Apart from the enormous grey cashmere shawl draped around her shoulders, nothing about Shailene Woodley suggests she’s nearly at the end of a gruelling promotional tour for the US box office smash hit, Divergent, which finally hits UK cinema screens today. She is, to use her own words, ‘super nice’, and Californian to her very core.
Hailed as the next Jennifer Lawrence, Woodley was the star of the absurdly complex, long-running ABC drama The Secret Life of The American Teenager, and made her feature film debut as George Clooney’s daughter in The Descendants. But you might know her best as the original Kaitlin Cooper in The O.C., the one who’s pony had alopecia.
At 22, she’s now hitting the big screen in a dystopian teen trilogy based on the best-selling novels by Veronica Roth, who – prepare to feel nauseous – wrote them during the winter break in her final year at university, and sold the movie rights before she graduated.
In this vision of the future, Chicago is inexplicably the last city left standing after an ambiguous ‘war’ that took place 100 years ago, and society is separated into five factions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Erudite, for the Intelligent; and Dauntless, for the brave.
Acting since the age of five, Woodley is a tiny bubble of enthusiasm for everything and everyone around her. Even the British weather (it was raining heavily when we met) she describes as ‘a welcome surprise’ and claims she relishes ‘all the jacket-wearing opportunities’.
The Debrief: In the film your character Tris learns some pretty impressive warrior skills during her Dauntless training. Do you think you could take somebody down in a fight?
Shailene Woodley: Right now, not so much. I haven’t worked out in a month because we’ve been on this crazy tour, but I’m a fighter. If I had to fight or flight, I would definitely fight, and the movie certainly empowers you to do that. I did a little firearm training and some knife training, but for the most part, it was all fight scenes and hand-to-hand combat, co-ordination and fight choreography.
DB: What do you think drew you to Tris?
SW: I love that Tris isn’t born a badass, she has to gain her trades and her skillsets, and I think that’s a great example to be putting out there. She trusts her instincts over what society’s telling her and her familial pressures, and she chooses to honour herself. I think the younger we learn to love ourselves, and value ourselves and honour our own core beliefs, the more happiness we’ll experience in life. Once you really listen to your own inner voice, there’s no need to constantly worry about what other people think of you. You’re not in your head and you’re able to live from your heart.
DB: Tris’ relationship in the film with Four [Theo James (not present and also, after some quizzing, not interested in having my number)] develops to kissing, and then she makes it clear that she doesn’t want to go any further. Did you think about the message that might send to teenage girls watching?
SW: It’s particular to Tris because she came from a faction where sexuality and sensuality weren’t really explored. Something I really respect about the film is that she has the strength and the courage to make it on her own terms. I don’t know how it is over here in the UK, but in America I think a lot of women don’t feel able to speak their truths at a young age, especially when it comes to sex. I love that Tris has the courage to do so.
DB: Let’s talk about your recent comments on how we need to sunbathe naked...
SW: I study herbalism and there’s an herbalist who was like, oh yeah, if you’ve got a yeast infection or something going on, spread your legs, get some vitamin D in there! So when I’m with my friends, off the grid, in the middle of nowhere, we’re naked anyway, and we’re like, might as well, spread ’em, see what happens! If you think about Vitamin D, I know for me, if I’m not in the sun for long periods of time, then my skin breaks out more, and my hormones are completely off. Because vitamin D controls so much of our hormones.
DB: What exactly is herbalism?
SW: Herbalism is a form of ‘alternative medicine’, although it’s been around for hundreds of years, before pharmaceuticals were even a thing. It’s healing through plants, knowing how to identify them. You can pop an Ibuprofen for instant relief, but with herbs, you take them so you don’t even have that headache in the first place. I make potions and tinctures, it’s like a little witches’ brew. It’s super fun, but then to each his own. I’m passionate and I find it exciting to learn, but I think Theo would be like ‘This is so boring, what am I doing, I’m gonna go find a book on the French Revolution or something.’
DB: Is the French Revolution his thing?
SW: He’s just a very intelligent human being. He’s always reading the newspaper and whatnot. We’re very, very different, which I think is so nice because we balance each other out. It’s really nice to have a comrade through this whole craziness who I just learn something new from everyday.
DB: Do you like his British humour?
SW: I love his British humour! It’s so crude and perverted and dry. Oh, I love it! Everything is sex this, sex that. I love that! I guess in America it’s more taboo to talk about sex that openly, but sex jokes are so funny!
As indeed, are you Shailene.
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.