"Maybe people will see this story and be a little more careful before they have sex."
Soap opera characters are used to dealing with villainous relatives, mistaken identities, and brushes with death. But General Hospital's Lulu Spencer is facing something even scarier: an unwanted pregnancy.
teenwire.com caught up with Julie Berman, the 22-year-old actor who portrays Lulu Spencer, to get the lowdown on what it's like to be unintentionally pregnant in Port Charles.
teenwire.com (TW): Your character, Lulu Spencer, is 18 and facing an unplanned pregnancy. Why do you think this storyline is important?
Julie Marie Berman (JMB): Teen pregnancy isn't dealt with on daytime television very often. It's important for the media to portray these kinds of events, which are a little bit more taboo and controversial, in the most honest way possible.
TW: General Hospital has a large teen audience, and ratings have risen 23 percent among teen girls since this storyline began airing. Why do you think this is?
JMB: General Hospital is making sure that they make it a discussion about the issue without saying that there's one right way to handle this, and they're making it a difficult decision for Lulu. A lot of teenagers learn about sex through the media instead of their parents. This is a way for people to see one character's story and hopefully learn and talk about things before it ever happens to them.
TW: What are your views on sex education?
JMB: Sex education is so important. I was lucky enough [to learn about sex in school] — we talked about everything in depth. Teens are going to be having sex eventually. Instead of ignoring sex or feeling uncomfortable talking about it, you have to know what you're getting into and what can happen before you start engaging in sex. Lulu used protection, but something happened, and she got pregnant.
TW: How has this storyline affected you in your own life?
JMB: I'm really proud to be part of such a relevant story, and I'm really honored to do something like this. I know it's controversial, and I know some people are going to be uncomfortable, but I'm proud to be a part of something that will spark conversation ... for me it feels real, because there are a lot of people out there who go through this all the time.
TW: What do you want viewers to learn from Lulu's story?
JMB: A lot of people see abortion as a very black and white issue. What's right for one person may not be right for someone else. I don't ever see there being one right answer. I've learned so much after taking this story on .... This story isn't meant to tell anyone what's the right thing to do. It's meant to serve as a topic starter. Lulu's situation might have been different if she didn't have people who were supporting her; it's totally circumstantial. Maybe people will see this story and be a little more careful before they have sex, and maybe talk to their parents about sex before they start having it.
TW: The U.S. has one of the highest unintended pregnancy rates in the developed world. Do you think that television can play an active role in encouraging prevention among teens?
JMB: I think it can. The media portrays sex in so many different ways, and each generation is growing up more and more jaded. Anything that involves attracting the opposite sex is seen as normal. Sex sells. Kids learn from the TV instead of their parents, and they're seeing casual sex on TV without many consequences. I'm proud that General Hospital is working on the consequences. There's not enough of that on television.
TW: What advice would you give teens who are sexually active, or are thinking about having sex?
JMB: Take the time to find out everything about it before you do it, because having sex is a big deal. Abstinence is the safest, but it's not what everyone is going to do.
Sexuality and relationship info you can trust from Planned Parenthood® Federation of America
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