‘Big Little Lies’ Stars Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern Are Like Family

Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern have a wonderful relationship. Unlike their characters in Big Little Lies, the pair hit it off right away. But they didn’t meet on the set of the wildly popular HBO drama. They actually met back in 2014 when they worked together on The Fault in Our Stars. Interestingly enough, Dern portrayed Woodley’s mother in that film, and today, the pair are like family.

Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern lived together years before ‘Big Little Lies’

Dern has been a great pillar of support to Woodley throughout the years. Having experienced fame at a young age thanks to Jussaric Park, Dern was able to provide Woodley with advice about navigating the media circus surrounding her when she was cast in Divergent. The pair have shared that they both are pretty similar, and Woodley even lived with Dern back in 2014. At the time, the Endings, Beginnings actor was embracing a nomadic lifestyle and happily crashing on Dern’s couch.

The actors consider each other to be family

But even when the pair weren’t living together, they remained close. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dern shared that she considered her fellow actor to be a member of her family. Woodley has even made personal connections with Dern’s family members. “There are times when I have called my house when out of town and found out that Shailene’s over here making dinner with my children,” Dern revealed.

Woodley was taking a break from acting when she got the script for ‘Big Little Lies’

Because Dern considers Woodley family, it makes sense that she takes great care to look out for her. This includes thinking of the 31-year-old for professional opportunities that she’d be a good fit for. In fact, a large part of why Woodley ultimately joined the Big Little Lies cast is actually thanks to Dern.

After filming the Divergent movies, Woodley decided that she needed to take some time off from acting. “I felt it was time to do something different,” The Fallout actor told Net-a-Porter. “I called my agents and said, ‘Please don’t send me any more scripts; I need to explore other avenues.’ They respected me and didn’t send me anything for almost a year until Big Little Lies.”

How Dern convinced Woodley to join the ‘Big Little Lies’ cast

But even after Woodley’s agents sent her the script, she still shared that she wasn’t interested. At the time, she didn’t know who was involved with the project. However, when her agents pushed back, she decided to give the script a read. Woodley admits that she loved the writing, but when Dern called her to talk about the project, it was the push she needed to join the Big Little Lies cast. Clearly, the actors have a strong bond and continue to look out for one another. It’ll be interesting to see if they collaborate on yet another project at some point in the future.