Before Shailene Woodley was in movies like the Divergent series, she was the star of
the ABC Family show ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager’.
And now many years later, she’s opening up about how challenging it was for her to
work on that show.
What’s up?
It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News bringing you all the latest news updates you
need to know and Shailene Woodley just got candid about both her mental and physical
health during her early days as an actress.
It might be hard to believe now because of all her success in movies like Divergent and
shows like Big Little Lies, but Shailene Woodley broke onto the scene starring as Amy on The
Secret Life of the American Teenager.
And while the show went on for five seasons, things behind the scenes weren’t as good
as it may have looked from the outside.
Shailene just opened up about her experience working on the show and explained how it was
one of the most difficult things she’s had to do.
We’ll get into everything she said, but first, go ahead and subscribe to Clevver News
if you haven’t already so you never miss out on any breaking news updates.
Ok, so Shailene just opened up to Bustle in an extremely personal interview.
She explained that when she read the first few scripts of The Secret Life of the American
Teenager, she really related to the material and was excited about it.
But since Shailene was only about 16 years old when the show started, she didn’t realize
everything she was getting herself into.
She explained that quote, “When I signed onto Secret Life, I read three episodes and
I signed a contract for six years.
Those episodes all hit home.
I had friends in high school who were pregnant.
It felt like everything that I wanted to be sending into the world.”
But as the years went on, Shailene realized a lot of the plot lines were not in line with
her personal beliefs.
Shailene explained that quote, “There were a lot of things that were written into the
scripts that not just me, but a lot of the cast, disagreed with.
There were belief systems that were pushed that were different than my own.
Yet, legally I was stuck there."
And if you watched the show, you might know what Shailene is talking about.
As the series progressed, it leaned more and more into promoting abstinence.
Characters wore promise rings, vowed to save themselves until marriage, and even shamed
others who didn’t.
The show became less progressive and more cautionary about pregnancy.
Shailene even went as far as saying that quote, “To this day, it’s one of the hardest
things I’ve ever had to do.
So being on Secret Life propelled me to be more vocal about my own belief systems.”
I’m curious to know what you think about Shailene’s revelations!
Would you struggle to play a role that was not in line with your own beliefs or do you
think you could separate the two easily?
Let me know down in the comments below and get that conversation started.
And we all know that Shailene went on to portray a handful of other young women on screen in
movies like The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars, and Divergent.
She said that it was somewhat of a cathartic experience for her to play all these coming
of age roles.
She said quote, “I lost my virginity like seven times on screen!
I lost my own virginity in a really unromantic, unsexy way, so it’s very therapeutic for
me that by playing these characters I was showing young women what they can wait for.”
But while she had some great times working on all these movies, Shailene was actually
really struggling with her health.
In a recent interview with The New York Times Shailene revealed that she was really sick
in her early 20’s which forced her to make her health a priority over her career.
She said quote, “I haven’t spoken much about this yet publicly, and I will one day,
but I was very, very sick in my early 20s.
While I was doing the Divergent movies and working hard, I also was struggling with a
deeply personal, very scary physical situation.”
Shailene went on to explain that quote, “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.”
And while she continued to work through her health struggles, she worried about whether
she would ever be in a place again where her health wouldn’t affect how much she was
able to work.
She opened up and said that she would find herself thinking quote, “‘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?’
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.”
While Shailene didn’t specify exactly what health condition she was struggling with,
she did reveal that thankfully those days are behind her.
She said quote, “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.
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.”
And we’re just so glad Shailene is taking care of both her physical and mental health
and it sounds like she’s in a much better place these days!
And if you want more on Shailene Woodley, click right over here for 9 things you might
not know about her.
Alright, I'm Sussan Mourad with Clevver News, bye guys!