The Buzz - BuzzWorthy Radio

BuzzWorthy Radio: Ken Baumann!

Ken Baumann, who plays the role of Ben on ABC Family's original series, "The Secret Life of an American Teenager," will be making an appearance on BuzzWorthy Radio!

Ken plays Ben, a seemingly sarcastic
know-it-all who is really an obsessive romantic at heart. In real life,
Ken is quirky, incredibly smart, and charismatic. The "nerdy hot guy,"
Ken has a passion for creating art both on camera and off. Not your
average young actor, he is an avid writer and photographer. This year,
Ken will be directing an independent film based on a book he wrote
entitled Interim.

Duration:: 30m
Broadcast on:: 16 Jan 2009
Audio Format:: other

We'll talk to you later. Alright, yes. Come get you live. It is Buzzworthy Radio. But you can get some latest buzz. I'm all your favorite children's buzz. Buzzworthy. Buzz. Now. Hey, this is Austin Peck from Asphalt Terror. And you are listening to Buzzworthy Radio, the only place to get all the information that you need about life, about the world, about ants, insects, clouds, and the stars above. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Buzzworthy Radio on this Friday, January 16, 2009. We're coming at you live. Right now is 6 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 p.m. Pacific Time. On this network, I'm your host, Noelle J. Lee, alongside Matthew Preston. We're going to be joined by Ken Bullman from ABC Family's original series, The Secret Life of an American teenager. And he is with us right now. Let's bring him to the line, shall we? How are you? Good. How are you? I'm doing alright. You know, you're in sunny California. I'm pretty much over here in Jersey. Oh, no. Oh, no. How cold is it there? Let's put it this way. It's 16 degrees outside, and I pretty much went into the house with an icicle on my nose. That's how bad it is. Oh, man, I cannot complain in here. Oh, boy, that's bad. If you complain, I would have hung up on you. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, none of that rough stuff here. Yeah, absolutely not, absolutely not. And someone who knows a little bit about the cool weather, too, is my co-host. Tell him how cool it is, Matthew. It is so freezing outside, I swear. It's just all the old people are complaining because it's too cold, and it's freezing. I can't believe it. Yeah, I love it. I have a friend in Chicago, and she says it yesterday. It was negative 30. Wow. Yeah, with Windhill. Wow. I heard that. I've heard that. That's bad. I feel bad for the old people, especially with the osteoporosis. I'm not saying that to be funny. You totally are. You're like, "We're going to bring our young guests so we can mock old people." Good job, Nevelle. Good job. Oh, God. It's not even five minutes into the show, and already he's busting on me. I know. I know. It's funny. G.J.F., what can I say? That's true. But enough about me and my depressing state that is Jersey. Let's talk about the man of the half hour. That's Ken himself, who plays the role of Ben on "Secret Life." This arrived a little bit about your character for those who may not have seen the show. And if you haven't, shame on you. You should watch her. Let's see a little bit about Ben. Ben is a really sweet guy. He's fallen in love with the show's hero, and that is played by Shailene Woodley. He falls in love with his girl, Amy, and then throughout the first season, he found out that she was pregnant, and of course, it is not Ben's child. But he's deeply, madly, crazily in love with her and decides to support her, regardless. And yeah, just really love her best he can. And he's a goofy guy. He's awkward, and he's in high school, and he's figuring things out, and all the while trying to deal with his very pregnant girlfriend. So, yeah, it's an interesting character, very, very fun and very challenging. And I hear your character is in competition with someone else for her affection, it seems. Yes, actually. Kind of the school of Thario, a character named Ricky, played by Darren Kaggisoff, you know, he's a schmoozer. He basically attempts to sleep with anything that moves, but, you know, regardless of how one side of his motives can be, you know, throughout the season, too, there's kind of a very evolving relationship between Ricky and Ben. And you'll see, there's some good stuff in store between Ricky and Ben, good stuff. Pretty cool, and I'm sure you get this question a lot. What is it like to work with '80s icon, Molly Ringwob? It's so far, I mean, in the very few scenes that I've had with her, right, I mean, she's really, really talented, really on it, and very nice, you know, that no complaints. She's really, really, really, really cool, really smart, hard-working lady, so it's my pleasure to work with her, absolutely. How does it feel to be referred to as the nerdy hot guy on the show? You know, I try to, basically, I kind of try to keep, like, the blinders on as much as possible and just focus on working at set and not try to listen to too much publicity around me at all, which is, you know, I don't know, I think that's my strategy, and I'm sticking to it. Kind of, I draw some inspiration from Daniel Day-Lewis, who claims to have never watched a single one of his films that he starred in, which I don't