Shailene Woodley is opening up on how she wound up on the HBO drama Big Little Lies, during a timeframe in which she was looking to a step back from her career in show business.
‘I was really dead-set on “finding myself,”‘ the 32-year-old actress – who was formerly engaged to NFL star Aaron Rodgers – told Vanity Fair Thursday.
The San Bernardino, California native described the outreach that paved the way for her to appear in the series’ ensemble cast, which also features Laura Dern, 57, Zoë Kravitz, 35, Nicole Kidman, 57, and Reese Witherspoon, 48.
‘I got a call, I’ll never forget it – it was November or October of 2015,’ said Woodley, who plays the role of Jane Chapman on the show. ‘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.’
Shailene Woodley, 32, is opening up on how she wound up on the HBO drama Big Little Lies, during a timeframe in which she was looking to a step back from her career in show business. Pictured earlier this month in NYC
Woodley (center) seen with Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern on the program
Woodley said she had been contacted about appearing on the series as late director Jean-Marc Vallée, who died in December of 2021 at 58, ‘had wanted me to play Jane.’
The Divergent star said of the late Vallée: ‘I was desperate to work with him, I thought he was such an incredible artist and filmmaker.’
She added, ‘But I was really deadset on finding myself.’
Woodley said that Dern, 57, contacted her around the time she took a trip to India, making a compelling argument for why she should join the cast of the show.
‘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 is an illusion, but what isn’t an illusion is what you love to do,”‘ Woodley said.
Woodley said Dern told her, ‘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.’
Woodley said that Dern’s call led her to ‘leave India and come back to the United States’ to work on the series.
‘It forever changed my life,’ she said. ‘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 a 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.”‘
Woodley said a persuasive call from costar Laura Dern convinced her to appear on the show
(L-R) Witherspoon, Zoe Kravitz, Dern, Woodley, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep pictured at the season two premiere of Big Little Lies on May 29, 2019 in NYC
Woodley referred to Dern as her ‘sister’ and that ‘the beautiful thing about Big Little Lies is that we’re all actually friends in real life.’
The series is slated to return for its third season in the future, after the show’s most recent second season hit the air in 2019.
Woodley added, ‘We have a text chain going and it’s constantly 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.’
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