Shailene Woodley Rewatches Divergent, The Secret Life of the American Teenager & More

You're only young once.

You should be having a little fun.

Oh, she had fun, y'all.

She had fun.

[static fizzles]

Hey, I'm Shailene Woodley,

and today, I'm going to be watching some scenes

from my career with Vanity Fair.

I'm very excited.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

For one second, just focus on Anna, please.

I understand that the story ends

in the middle of a sentence because she dies

or that she becomes too sick to continue-

I am not interested in talking about that-

But that doesn't mean that her family

and her friends don't have a future, right?

Right?

First of all, anytime I see myself as a Hazel Grace,

because my hair is so short and my brother

and I look so similar, I just see my brother. [laughs]

The whole film was sort of leading up

to this last week of being able to go to Amsterdam

and film these scenes and work with Willem.

Willem's generosity as an actor

and his presence was so wonderful to be across from

and to receive and play with and react to

because most of the film had just been Ansel and I,

and he brought such a different energy to this movie.

He served as this mysterious character

for Hazel Grace for so long in her imagination

that this scene really was the valve

where she got to not be the one with all the answers,

and she got to ask all the questions.

I remember it being

like a very satisfyingly emotional scene to film.

They're fiction!

They cease to exist the moment the novel ends.

But they can't.

I get it in a literary sense

or whatever, but- I can't do this.

Later, bye.

It's impossible not to-

I will not indulge your childish whims.

I refuse to pity you in the manner

in which you're accustomed.

Okay, I do not want your pity.

Of course you do.

Like all sick kids, your existence depends on it.

This phase of my life,

like I remember people would say to me constantly like,

Oh my God, your life is gonna change so much

once Divergent comes out, Fault in our Stars

'cause it's gonna be so different.

And the only thing that was different

was that I was a little bit busier.

I was on more planes.

I got like great Delta miles,

and that's kind of it.

Like my lifestyle is not very exploitative.

I don't spend a lot of time in places

where there are paparazzi or cameras,

or I'm sure if I had leaned into that,

my life would've changed a lot,

but it didn't interest me,

and it wasn't what fed my soul.

What fed my soul was like

after we finished Fault in our Stars, I was 21,

and we finished it in Amsterdam.

And I moved to Italy and just lived in Italy

as a 21-year-old in a farming village

where no one spoke English,

and I spoke no Italian.

And I had to learn Italian.

And a lot of my 20s during this heightened moment

of maybe what externally to the world looked

like a big life of fame for me felt like a life abundance

because I was doing what I loved

and I never took it for granted.

And then in the in-between moments

when I wasn't on a film set,

I was living the life that I wanted to live

and seeking out experiences

that fed my young adult life.

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

You behind this petition? Excuse me,

I asked you a fucking question.

Hey, whoa, whoa, calm down, calm down.

Don't fucking threaten us. Was it you?

What are you gonna do, huh, choke me? [laughs]

Whoa, whoa, hey!

Excuse me, don't you...

Stop, stop.

[screams] Oh my God, my eye.

What the hell is wrong with you?

I'm gonna sue you!

This scene makes me laugh

because I love Laura so much. [laughs]

We get it, like she's my sister.

We're homies, and this scene was funny to film.

And it's also funny for me to watch

'cause we did this eight years ago,

almost eight and a half years ago.

And the way that I experience my confrontation now

or my rage or anger is so different.

I see in like, oh my God, Jane, me.

I was so angsty during this time in my life.

When I watch this scene, I see a young woman trying

to figure out how to exert her power

and not know where to place it.

She's not really living from

like a grounded place in her body.

She's living from sort of this,

how do I assert control in a situation

that feels so out of my control?

I have to do something about it,

and I don't really know what to do.

Ugh. Is her eye okay?

Apparently. She'll be fine.

I need to get out of this town as soon as possible.

I got a call in 20...

I'll never forget, it was November or October of 2015.

I was really sick at the time,

and I was not at all exhausted by acting

or the artistry and the craft of storytelling,

but I was really exhausted by the act of Hollywood.

And I got a call about Big Little Lies

because Jean-Marc Vallée, our beautiful creator, director,

ugh, who has since passed, had wanted me to play Jane.

And I was desperate to work with him.

I thought he was such an incredible artist and filmmaker,

but I was really dead set on finding myself.

And then I got a call from Laura

the day before I left for India,

or maybe I was actually already in India

and I hadn't turned my phone off yet.

And she just said,

Listen, I know where you're at in your life.

I've been there before too.

It's a lot.

This world isn't illusion,

but what isn't an illusion is what you love to do.

And what I see in you, Shai, is your purpose,

at least in this moment in your life,

is to be a storyteller.