believe, but regardless, I think that's, like, incredibly brave and admirable, but, you know, I'll take nerdy hot guy, I'll take it. There's nothing wrong, I mean, that has a suffix of hot, so the nerdy is fine with me, absolutely. Speaking of publicity, you guys, I think, remember, the first season, or after the first season aired, you and the cast were able to go to the team choice awards? Yes, correct. Well, exactly. That was pretty surreal. You know, I kind of, I really realized the show's popularity and scope there for the first time because I was walking down an aisle in this, you know, giant auditorium filled with thousands of people, and people were literally screaming bins, screaming Kenny, look over here, can look over here, and, like, little girls just thronging around us, and I really, it was in that moment that I really felt like I understood how certain celebrities that will go nameless can, like, really, their egos can just expand and become their own orbiting planets. Like, I really got it. Like, I really understood why that happens, but it was very, it was a great experience. Very, very surreal, very odd, but very fun. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. Is acting something that you always wanted to do, or is it something that you just got into off a whim? You know, it actually, I was about 10, and my mom just kind of approached me, I was outside, I think I was on trampoline, and this was back home in Texas where I grew up, and I think I was, you know, a kind of rambunctious kid, I was like a ham, I was a ham, and so she approached me and said, you know, there's this quote unquote, you know, the small town actor model searches, and she said, do you want to go? Totally innocent, like, no agenda at all, I don't think she was trying to push me in one direction or another, but I said, yeah, sure, why not? And so I went to this small town actor model search, and quote unquote, "qualified" and had to pay, you know, $400 to go to a bigger one in Dallas. And from there, I picked up a town agent in New York, and so we, you know, my mom, we flew out with my little sister and spent about three months in New York just auditioning and modeling, and then came back to Dallas and started doing that, and eventually, you know, I said, I'm not, I don't enjoy this modeling stuff at all, but acting, I'm really passionate about it, so I just like to focus on that, and yeah, so it was definitely kind of a happy accident, I think. I totally stumbled upon it, but I'm incredibly passionate about it, and I think it's a really important and challenging art form that I love to participate in. So if you have the chance to work on any other show, maybe a guest-star role, be it whatever, a recurring role, aside from the show that you're already working on, what would that show be? Oh, that is tough. You know, could I be tricky and say I would travel back in time and try to guest-star on Deadwood? There you go. You could. Let's do that. All right, all right. Well, if I can, then that is definitely my answer. I love that show, and I'm really horribly disappointed that it didn't run longer. That's true. I have to admit, so I'm surprised someone said Deadwood to be honest with you. Really? Yeah. No, I'm dead serious. I had no idea that anyone would like that show. Yeah, no, I know. It had such a small audience. I mean, there are a lot of great shows on TV that Lost is another show that I'm really addicted to. I would love to be on Lost. Yeah, there are TVs. It's a good time for television. I think there are tons of really great shows on right now. I'd love to see myself on CSI, but that's like a dream that will probably die with me to the grave. Oh, never, never give up. Never give up. Just wanted to throw that out there, y'all. I wanted to be on CSI. Maybe like a dead person in the morning. Actually, I have a friend who played a dead girl on CSI. Nice. Really? There you go. She said that it was incredibly boring. She had to lay there for hours and just constantly be touched up with really pale makeup and try not to breathe. My friend, my friend kind of said the same thing. She had to play a dead girl in CSI too. Oh, wow. Well, that man's small world. I wonder if there's some sort of vibe. I don't know. Yeah, exactly. I don't know. This is not a tough question. I don't think this is one I've ever asked anybody before. I wanted to see if I could ask someone from our age range. Sure, sure. If you weren't acting right now, what could you be seeing yourself doing right now? Not like right now at this very moment, but you know what I mean? Sure. Yeah, absolutely. I would definitely say writing. I mean, and I do. So I would, but I, you know, of course, I suppose would. If I could not act hypothetically, I would probably focus all my time on writing full time and trying to succeed in that field. That's a nice, that's a nice segue into what I'm basically about to bring up. You are going to be from what I understand directing an indie film based on a book you actually did write. See, look at that. Yeah, that is, that's correct. I wrote a book, it's actually my second novel, and this book is short, I guess it could be considered a novella, but the first novel I wrote, I was 15 and it was horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. Of