Jennifer Lawrence Once Gave Shailene Woodley ‘Beautiful’ Advice on Being Famous: ‘Don’t Be an Idiot’
Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley have quite a bit in common. Both are successful actors who grew up in the spotlight. Both women have been the face of large film franchises. And both women had reservations about taking one of their biggest roles to date. However, it was actually Lawrence who helped convince Woodley to join the Divergent cast.
Why Shailene Woodley wasn’t sure wanted to join the ‘Divergent’ cast
Woodley was always the top choice to portray Beatrice “Tris” Prior in the Divergent movies. However, the Endings, Beginnings star went back and forth about whether she should accept the role. After starring in several seasons of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Woodley wasn’t sure she wanted to get locked into another multi-year contract. And since the Divergent movies followed the success of franchises like Twilight and The Hunger Games (which Lawrence led), Woodley wasn’t sure she wanted to give up her anonymity for immense fame.
Woodley reached out to Jennifer Lawrence about playing Tris Prior
Because Woodley was so unsure about joining the Divergent cast, she decided to reach out to Lawrence. The Oscar winner knew what it was like to be thrust into superstardom thanks to a film franchise and was happy to give The Fallout actor some advice. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Woodley recalled her conversation with her fellow actor.
“I have still yet to meet Jennifer in the flesh, but I had a slight interaction with her where I asked her about Hunger Games and what it was like, and her life and how much it has changed,” Woodley explained about Lawrence. “It was nice asking someone who has been through the process and is kind of seasoned in the young-adult franchise. She gave me really beautiful advice and said that I should definitely take it.”
What advice did ‘The Hunger Games’ alum give to Woodley?
But just what was this beautiful advice that Lawrence imparted to Woodley? “It will be the best thing that ever happened,” Woodley relayed of Lawrence’s advice. “But don’t be an idiot, do a sex tape, [or] do drugs. And go to Whole Foods when your movie opens.”
Lawrence had an intense experience at Whole Foods the day ‘The Hunger Games’ premiered
Of course, the Whole Foods quip seems to be Lawrence’s idea of a joke. Lawerence famously went to the upscale grocery store the day The Hunger Games premiered. She didn’t realize that she was famous yet and was swarmed by a mob of fans. Things got so hectic that the actor had to be escorted out of Whole Foods by the police. So clearly, that bit of advice that she gave to Woodley was a little facetious.
Why Woodley said yes to ‘Divergent’
It seems that Lawrence’s “beautiful” advice helped Woodley make the decision to join the Divergent cast. “In addition to her advice, I kind of came to the conclusion that there is a lot of beauty that can come of something like this, and if it’s successful, there are a lot of great things that you can do with that kind of attention,” Woodley added. Clearly, Woodley felt that the pros of playing Tris outweighed the cons.