And I think it's a massive mistake for you

to walk away from this opportunity

that you really should lean into.

It was because of that call

that I decided to leave India

and come back to United States,

and it forever changed my life.

And so in so many ways, I'm grateful for Laura,

but that was a massive moment of courageous friendship

to say, I think that you're making mistake,

and I'm gonna be brave enough to tell you why

'cause I really see you, and I see something

you can't see in your own life right now.

Just wanted to say that I'm so sorry.

I completely lost control and I stepped outta line,

and I should've never shoved you like that.

And there's no excuses.

And I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

The beautiful thing about Big Little Lies

is that we're all actually friends [laughs] in real life.

We have a text chain going,

and it's constantly like a check-in every few weeks,

Hey, what's the update?

It's still happening.

I keep being told that there's going to be a season three,

but I haven't read anything yet, so...

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

Don't get me wrong, there's a certain beauty

in your resistance, your defiance of categorization,

but it's a beauty we can't afford.

One of my favorite things

about watching these Divergent scenes with Kate

is that we've become very close

since filming [laughs] these movies,

and she's so silly.

She's one of the silliest, playful, hilarious

like lives in the frequency of joy humans that I know.

And to watch her [laughs] and I as enemies in this,

oh gosh, it's so funny.

Why am I enemies with all my friends

when I'm in movies?

It doesn't make any sense.

[high impact music]

[actors grunt]

I loved Divergent and the whole series

because of the action.

I love action so much.

To me it's like dancing, and I love to dance.

It's just like movement choreography fascinates me.

And I was so lucky in this movie

to have the most remarkable stunt woman.

Her name's Alicia,

and she had just finished doing Avatar, the first one.

And she was the woman who made all of the movements

and created all the movements.

And I remember I was just like in between takes,

I'd just sit and watch her like a little nerd

'cause I was fascinated by that side of movie magic,

what you don't get to see when you see this movie.

You think it's me being Tris,

but half of this scene

is Alicia making me look like a badass.

The wild thing about stunts is that really

they are dangerous no matter what

no matter how skilled you are

no matter how many times you practice a routine.

There's always the chance that something can go wrong.

I don't think I've ever talked about this.

We were doing this scene

where I'm running down the trek

trying to catch the train.

I grabbed the train handle,

but my boot got stuck in one of the cracks

of the platform I was running on.

And I had [snaps] 0.1 seconds

to decide whether I was gonna dislocate my shoulder

or just fall full sprint onto my head.

And so I thought that that might be the better idea,

which in retrospect, I don't know

if that was the right decision,

and fully fell face forward.

I remember coming to and everyone being like,

Are you okay, are you okay, are you okay?

And that was at the phase in my life where I was like,

I have to be hero all the time.

I can't ever ask for help.

Yeah, I'm fine.

I'm totally fine.

And somehow finished that day.

And I remember getting home

and looking at myself in the mirror

and being like, oh, I'm seeing three of myself right now.

I am so not okay.

Stunts are...

It's a no joke game to be a part of, but I do love it.

[compelling music]

[actors grunt]

I felt very devoted to what the story

and what this series was and what it meant to people,

and it was also just fun.

We were making these movies with our homies.

Like Zoe Kravitz is in it and Miles Teller and Theo James.

Like it was just a good time, a sweaty hot time

for years in a row in Atlanta. [laughs]

I definitely wanted to make the fourth one.

[Producer] What faction do you think

that you would be a part of?

I'm just like Dauntless by nature.

I really love tactical shit.

I kind of like the group mentality

of being a little bit of a rebel.

I don't know, I'm a Scorpio, I can't help it.

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

Look, whatever you two fought about over Christmas,

you have to drop it.

Grow up.

You love your mother.

Your mother loves you.

I can't drop it. You have to.

This scene in particular was a scene

that I auditioned with, and my first audition,

I walked out of it feeling like I slayed it,

I'm gonna get this movie,

and I didn't get a callback.

And I was so confused.

And I begged my agents for a year almost.

I emailed them every week and said,

Please just get me notes.

Please get me notes.

What did I do wrong?

I know I'm supposed to do this film.

And the casting director was just like,

Alexander's not interested.

Like she wasn't good.

I like went in and I cried, and it was this whole thing.

And finally after a year of me bugging my agents,

I was able to get a call back.

And they gave me some notes.

And the notes were like,

Don't cry.

Don't do anything.

Just be honest.

And that was the audition that got me the movie.

Dad.

Dad, Mom was cheating on you.

That is what we fought about.

When I was home at Christmas, I caught her with a guy.

On the day when we were doing this scene,

AP came up to me, sat by the couch, and put his hands up

and he looked me in the eye and he just said,

Stop acting, but like in a really kind,

compassionate, gentle way.

Be you is really like what he meant.

