"It's good to know that you can be noticed for your looks, but it comes with the job and you have to take it on the chin and appreciate what you've got, really. I'm grateful for all the attention."

Characters that sport British accents and drive on the left side of the road aren’t the only things that make the British BBC show Skins distinctly un-American. The show follows the life of a group of teenagers in Bristol, England. Like many real teenagers on both sides of the pond, they do a lot of drugs, have a lot of sex, and don’t get along with their parents. However, Skins shows more of this than most American Prime-Time TV channels would allow: plenty of nudity, drug use, sex, and—god forbid—an abortion.

Nevertheless, MTV announced this summer that they would develop an American version of the show, set in Baltimore. Staying true their British counterparts, who casted teenagers who had never acted professionally before, the producers held an open casting call in November in Manhattan. An announcement from the casting company encouraged “brave, charismatic, genuinely edgy teens” to audition, including those with no acting experience.

At the auditions, prospective actors, ages 15 to 18 (IDs were necessary) were taken in groups of four. They were given prompts with scenes, ranging from having a conversation while getting high to sex tape scandal. The aspiring actors were assigned characters, and they had to act out the scenes for a given amount of time. Then, a lucky few got call-backs.

BHSEC sophomore Hayley Barnett was the 79th person to audition out of what she said was easily five hundred lined up on the Bowery at only nine in the morning. “We were given a scene where one guy and his girlfriend made a sex tape, and he posted it on YouTube without her knowing,” Barnett said, adding that the scene went well. “It was actually interesting to improv a scene that was really different from those one experiences in theatre classes.”

Skins was developed by father and son team Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain. All of the writers are in their twenties or younger, which gives the show a more realistic perspective. MTV will try to stay true to this model by using young, untested screen writers, and will work with the British team as well.

Barnett said that all types of people were at the auditions, and clearly not all were experienced actors. “The reason I went wasn't to get 'discovered' or anything like that,” she said. “I really just wanted to go to have some fun, and it certainly delivered.”

I went through a year of hating myself at secondary school. I was bullied to the point of having to change schools because it got so bad. But it was at my new school that I got told about the open auditions for Skins and that would never have happened if I hadn’t moved. I saw one of the girls who bullied me the other day. She was walking down the road with a baby and I thought, ‘Glad to see you’re well…'

The actress said she was disappointed she did not get to join in the action between characters Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless) and Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott). Kaya, 17 - who plays Effy Stonem - told TV Biz: "Unfortunately I wasn't in the lesbian storyline but I would have loved to have been."Acting out lesbian scenes would have been really fun. I have so much respect for Kat and Lily that they can make it work because neither of them are lesbians but it looks so beautiful and real."She added: "It's a really important storyline and people have come out because of it."



Also co-star Kat Prescott has revealed that she never again wants to work with her twin sister Megan, who plays Katie in the show. The 18-year-old said: "It is trying working with Megan because it's very full on.She added: "We're not very close twins - we went to separate schools and never wanted to do the twin thing in our careers, but Skins was too good an opportunity to miss."Now we will definitely go our separate ways again."

Skins fans are largely unhappy with the decision to kill off Freddie McLair, according to a poll.

The majority of voters suggested that it was a bad move to have Luke Pasqualino's alter ego depart in such a violent manner.

One user, gezza, said: "He was hot but that was the most disturbing death scene i've ever seen ewwwwwwwwwwww i need therapy !!!!"

Another wrote: "Those last three minutes or so moved Skins into a really weird and unnecessary place. The episode was one the best ever, except for those last three minutes, I thought the Skins writers let themselves down."

However, Skins fan Ian claimed it was "the best piece of television i've seen this year", adding: "It was a more original way of killing off a character than just getting to the end of a series and never seeing them again."

The series four finale of Skins airs tonight at 10pm on E4.

The executive producer of Skins has promised fans that the upcoming fifth series will be more fun.

Series four has received criticism from viewers following Freddie's (Luke Pasqualino) murder during last week's episode, which some deemed an necessary plot twist.

Responding to the comments, Skins boss John Griffin agreed that the current series should have been less depressing, but defended the decision to kill off Freddie.

The Sun quotes him as saying: "Next series we will see all the fun of Skins again."

The series four finale of Skins airs tonight at 10pm on E4.