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Shailene Woodley has no shortage of female friends. Throughout the course of her career, she’s formed strong bonds with many a woman with whom she’s worked. Some of those women happen to be some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Some of Woodley’s confidants include Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Reese Witherspoon. And Woodley hasn’t been shy about how much she appreciates her relationships with her peers.

woman Shailene Woodley at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival
Shailene Woodley | Phillip Faraone/WireImage

Shailene Woodley reveals that she only knows two strong, empowered, women including herself

Because Woodley has developed a kinship with so many women, she’s constantly presented with a multitude of representations of womanhood. Perhaps that is why Woodley feels less than impressed with the ways in which women are currently being represented on screen. While there have been more women-led stories in recent years, the Divergent alum has noticed a shift in the type of characteristics a leading-lady character is embodying. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Woodley shared that the “strong woman” trope in Hollywood doesn’t exactly represent the type of personalities that her female friends possess.

“There’s so many stories out there right now about strong, empowered females,” Woodley shared. “I laugh when I read these stories because maybe I know literally two strong, empowered females out of all of my friends and myself included.”

‘The O.C.’ alum wants to see more nuanced representations of what it means to be a woman

Continuing on, the Big Little Lies alum revealed that she hopes that, in the future, there are more nuanced interpretations of what it means to be a woman. Woodley explained that there is a lot more to women than simply being “strong and empowered” and she hopes there are more roles that explore those complexities in the future.

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“My hope is that more stories come out that explore the intricacies of what feminine energy looks like and not just this desire to represent females from a strong, empowered standpoint,” Woodley explained. “Because there’s a lot underneath there that’s messy, jealous, conspiratorial, competitive, kind, mothering, generous, thoughtful. There are so many aspects to it that I hope continue to be explored deeper.”

What movies does Woodley have coming down the pipeline?

Woodley certainly seems to have an interesting perspective regarding the stories that Hollywood is currently telling about women. We’re sure her fans are interested in seeing what kind of woman she’ll choose to portray next in her career. She’s currently working on her third project for 2022 and is filming a biographical film called Ferrari. Prior to that, she filmed a science fiction romantic comedy, Robots, and a thriller called Misanthrope. With three wildly different dramas, fans can hopefully count on Woodley playing three wildly different women.