course, you know, like what did I expect at 15 to pump out some work of genius? So this is my second book, and I am currently trying to shop that around and get that published, but I, my agent, and extremely close friend, Patrick Wellborn, brilliant guy, and he, you know, kind of said, "Well, you know, I think this would work as a feature film." And it took me a while to realize that, but I did, and I am in the process of adapting it and piecing it together and trying to find producers and financiers and et cetera. And I think it's going to come together. I think I'll be able to do it in the next, in the next two years. So I'm really excited about that. That's very cool. And, you know, I look at, I look at people who go about and try to get whatever they're doing out there for like the masses, to like here, to see and everything. You know, you're like an inspiration to a lot of people. It's tough. It's tough work, you know, to be doing something like that. You know, everybody thinks it's so easy, but it's really not. It's very hard. Yeah, I absolutely agree. It's, you know, like anything, I think. If you want a big audience, you really do need to kind of bust your ass and work a lot. Put in a lot of hours and shake a lot of hands and kind of be your own salesman. So I'm working, I'm working really hard. I'm trying to work my best to make this happen. So it is a battle, but it's one that I love. It's, yeah, I love it. Section that I was actually saying, you know, I was asking there, what kind of saying, that you were our age range, what is the age range for yours? And the 18 to 20 range, is that it? For acting? For you, actually. Hold it up for all the fans up there who do not know. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I am 19 years old and, yeah, I'm 19. Well, what is it like to, so you're 19, you're a little bit older than your character. What is it like to play a younger person? You know, I try to remember back to when I was 15, and I, you know, I'm not saying that right now I'm the most mature person in the world, of course, but I try to remember specifically how immature I was. And it's fun. It's fun. You know, I remember back when I was 15, I was out here a lot, kind of pedaling my wares and auditioning, and I didn't have the typical high school experience. I went to a charter school out here and did a lot of work independently, but I certainly remember like navigating the social waters, so to speak, when I was 15, and how important that was for me to be perceived as, you know, something, as cool, as smart, as good-looking, whatever. And, yeah, it's fun. It's fun to kind of revisit that and try to, it's almost like I'm correcting my past by playing this character. I'm trying to be like a better version of myself at 15. It's interesting. That's funny. You get a better version of yourself, but yet you get paid while doing that. Oh, yeah, no, that's the thing. If any actor, if any working actor complains about their job, you should hang up on them, because it is true. It's true. It's true. Actors are spoiled. We are really spoiled. Wow. See, I think you are right now like the one of the best guests ever, because you're just so brutally honest, and that's so awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Look at him. He's like taking praise. That's awesome. I have to say before, you know, I'm going to call you out. It's so funny. If you guys have listened to this show, this is going to have like the best laugh ever. It's like very like a deep like bear turn soap opera evil, like, villain-less. Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, it's definitely, it could very easily like veer into evil genius laugh. Yeah. Yeah, it's good. It's good. I cannot tell you how many times I've been told this by people at my job. That's funny. That's like the fifth time I told you. It's true. Is there anything coming up on Secret Life that you can tell us, that you're able to spoil us with? Oh, man. All right. Well, let's see. I'll try to be a little vague, but you can look for, I'll give you something specific to Ben, and it's going to be very funny when it happens, but look for Ben and Ricky having to work together, and I will all let the interpretation be open on that. But Ben and Ricky are going to have to work together in the future. So, well, you can just, hopefully the audience will take what they will from that. Work together. That's kind of scary. I know. I know, right? Yeah, exactly. But, yeah, there's a lot coming up on the show that I'm excited for just to see how the audience reacts. It's an exciting show. Lots of drama, lots of twists and turns, so there's good stuff up ahead. You should be happy though, your show actually beat out Gossip Girl. That's fine. Yeah, I'm very happy about that. I mean, I think that when the show started to do so well in the first season, everyone, it was all, you know, we were pleasantly spiced. We had no idea because, you know, there are great shows that Tank and pretty bad shows that succeed, and we all, you know, we all believe the show that we work on to be good. And I'm really proud of the show. I'm proud of how it deals with the issues that it deals with, and I'm happy that it doesn't cast, you know, stuff like