Interview: Shailene Woodley Talks DIVERGENT & More in Entertainment Weekly

You’ve recently become the go-to person for YA literary adaptations. I’ve been trying to figure out if there’s something that unites the characters you’re playing in all these movies – The Spectacular Now, Divergent, and The Fault in Our Stars — and what I came up with is that it seems like all of them could be described as loners.

I don’t think so. I wouldn’t say that Aimee’s a loner. I think that she’s somebody who chooses not to have a lot of friends because she just doesn’t have anything in common with a lot of high school kids. She’s got an old soul, and she’s incredibly wise and intelligent, and is an introvert. I think that Tris [from Divergent] isn’t a loner; she’s just from a faction that doesn’t lend to compassionate friendships. And I think that Hazel [from The Fault in Our Stars] isn’t a loner, I think she’s somebody that by circumstance isn’t around a lot of people often. So I actually don’t think there’s much correlation between any of them, apart from the fact that they’re all around the same age.

Your Spectacular Now costar Miles also appears in Divergent as one of your character’s main adversaries. What was it like to act opposite him again?

It was amazing. Miles is my favorite person to act across from, because we both approach acting from the same vantage point — which is, we really both love to be on a movie set. A lot of actors go on movie sets and take it incredibly seriously, and don’t talk to anyone, and kind of keep to themselves, or have to keep in character. Which is their process, and there’s no judgment, and that’s great for them. But that’s not how I work. I love the interaction with every single person involved, and so does Miles. So it was fun to have somebody that I could play with.

How did you feel when you heard that director Neil Burger won’t return for Divervent‘s sequel, Insurgent?

Yeah, it was a bit of a shock. I just found out a few days ago. [EW interviewed Woodley on Dec. 19.] We were actually doing reshoots when I found out. It’s kind of strange to think that it’s his baby, and it’s going to be passed on to the next person – and I guess this happens all the time in franchises – but I’ve never been a part of a franchise, and I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was shocking. This entire movie has been about Neil’s vision, and one of the reasons I did it was because I thought his vision was so beautiful and so strong. So yeah, it was just more shocking than anything.

[Spoiler alert!] I also wanted to ask about your reaction to the ending of Allegiant.

I was stoked. I thought that it was such a badass decision of Veronica Roth, and so incredibly powerful. I love that she didn’t sort of buy into the breakdown of what most young adult books, like, the outline of what’s happened in previous young adult books. Men die all the time in films – heroes do. But a lot of sweet heroines don’t. And so I thought it was a very powerful, profound decision on her part. And I really love that she had the courage and the bravery to do that.

Read the rest of the interview + a The Spectacular Now clip HERE