Shailene Woodley Almost Quit Acting, Speaks on Using Her Fame

Speaking on why she felt that way, the actress says that she had to figure out how to let that pressure go because her career can’t be about living up to other people’s expectations:

“Somebody came to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to see what you do next.’ I took that as pressure–that I had to live up to somebody else’s expectations. There were a few months where I was like, ‘I don’t want to act anymore.’ And then I got over it and realized it’s none of my business what other people think of me.”

On using her fame for good, Shailene says there are many issues in the world that she’d love to draw attention to but one of her biggest talents is just being “open and lovely”, passing along love to strangers:

“As much as this industry is a platform for talking about big issues, there’s also so many f—in’ issues. You could talk about Russia, or Argentina, or fracking, or G.M.O.’s. Maybe the only thing that I’m supposed to do is just show up and be me in every moment. Because I do feel like one of my gifts is to be open and lovely–simple things like smiling at strangers and having kind, small interactions. I think that is what’s going to ultimately shift things.”

Commenting on if she’d date a co-star, she admits that she hasn’t ruled it out:

“I’m never going to say never. I love acting, but I also really love nature and most actors don’t want to get dirty.”