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Rediff.com  » Movies » Just who is Shailene Woodley?
This article was first published 10 years ago

Just who is Shailene Woodley?

Last updated on: June 24, 2014 18:45 IST

Image: Shailene Woodley
Photographs: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

Still nursing a crush on Jennifer Lawrence? See just how awesome 22-year-old Shailene Woodley is!

Stauesque, dark-haired and inherently graceful, Shailene Woodley first caught our eye as the angsty and smart-talking teenaged daughter of George Clooney's Matt King in The Descendants. 

With her new film The Fault In Our Stars garnering a rousing response from the international audience -- it will release on July 4 in India -- she is in the public eye like never before. 

But more than her acting credits, her articulate opinions make her seem like the perfect role model for young adults.

Here then, is a look at the ever-growing awesomeness of Shailene Woodley!

Beginnings

Woodley was born in Simi Valley, California, US.

Her mother Lori is a middle school counselor, and her father Lonnie Woodley is a school principal.

She began her career through commercial modeling, at the young age of four.

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Clooney's girl

Image: Shailene Woodley with George Clooney
Photographs: Mike Cassese/Reuters

Woodley, whose first major motion picture was Alexander Payne's George Clooney starrer acclaimed indie The Descendants, considers the 53-year-old veteran as her angel, a second father.

In an interview, she said that Clooney had brought a lot of light in her life and she would work with him in a heartbeat.

She had also landed up at Clooney's Italian house on Lake Como while backpacking with a friend across Europe.

She may have tasted success early on in life, but Woodley too has her moments of self doubt.

While she lost out to Dakota Fanning for I Am Sam at the age of nine, when her brief scenes in The Amazing Spiderman were cut, she wondered if she had done a bad job.

Choice of roles

Image: Shailene Woodley with George Clooney in The Descendants

Her choice of roles in films has been varied and informed so far.

After the well-liked The Descendants, she has worked in films like Spectacular Now that was received quite favourably at the Sundance Film Festival last year.

The film's approval ratings are as high as 92 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Another film Divergent, in which she plays the central character, is something on the lines of The Hunger Games, but with a stronger message for young adults with a bigger sense of urgency and earnestness. 

Her natural hotness

Image: Shailene Woodley In The Descendants

She is five feet eight inches tall, is a natural brunette and has a smoking hot body.

With looks like that, the distance from bed to red carpet glory is anything but long.

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And those legs...

Image: Shailene Woodley on the cover of Vanity Fair

Check out those never-ending legs on that cover.

Enough said.

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Her magnificent mane

Image: Shailene Woodley
Photographs: Fred Prouser/Reuters

Know what's common between Emma Watson, Charlize Theron, Emma Thompson and Jennifer Lawrence?

They are all women of substance, widely feted for their work and sass AND their super sexy pixie cuts.

And Woodley completely nails her own haircut with similar ease.

That 1000-watt smile

Image: Shailene Woodley
Photographs: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Who needs flashlights when one has a smile like that, enough to illuminate a red carpet event, we'd say.

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Sisterhood over feminism

Image: Shailene Woodley
Photographs: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

While feminism has become a fad among celebrities, call it the new PETA campaign of stars if you will, when asked about her own take on the matter, Woodley said that she'd rather believe in sisterhood than feminism.

When asked if she was a feminist, she said, 'No because I love men, and I think the idea of 'raise women to power, take the men away from the power' is never going to work out because you need balance. With myself, I'm very in touch with my masculine side.

'And I'm 50 percent feminine and 50 percent masculine, same as I think a lot of us are. And I think that is important to note. And also I think that if men went down and women rose to power, that wouldn't work either. We have to have a fine balance."

'My biggest thing is really sisterhood more than feminism. I don't know how we as women expect men to respect us because we don't even seem to respect each other.

'There's so much jealousy, so much comparison and envy. And 'This girl did this to me and that girl did that to me.’ And it’s just so silly and heartbreaking in a way.'

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Thug life

Image: Shailene Woodley
Photographs: Danny Moloshok/Reuters

You've already heard about her backpacking across Europe.

It may also interest you to know that she once reportedly told her agent and other representation that she was going camping in New Zealand but stayed in Los Angeles, unburdened and uninterrupted for two months.

Well played, Ms Woodley.

The free spirit

Image: Shailene Woodley
Photographs: Danny Moloshok/Reuters

A free spirit in Hollywood is a rarity.

Known for her unassuming ways and certain eccentricities, Woodley brushes her teeth with clay and swishes sesame oil in her mouth for 20 minutes to whiten them.

It doesn't stop there, though!

She gave her house to her grandmother because she felt she wasn't getting enough use out of it. The actress now crashes on friends' couches when she's back in Los Angeles.

Everything she owns fits in a carry-on suitcase.