds Julia Roberts. The film festival ultra-low-budget comedy "Laid Off" — about two guys who plan to burn up their severance pay by drinking and living it up, but end up doing surprisingly different — just came out on DVD. Universal's "Wanderlust," soon to go into production, has Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd as a couple facing the black abyss of financial ruin when he loses his job. Sadly, they give up their home and go to live in Atlanta, where his brother can put him to work. But along the way, they stop at a bed and breakfast place that turns out to actually be a commune — and a life adventure.

IN AWWW: Rob Reiner has been lining up actors of a variety of types and ages to tell the stories of their first loves for his feature "Flipped," about the relationship of a boy and girl next door.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.