# Molly Ringwald calls Secret Life of the American Teenager career low

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/molly-ringwald-says-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-was-worst-experience-of-her-career/
- Published: 2026-08-05T23:32:51+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-06T05:47:40+00:00
- Original publisher: The Hollywood Reporter
- Original article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/molly-ringwald-secret-life-american-teenager-worst-experience-1236665106/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment

## Key points

- Ringwald rated Secret Life of the American Teenager the worst experience of her career
- She blamed one unnamed colleague, but praised co-star Shailene Woodley
- She rated Pretty in Pink, written for her by John Hughes, a perfect ten

## Summary

Molly Ringwald has named The Secret Life of the American Teenager as the worst experience of her career, telling Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that a single unnamed colleague was so difficult to work with that they dragged her rating of the whole show down to the lowest possible score. She was careful to stress that she loved most of the cast, singling out Shailene Woodley, and declined to identify the person she said was responsible for souring her time on the production.

Ringwald played the mother of Woodley's character across all five seasons of the ABC Family drama, which ran from 2008 to 2012 alongside co-stars including India Eisley, Ken Baumann, Daren Kagasoff, Megan Park, Francia Raisa, Greg Finley and Mark Derwin. By contrast, she rated Pretty in Pink, the 1986 John Hughes film written specifically for her, as the best experience of her career, giving it a perfect ten and revealing she still keeps a self-made collage from the film in her bedroom.

## Coverage

- [The Hollywood Reporter: Molly Ringwald calls Secret Life of the American Teenager career low](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/molly-ringwald-secret-life-american-teenager-worst-experience-1236665106/)
- [Variety: Molly Ringwald Says ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’ Was Her ‘Worst’ Work Experience: ‘One Person Was Really Difficult’](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/molly-ringwald-secret-life-awful-bad-co-star-1236828669/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.