teen pregnancy and parents getting divorces, and, you know, I'm happy that it doesn't make any of that glamorous at all. And I think that's honestly why it's so successful because it, I think it really resonates with the audience because they realize how real and kind of honest it is. So I'm proud of the show and I'm happy to be working on it, and when it took off like it did, I think everyone just kind of breathed a sigh of relief and then just, you know, went back to work. Plus, if it actually, you know, just saying, you know, knock on wood that it did not Tank in the ratings, but if it did, it wouldn't have been really cool to actually have it like be a cult phenomenon with the DVD sales, because a lot of the shows out there that do not do well, they usually do so well on DVD's and sometimes like Family Guy, the show goes back on the air, but wouldn't have been, I think it would have been really cool. That is such like, I know the Family Guy thing that's so fascinating to me. And yeah, that would be great. I mean, anytime you work on something you want it to find an audience, and if it doesn't initially find its audience, and if it, you know, became this revived thing because of DVDs, that would be amazing. I mean, you're just happy that, you know, people watch and respond to what you do. I mean, that's the goal. So if it happens, that's great. So what has been some of those responses from the fans? Are there any specific fan responses that you can probably say, "Oh, my God, really?" Because you're really saying this? You know, actually, I've been pretty lucky. I have not had any crazy fan responses. I mean, I have like a public email that, you know, I put out there online, and so I'll have fans email me there, and then also people better approach me, and it's all pretty much really, really nice, respectful stuff. Like, the fans of this show so far, in my experience, are awesome. Regardless of, you're regardless of their age, or, I mean, they're all just really nice, really respectful, and they just, you know, walk up here and tell you how much they love you and how much they love the show, and that's it. I mean, that's great. So so far, nothing wacky. I'm waiting, though. I'm sure it's going to happen. It has to, right? I'm surprised, too, because you get on the show, and usually, you know, we do get some really crazy fan questions, fan callers. We do have a fan – actually, I do have a fan question for you. It comes from what was it? A.N. fan. It says, "What does it like to be a part?" They actually want to know, "What does it like to be a part of the ABC family?" ABC family is so far has been such like a generous network. I mean, I've met, of course, all the executives that work for the network, and they're all really nice, like super nice, super generous. And I've met, you know, the people on Kyle XY and the people on Greek, and everyone has just been really nice, and kind of, you know, charming, and they're all just looking out for you. So it's been a great network. I mean, I have no complaints. It's everyone's working towards the common good, I guess. Well, that's really amazing. Having so much support from practically everybody so far who has watched the show, or who's even fans of the ABC family, not just of the show, but of the ABC family in general. You know, just to hear that, it just must make you going into work, makes you feel so good, you know, just... Yeah, absolutely. I think you're dead on. I mean, yeah, how can you not? How can you despair when, yeah, like you said, everyone, the network behind the show, the creators, the fans, everyone is so enthusiastic? It makes you feel like you're doing something that, you know, it's quote unquote important. And I think it is. If it resonates with so many kids, and I think, like I said, I think it deals with moral issues really well, then who knows? Maybe it is. I don't know, but it certainly makes you feel that way. So, that's great. Yeah. I really just brought up a good point too. I mean, you know, this show, when I first saw the previous one, when I was first coming on onto the network and everything, I'm thinking this is just going to be another cheesy show, you know, about teens in school, just like doing nothing. This is me also reverting back to Lynn. We had CNBC with city guys and say about all that stuff. Yeah. But then, you know, I'm getting into it. I then see that this girl is pregnant, and you're having to deal with the fact that a teen pregnancy, what's going on around her and everything of the sort, this is something that actually teaches people something, which is what I like most about the show. It actually shows you basically what sometimes really actually does happen in real life. