IndiaEisley By Lauren Weigle Photo by Tyler Shields
shley Juergens vs. India Eisley… A are they one in the same? Not even close. While Ashley (Secret Life of the
American Teenager) is a sarcastic, sort-of know-it-all who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her, India is more on the quiet side. Though she too can sometimes be “moody”, she’s shy, compassionate, sensitive, and humble. While India loves discussing movies and her work, she becomes stumped when asked questions about herself and what makes her such a wonderfully talented 16 year old girl. This is, in part, due to her genuine modesty and bashfulness. Beginning her passions with dance, she realized that acting was her true calling, following in the footsteps of her parents who are both professional actors. Although much of her childhood was spent on the move, from the beach to the mountains to her family’s ranch, being on set with her parents was a constant in her life. No wonder she delved into the acting world herself. As a child of actor parents, how, if at all, has this helped you in starting your career? Actually, it is my mother that really has been acting since she was very young in England. My dad has done a little acting, but is really a musician. Being raised in the kind of surroundings and people that I have been around has just become a part of me, I guess. My parents understand the acting world very well, so I suppose that has helped me in what I want to do, or should I say what I am doing. Where would you like to take your acting career when you look down the road? I started acting because I love films, so I hope to be doing that, and I would like to play all different kinds of characters. I especially love period pieces… to be in a wonderful period piece… that is a big dream of mine! Well, let’s talk about what you’re up to right now. Tell me about your character Ashley on Secret Life of the American Teenager and why you enjoy the role so much. Ashley started out as the rebellious younger sister, and she has matured a lot since the beginning. I think as she’s getting older, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for her to hide her emotions behind humor. It’s as if, little by little, different vulnerabilities and feelings, some new, and some that she has kept bottled up inside her, are starting to surface. It’s nice to see how she is changing with different layers and aspects to her; she’s not one dimensional at all. I guess it’s the changes that I enjoy most.
How would you describe the person you are in real life in comparison to your character on the show? There aren’t really any similarities between Ashley and I. She’s not very sensitive about most things, mainly because I think she doesn’t really allow herself to be. She kind of has hid her feelings about most things until recently; I’m quite the opposite. Although I’m a bit shy and quiet, I do let my feelings show to people that are close to me. Describe for me a typical day for you on the set of Secret Life. It’s quite normal: I go to makeup and hair, then rehearsal, then wait for a bit, then we start filming. When I wait I normally bring a DVD player and a book. Everybody kind of does their own thing on set, but we do talk a bit between scenes or at lunch, but mostly we just get our work done. Do you get to hang out a lot with your cast-mates outside of the show since you don’t much at work? I don’t really see them outside of work. Once in a while, I’ll see them at an event that we have been all invited to, but other than that, no. We all have different interests and things we like to do, so we just enjoy doing our own thing when having the day off. So, what kind of messages do you think the show sends to teens and their families? I think it gives an opening to conversations between parents and their children, about things that I suppose for most people can be uncomfortable to talk about. Sometimes it is easier to figure something out if you can see somebody else doing it or saying it first. So I guess to some point, the show may help people a little. When it comes to being realistic and true to life, how “right on” do you think the show is when it comes to teens dealing with sexual issues? I guess it’s resonated with young people in a way that seems honest, making it somewhat true to life… it seems to have made the real issues entertaining for viewers, while maybe simultaneously shedding a little light on things that have happened to them in their lives. Do you ever feel awkward or nervous with certain scenes that deal with such adult subject matter? Not at all. Young people grow up much faster than say, our parents, did. We all see so much more than they ever did because of TV, movies, and most of all, the internet. Very true. But, do you ever find yourself relating to a given situation brought up on an episode when filming? There may have been a couple of situations I might have related to but there’s really not much time to think about them too much because we film things so fast. I wish we could take more time to think about what we’re saying or reacting to, but you can’t in TV, it just goes by too quickly. What else do you like to do when you’re away from set? I see a lot of movies, probably at least two a week. I cook and bake a lot…I make a mean blueberry pie. I quite like traveling as well. But mainly, I love watching films. I’d love to start dance again, ballet, as that was one of my biggest passions growing up – it’s just hard to do with my schedule changing all the time. Where have you traveled and where would you like to hit next? I’ve been traveling for most of my life because of my parents work on film locations or tours. I loved Rome and Japan. Tokyo was great; I would love to go back. They all have great shopping. I also spent time in Sri Lanka when I was nine. My mum was doing a film there for a couple of months. That was a very interesting place…Sri Lankin people are wonderful.