Acting is an escape for Shailene Woodley. In a January cover for Porter, the actress opened up about finding refuge in her career after her split from NFL player Aaron Rodgers last year. Woodley specifically used her role as Gia in the upcoming “Three Women” series as an outlet. “I was so grateful to be able to at least go to work and cry and process my emotions through my character,” she said.
Although cathartic, Woodley’s experience filming the TV adaptation was not without its challenges. “It was difficult to film because I was going through the darkest and most difficult time of my life,” she said. “It was winter in New York, and my personal life was shitty, so it was like a big bubble of pain for eight months.” News of Woodley and Rodgers’ split broke after months of rumors that the couple had been on and off. Additionally, the news came about a year after the two announced their engagement in February 2021.
In the interview, Woodley also opened up about the attention his private life has suddenly garnered on social media. “Honestly, it never really struck me that millions of people around the world are watching these things and paying attention to them,” she said. “Then I dated someone in America who was very, very famous.”
This ultimately led to Woodley deleting Instagram from his phone. “It was my first time in a quote-unquote ‘famous’ relationship, and I watched [the] scrutiny, opinions, wanting people to know about my life, his life and our life,” she said. “I’m a very private person, and so I’ve found that whenever I was posting something, I instantly felt like I was sharing too much of who I am with people I didn’t necessarily trust.”
Now, Woodley said she’s focused on letting go of expectations and trying to find the magic in the small moments. “I’ve always loved getting older, but it’s almost like breathing; I’ve waited so long to not care what other people think of me, my life, and the choices I make,” he said. she declared. said. “I’m so excited to continue letting go of so many things that controlled me in my twenties; to really feel the joy of living in a way that when you’re younger is harder to live with.”
