Sprouty's "The Secret Life of Zoey" Page
Grace/Dimitri Home
Through her role as Grace Manning on the acclaimed drama series "Once and Again," Julia Whelan has a good deal of experience with the angst of adolescence. She agrees that this film will resonate with the audience, but sees things from the teen point of view. "I'm sure some teenagers who watch the movie will be in denial like Zoey is and won't think they have a problem," she commented. "And then-I think this is what we all hope- some teenagers who watch it will be able to recognize enough of themselves in Zoey to keep them from taking her self-destructive journey." A teen herself, Whelan speculates on what pushes her character to take drugs. "Ï think Zoey spent so much time trying to please her parents that her thoughts and feelings were stifled," she said. "She doesn't have any outlet to express those emotions, so she uses drugs as a way to anesthetize the pain of what she's going through." Through friends of his who have battled drug addiction, Andrew McCarthy has seen its effects firsthand. "Drug addiction is a horrible thing to go through, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone," he said. "I think people who overcome this problem show a lot of courage."
Reviews for Secret Life of Zoey: (thanks to Christen!) Whelan is especially strong. As on "Once and Again," where she played Grace Manning, she brings sensitivity and intelligence to her portrait of contemporary adolescence. It's sometimes a painfully honest picture.  BY MIKE DUFFY, FREE PRESS TV CRITIC Yet the Lifetime movie...adds a crucial element to the familiar mix. Julia Whelan plays the troubled 16-year-old Zoey Carter with piercing anguish and tender understatement.  Fans of ABC's Once and Again know Whelan's talent well. She portrayed Grace, daughter of Sela Ward's character, with recognizable confusion and striking naturalness.  Seeing Whelan is reason again to lament the cancellation of Once and Again, a ratings-deprived series that dealt with teen life thoughtfully.  Whelan's searing performance...sole reason to watch The Secret Life of Zoey is to relish her once and again.  by Hal Boedeker, Sentinel Television Critic