That one note that Alexander gave me,

I feel like shaped my entire career

as far as who I became as an actor,

and that's what this scene taught me how to do.

And this was the scene where I got to learn it

for myself because of Alexander.

Caught her with a guy.

What does that mean?

I was on my way to swim

in the Black Point Pool with Brandy,

and suddenly I see mom and some douchebag

walking into a house, his house, I guess.

Just some guy.

It could be anybody.

He had his hand on her ass.

It was gross.

The only film I had seen George in

before working on The Descendants

was, O Brother, Where Art Tho

because I didn't really know much about film.

And so I knew he was this big movie star guy,

but like I didn't care that he was a big movie star guy.

I got to know George

because he would play basketball with the transpo guys.

He would hang out at lunch with the caterers, with the crew.

He's such a professional and such a genuine human being

who just loves to do what he does.

And being around that energy every day

as a young person was so inspiring

because to me I was like,

this is what film set should feel like.

And now that I've worked on many,

it's not usually the case.

Like it's a very rare thing to have an actor

be as involved with the set and the crew as George was.

To this day, one of the most profound experiences

of my life.

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

You know, I could call up that Kim Jong-il wannabe

and complain if you want.

I mean, by the time you get home,

you barely even have time to eat and do your homework,

let alone have any fun.

You're only young once.

You should be having a little fun.

Oh, she had fun, y'all.

She had fun.

I mean, I was 15 when I shot this scene

when I started Secret Life.

I didn't know who Molly Ringwald was.

I was 15, didn't grow up with a TV.

Like every one of my parents' friends were like,

You're working with Molly Ringwald?

And I was like, What is her...

Why, I don't get it?

Because I had never seen Breakfast Club

or Sixteen Candles or any of her films.

So I got to know her as just this

like beautiful older sister motherly figure

to me who was really protective of honoring

like my authenticity as a young person and who I was

and just being like a kiddo playing a kiddo.

She protected me in that way,

and I'm so thankful for that

because there is a pressure

for people to grow up very quickly,

especially when it comes to Hollywood.

And I mean, listen, the truth is, I was 15 years old.

I signed a contract for six years having read one episode.

And, look, I'm so thankful for Secret Life.

I got one of my best friends, Megan Park,

who's smashing it as a writer and a director right now.

I got to meet Molly.

There's so many beautiful things

that happened because of Secret Life.

And also there was a lot of lessons that I learned

in terms of storytelling in general

and the types of messages

that I wanna be putting into the world

or maybe not putting into the world.

And Secret Life was a great opportunity

to learn those lessons at a very young age,

starting with like, you know, if you sign a contract,

maybe read more than just one episode.

It was a fun journey and it was a great time

and I definitely learned a lot.

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

I should known better than to drink what they gave me.

These were boys that you knew

like boys from your high school?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but still.

Anyway, it's not like it hurt, your face,

even though it was- Oh my God.

'Cause, no, what they gave me,

like really, I mean, it works.

It knocked me out, you know. Lina.

I did not feel anything, and-

Gia is sort of explaining to Lena

after hearing some very vulnerable confessions from her

how subconsciously Lina has created a life for herself

that mirrors the value of her own self-worth

because of an event that happened

to her when she was younger.

This is something that I'm familiar with

because of friends of mine

who have been through something very similar.

It's shocking to imagine that this happens

to so many women, but it does.

And so being able to handle this scene

with a lot of care and a lot of devotion

to the truth of what this experience can be like

for so many people with Betty and have them echo

and mirror these two characters

and their experience was wild and trippy

and emotional and difficult

and I think raw is just the best word to use.

It's an opportunity to see how some of us grapple

with trauma and actually don't grapple with it.

Because it like ripples through the rest of your life.

Dude, the trauma of assault that like can affect

all of your choices. Wait, can you stop

saying that.

Losing Aidan was the trauma?

No, that's not true.

Huh? [chuckles]

It's I just think there's like there's no way.

It's my fault that I went with those guys, right?

If I had trusted Aidan- It is not your fault.

Lina, dude. It literally is. [chuckles]

It is not.

Gia is an interesting character

because the character of Gia, personality wise,

was an amalgamation of some things

that I thought she should be,

some things Lisa thought she should be,

and then whatever the cosmos wanted her to be.

For me, the similarities that I found in myself with her

are that we are both just kind of hungry for truth,

and I think Gia was very aware of that

and very curious to understand why things happen

the way that they happen.

And one of my best friends,

her child is a lot older now,

but when he was about two,

I just remember it was like a year of,

But why, but why, but why, but why?

Just everything was a, But why?

And to me, that's who Gia is.

[upbeat music]

[tape rewinds]

Thank you for watching.

[calm bassy tone]