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, you know, as I said earlier, I think because it deals with the issues, you know, so honestly and doesn't try to, you know, it doesn't make anything glamorous. It just really kind of shows you what it's like. And I think that for these kids, you know, I think a lot of them are experiencing the same issues. And I mean, I know for a fact that a lot of actually pregnant teenagers and women in their early 20s who, you know, had children when they're that old, they really, really are huge fans of the show because it is so accurate. And I owe that, you know, I think we all owe that to the creator of the show, Brenda Hampton, because, you know, she really isn't touched with kids at age. And she also, you know, I believe that she spoke to pregnant teenagers and spoke to women in the early 20s who had had kids. And I think that's really important, and I think that work shows. And that's why, once again, that's why the show's doing so well. I'm actually -- I'm definitely crossing my fingers -- I'm definitely crossing my fingers that there's going to be a breakfast club reunion in the show. I don't know. Now, honestly -- That would be awesome. I would -- if -- oh, man. If especially if we could get somebody wearing those judge gloves with the -- Exactly. Oh, my goodness. They could play some teachers and some parents, throw them in there, have some, you know -- Amelia, that's the next one. I don't know. It could happen, you know. I'm not denying that possibility. [ Laughter ] That's a shame. And I'm just -- I'm just the 80s now. That's how bad it is. I'm just the 80s. I don't miss the hair, but I'm just the 80s. I do miss the 80s. Yeah, I remember when I was young, I would wear -- in fact, I think in my first day at kindergarten, I wore a Garfield shirt that had, like, party-colored triangles on it, and then Garfield was, like, riding a skateboard with a sideways hat. I don't know. Is that 80s or is that early early 90s? I think that's early early 90s, but -- Early early 90s. Yeah, that's like borderline. [ Laughter ] Well, then I can -- I can live vicariously and watch Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's day off, and that's 80s. That's how I've experienced the 80s. Thank you. Love Ferris Bueller. Love Ferris Bueller. No. Oh, yeah. Yeah. One of the things we love for you to do, if you would like to, would you like to do a promo for us? Yeah, of course. I didn't call it a stinger this time. What's wrong with me? Wow. Whenever you call it a stinger, everybody gets confused, and then you say "prema." They're like, "Oh, my God. I knew what that is." Yeah, right. Stinger, is that a wrestling move or what is that? Possibly. I don't know. I never found out what it was, but someone says "stinger." I was like, "I guess it's radio lingo." No. But something new, the kids can learn. [ Laughter ] Let's see. You would say, say something along the line of this is Ken Bowman from The Secret Life of American Teenager. You are listening to Buzzworthy Radio, or you can improvive that line to your liking. Okay. Got it. I will do that. Here we go. Hey, everyone. This is Ken Bauman from Secret Life of the American Teenager, and you are listening to Buzzworthy Radio. Well, totally. We'll use it. Awesome. Good. One take wonder. That's how you do it. Well, Ken, thank you so much for coming on the show. It was very nice meeting you. Yeah, thank you so much for having me, guys. I really enjoyed this. No problem. And good luck to everyone on the show. It's a total list. Where and when can they catch your TV show? Oh, you can watch Secret Life of the American Teenager on Mondays at 8/7 central -- yeah, 8/7 central on ABC family. Very cool. Thank you so much. You're welcome back anytime, man. Absolutely. The door is always open. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for having me, guys. Anytime. Yep. Bye-bye. Okay. So, no, Val, it's just funny. Every time the guests were always like, "I'm almost thinking. Are they going to hang up?" Oh, he did it. Okay. But, you know, just wait right now. TJ, for TJ F again, TJ Friday. Thank God that I have a Myspace. I wouldn't even know about the show if I hadn't watched one of my Myspace. [ Laughter ] You know, I was just saying, "Oh, hey, we have a show. Okay, that's cool." But what are we on next? I always ask you. It's one are we on Tuesday, right? Monday. Monday. We're about to test today, too. I know. Sorry. Monday with who? Monday, we are on at 5 p.m. Eastern with Ireland Escapada, who is playing in Friday. That is a 13th remake. Yeah, whoa. And I also want to say, for the last time, maybe not the last time, but possibly for the last time, it is January 16th. Friday, January 16th, which means you've got to go out and watch the best movie ever in 3D, of course. It's not 3D. Check it out. And also, check out the interview that we did with Tom Farmer from yesterday. He mentioned us. We got to mention in his blog just to let you know. It's totally cool. You have descended to me. I have to see it. I will. I will. Thank you. I will. I will. Thank you guys so much. I want to thank our guests for coming on. I'm starving. Dinner's ready over here in the Justin/Paulussoil household. So I am going to go eat. And yeah, everyone have a good and safe night. And from all of us, it was really radio. Good and pleasant weekend. You guys have a good and pleasant weekend. We'll see you back here Monday at 5 p.m. We're also going to be on Tuesday with a nice little turn out from Michael Park from As The Wolf Turns. And after we're done that show, make sure you watch the Presidential inauguration. No. Do. On that. Anyway, yeah. Get those buzz with Buzzworthy Radio. We continue that line. We'll be here all day talking about that. I said, get the latest buzz with Buzzworthy Radio. I got it!