Divergent Series Star Shailene Woodley Reveals Scary Illness Nearly Ended Her Career

Shailene Woodley is opening up about a very serious illness that nearly derailed her career just as it was taking off. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Woodley revealed that while she was working on the Divergent films in her early 20s, she was also “very, very sick” and the combination of illness and the hard work of the films led her to not only turn down opportunities, but question how her career could go forward as her health was significantly impacting what projects she could take on at the time.

Woodley, who next stars in Endings, Beginnings opposite The Falcon and The Winter Soldier star Sebastian Stan and Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan, didn’t specifically indicate what was making her ill, but said that her illness had a major impact on her personally and professionally.

“I haven’t spoken much about this yet publicly, and I will one day, but I was very, very sick in my early 20s,” Woodley said. “While I was doing the Divergent movies and working hard, I also was struggling with a deeply personal, very scary physical situation. Because of that, I said no to a lot of opportunities because I needed to get better, and those jobs ended up going to peers of mine who I love. They went on to a lot of success, but there was a mix of people saying, ‘You shouldn’t have let that go!’ or ‘You shouldn’t have been sick!’”

She further explained that it made her wonder what the future held for her.

“That was combined with my own internal process of, ‘Am I going to survive what I’m going through right now and ever be healthy, or even have the opportunity to work on projects I’m passionate about again because of the situation I’m in?’” Woodley continued. “I was in a place where I had no choice but to just surrender and let go of my career, and it brought out this negative voice in my mind that kept spinning for years and years afterward.”

Whatever the illness, Woodley is on the other side of things now. Endings, Beginnings is set to be released digitally on April 17 (prior to the pandemic, it had been slated for a May 1 theatrical release). She also starred in HBO’s Big Little Lies and says that she feels grateful for what she’s been through.

“Now I’m on the other side of it, thank God. A lot of the last few years has been about focusing on mental health for me, and it’s a slow process,” Woodley said. “But because of that work, I feel very grounded and rooted in who I am and very clear about everything in my life. Whether it’s my career or my relationships or my own internal worth. I feel very grateful to have walked that line of fire, because now I know what I don’t want to ever go back to.”

Endings, Beginnings, starring Woodley, Sebastian Stan, and Jamie Dornan, releases on digital April 17.

Photo by Stefania D’Alessandro/Getty Images