Shailene Woodley: ‘I like having to fight for a job’

Three films into the Divergent franchise – The Divergent Series: Allegiant, to be precise – and the factions that once governed a post-apocalyptic Chicago have collapsed, prompting plucky heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley) and her bulky love interest Four (Theo James) to venture beyond the wall that surrounds their city-state.

But what lies beyond the artfully rubble-peppered landscape? President Trump’s America? A mad genetic experiment run by Jeff Daniels? Or both?

For Woodley (24), as for the viewer, the end is finally near (The Divergent Series: Ascendant is set for 2017). She will miss that dystopian view, she tells me, even if most of it involved "working off an X on the wall instead of working off another human being. Although I'm delighted to have had the experience."

“I’ll miss the opportunities that have been made available to me through these movies. I like doing stunt work and all the things you get to do in action films.

“The nice thing about it is that it makes you look like you’re a really intense ninja, but you don’t actually have to do all that much because the stunt people do all the heavy lifting.”

She will miss her colleagues as well. By some bizarre casting quirk, the Divergent series has come to resemble a refuge for Woodley's onscreen ex-boyfriends: Ansel Elgort, her paramour from The Fault in Our Stars, plays Tris's scheming brother Caleb; Miles Teller, her on-again, off-again love interest in The Spectacular Now, essays her on-again, off-again nemesis, Peter.

“There’s a great energy between us,” says Woodley. “And there is definitely a short hand, especially between Theo and me because we have so many scenes together. There’s a trust there. We know that we have each other’s backs against the chaos of this industry.”

Non-Hollywood

Despite two decades in front on the camera, in many respects, the former child star doesn’t doesn’t seem at all cut out for “this industry”.

Where J-Law, the similarly aged face of rival dystopian franchise The Hunger Games, is happy to twirl and joke on the red carpet, Woodley seems to have little interest in the blandishments of Hollywood. Instead, she lives out of a suitcase, saves seeds, travels courtesy of Airbnb, forages for nettles, makes her own medicines and – oh yes – eats clay.

Film-making appeals to her because the work is impermanent: “I’m very nomadic. I’m on a journey. I’m restless. I always want to move on to the next adventure.”

Things haven't always worked out that way. Woodley's lead role as pregnant high- schooler Amy Juergens in The Secret Life of the American Teenager stretched for some five seasons between 2008 until 2013. Meanwhile, the Divergent trilogy – in keeping with the money-minded stratagems of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games – has split into four parts along the way.

J-Law’s advice

That rootedness and the possibility of a higher profile initially gave Woodley pause for thought when it came to accepting her role in

Divergent

. But Jennifer Lawrence advised her that it would be the best thing she’d ever do. And, as it happens, the franchise hasn’t inhibited Woodley’s ongoing adventures in Airbnb.

“My life hasn’t changed at all,” she says. “Sometimes people come up and say nice things. But, apart from that, absolutely nothing in my life has changed because of these movies.”

One can look at the out-Gooping Gwyneth lifestyle and imagine that this serious young woman is an accidental thespian. And yet, the California-born Woodley has been acting since she was 5-years-old. By the time she appeared in her "breakout" role as George Clooney's daughter in Alexander Payne's The Descendants (2011), she had amassed dozens of TV credits on shows such as Crossing Jordan, CSI:NY, The OC and Everybody Loves Raymond.

“I remember my first job clearly,” she says. “It was a Kelloggs commercial. For cereal.”

What kept her coming back?

“I loved the audition process. I loved being told no. I liked having to fight for a job. I liked that it wasn’t something that came super easy. I really had to work for it. And then I had to learn and keep improving the craft.”

In this spirit, Woodley still loves acting classes: “They’ve taught me a lot about who I am and the person that I want to be. I want to be empathetic. I want to fully understand other people. I feel very nourished on my path right now.”