Shailene Woodley as Tris with Theo James as Four in Divergent

Shailene Woodley — being hailed as the new Jennifer Lawrence — plays the fearless and feisty Tris in Divergent based on the eponymous Veronica Roth young adult bestseller trilogy. A chat with the star of films like The Descendants and The Fault In Our Stars.

Tell us about Tris...

Tris lives in a world where who she is and what she is is not accepted among the great leaders. It’s funny, I feel like it’s like up until a few years ago when, maybe, it was a little bit easier when if somebody was gay, they felt like they had to hide it because they were going to be ostracised or criticised for feeling different... feeling from what the mainstream thought was acceptable. And I feel like Tris is in the same place. She has to hide who she is because people don’t understand it and are, therefore, scared of it.

What drew you to the role?

Ultimately, what drew me to this movie is that it’s very metaphorical to things that are happening today... that I’m very excited to bring to light. Reading Divergent, I became very passionate about Tris and the story.

Why do you think young adults can relate to Tris?

Tris has basically chosen to become her own person, rather than stay with her family. All adolescents can relate to that as people have to eventually leave the nest, but it’s a really hard choice for many to make. The idea of deciding the rest of your life at such a young age is very daunting, because once you leave the nest in the Divergent world, there is no going back. That’s incredibly frightening.

What do you think about Tris and Four’s (played by Theo James) romance?

I love the Tris and Four dynamic because it’s so different from most young adult romances on screen. It’s very realistic. I love that it’s not necessarily a love-at-first-sight dynamic. There’s obviously mutual attraction but respect, compassion, and trust… those things are completely separate from attraction. Throughout the film, Tris is trying to figure him out, because in one scene he’ll be vulnerable with her, and complimentary towards her, then in the next scene, he’s harsh, very strict, and very truthful to the point it induces pain in Tris. The challenge of him is very intriguing to her.

You get beaten up quite a bit in this movie. Can you talk about the physical training? And did you suffer any injuries?

We got some bruises and scars. A little black-and-blue action! I feel like if you do an action movie and you leave without a few bumps, then you’re probably doing something wrong!

The training fight with Peter (played by Miles Teller) and Tris was intense. Learning it was really fun because neither of us had done stunt fights before. They’re all very mechanical and cut together, it looks really intense. Tris gets a few hits in, but Peter takes her down and he doesn’t stop. He’s relentless. It’s going to be a very powerful, hard scene to watch.

Have you read the Divergent trilogy?

I have not. I’ve just read the first one. I started to read the second one before we did the first and I go up to Neil (Burger), our director, and go: ‘Oh, we’ve got to put this scene back in’. And he goes: ‘Shai, that’s from the second book’. So I had to stop reading it, because I was mixing them up.

You had a lot of scenes with Kate Winslet and of course Ashley Judd plays your mother. What was it like working with those two actresses? It was amazing. I mean, they’re both incredible actresses and both just really legit women and when I say that I mean they are both very strong and empowered and own themselves and own their bodies. And they are both two kindred spirits, so I feel like we connected on that level. Ashley is such a strong woman, who I respect so deeply. I’m in awe of what she’s able to accomplish with such ease and such beauty and such raw strong humanity.

What challenges did you face physically and emotionally with this character?

Yeah, it was a sort of a mix between the two. I had never done a movie where you had to play an emotionally truthful character and yet add physical aspects to the mix. That was tricky and a fun challenge.

What can audiences expect from this film?

I think they are in for a lot of excitement. I think they will be pleasantly surprised that even though it is an action adventure film, there is a lot of truth and a lot of humanness to it. There’s a lot of authenticity involved.