Francia Raisa plays the role of Adrian Lee on ABC Family’s hit series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which airs Mondays at 8:00/7:00 Central.

She plays the bad girl on TV, so obviously the first question that comes to mind is: is Francia like her character Adrian or is she more like another character?

She answered, “I was like Amy inside, but I acted like Adrian, except for the slutty part. I didn’t do that, but as far as the cocky part and just being a little vindictive and being sneaky and stuff, I did act like her a couple of times and then how emotional she gets at times about her family and just stuff in general. I was a lot like her, so I’d compare myself more to Adrian.”

Sarah Eve: “What made you want to be a part of this show?”

Francia Raisa: “The whole concept. I really enjoy the whole concept of just everything; every character had different issues that they dealt with, realistic issues that teens deal with, especially Adrian. I really wanted to play her because I saw it so much in high school. I went through it. I saw it. I cried about it and I really felt like it was great that a show like this finally came up in the air and it was realistic and people could relate to it, because I know when I dealt with stuff if I saw someone else going through it, it was easier for me to deal with it, so I personally think it’s great for teenagers and I wish I had it when I was in high school.”

Sarah Eve: “Me, too. I was wondering, even though you relate a lot with your character Adrian, did you have any reservations about playing the part?”

Francia Raisa: “No, none at all whatsoever. I mean everything they throw at me I’m like, ‘Go for it. Let’s go for it,’ because I was that girl. Like I said before, when you see someone else going through it, it makes you think about it in a different way, like you can never give yourself advice. You can never follow advice you give to other people; it’s only when you see it happening to someone else that you’re like, ‘Okay. I see now what can happen, what can become of this,’ you know?”

Sarah Eve: “Yes. The clothing on the show, do you have any input on the clothes that your character wears?”

Francia Raisa: “Yes I do. She actually dresses the exact same way I do. It’s fun. I told them, no skirts. I don’t wear skirts; the tops, as long as they make my figure look good then it’s all good.”

When asked about what is coming up on the show with Francia’s character Adrian, she responded, “Well, Adrian gets a new love interest and it’s a pretty interesting one, so we’ll see how you guys react about it.”

Who is her favorite co-star?

Francia Raisa: “That’s a tough one, because I love working with everyone. I mean me and Megan had a car scene one night and we were there until like midnight or 1:00 in the morning and we had so much fun together, and then with Daren; he’s such a dork, so we have fun together. I mean those are the two people that I mainly have scenes with, but everyone is just so much fun, so it’s hard to choose.”

What is the best part about playing the role of Adrian?

Francia Raisa: “The bad stuff. When I say raunchy stuff or like when I flirted with the counselor in the first season. That was fun. I mean, come on, everyone has a little Adrian in them and we all want to do it at some point.”

What was it like working with Jason Priestly?

Francia Raisa: “I love working with him. I hope he’s coming back for more. I haven’t heard that he wasn’t. I mean we have a different director every episode and we’re almost done, so hopefully for the next season he comes back, but I think the fact that he was an actor helps a lot.

“I mean when I had a scene where my dad walked in; I saw my dad for the first time and really I was looking at nothing. I didn’t see any man walking to the door; I didn’t see anything and he narrated the whole thing for me so I could really imagine it. I know some directors would be like, ‘Okay. He’s there. Go.’ That doesn’t help at all, so the fact that he narrated and he really helped me get into that place and he made sure everyone was quiet. He’s so much fun and amazing. I love working with him.”

How does it feel to be just as popular as shows like Gossip Girl and 90210?

Francia Raisa: “Amazing. I’m not going to lie; I was a little worried just because all of the advertisement and stuff that Gossip Girl and 90210 have. Gossip Girl was such a popular book. I mean I even read it growing up, so I was really nervous, especially when we got on their time slot and knowing that we’re up there and our ratings are even better than theirs, it’s a great feeling. I really enjoy it.”

What about the show compares to real life high school?

Francia Raisa: “Everything, believe it or not. I mean it’s just like what Adrian goes through and what Grace goes through and Amy and stuff. I mean, it’s realistic and I think we just deal with it in a realistic way. I’m not saying that everyone deals with it the same after the show or whatever, but we’re just realistic about the stuff. Believe it or not, it happens. I went to school with a couple of girls that got pregnant during high school. I know one that had four abortions by the time we graduated.

“Yes. You have those Adrians and you have those Graces and you have those Amys. I mean it happens.”

How many guys did you know that were like Ricky?

Francia Raisa: “Oh, a few. One broke my heart… I actually went through kind of what Adrian went through. I loved the guy and he didn’t want me. I was like, ‘Maybe if I have sex with him and I lose my virginity to him he’ll love me.’ Before that I found out that he was dating someone else at the same time he was dating me, so I didn’t sleep with him and I realized even if I did he would have never wanted me.”

How much of yourself and people you personally know do you put into the character of Adrian?

Francia Raisa: “It’s funny, because every time I run into people from high school I always tell them; because I went to Alemany High School, and I always say, ‘Wow, did that school help me a lot with my character,’ because I knew a lot of people similar to Adrian and then I did put myself a little into her. I mean I feel like in every character we put a little of ourselves into it, so that helped me a lot.”

How do you think the teenage pregnancy on the show is being received by the audience?

Francia Raisa: “There’s been a lot of contradiction. Some people are like, ‘High school is not like this. It’s so stupid, blah, blah, blah,’ but other people are like, ‘This is true.’ I hope that they look at the teen pregnancy and they really think about their actions before they do anything. I know that sex is going on a lot in high school. I know because my sister is still in high school. She’s a sophomore and she has told me stories that her classmates have done and it blows my mind, so I really hope that they look at the pregnancy.

“She [Amy, the main character on the show] only did it once. It lasted two seconds and look what happened.  The rest of her life changed. So I really hope that they look at that and they’re like, ‘Okay, maybe I should cool down a bit.’”

As you can see, Francia is a lot like her character Adrian. She’s smart and sassy, but unlike her character she understands the consequences of sex, which is why her part on the show is so important. Teenage viewers see the results of being “the bad girl” and hopefully will reconsider going down that path.