‘Divergent’ star Shailene Woodley talks about playing Tris for the first time

By Andrew Sims (@Sims) at 8:30 pm, January 18, 2013

For the first time, Shailene Woodley is talking about why she joined the Divergent movie, and her answer is very interesting.

In an interview with MTV while at Sundance in Park City, Utah today, Woodley reveals she was initially uninterested in joining a big franchise. “I didn’t [read the book prior to auditioning]. I read the book – I thought it was really… my whole thing, to be honest, was that I never wanted to do big films. Especially one that was similar to Hunger Games or Twilight. Something with a huge fan base that would carry on for multiple years.”

So why did she want to join it if she was so resistant to what Lionsgate is specifically telling investors will be the next Hunger Games or Twilight? “After reading the book I was really profoundly moved. [The book is] very metaphorical for things that are going on today. Specifically things that I’m passionate about, and things I want to make public, and things I want to educate people on. So I think it’s a really great platform.”

When asked what in the book happens in real life today, Woodley explained, “In Divergent people are injected with this serum and then controlled by it. And I think it’s really funny that right now we’re beginning to chip our dogs and chip our babies. That’s just a small example, I could go on for hours. There’s also mind control that gets dealt with in Divergent – that’s going on today, nobody knows about that.”

Outrageously, Woodley’s interview clip ends on such an ominous warning about mind control. Consider us teased and left hanging. There are many mind control examples she could be talking about. One specific guess would be modern day torture.

Watch the interview below. As alluded to above, Lionsgate is banking on Divergent becoming their next big book-to-film franchise. While Woodley is all set to play Tris, the role of Four has not yet been cast. Lionsgate is actively testing beautiful gentlemen for the role. Divergent will open in theaters March 21, 2014.

Woodley is at Sundance to promote The Spectacular Now.

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SnatcherGirl

“Lionsgate is actively testing beautiful gentlemen.”
Well said, Andrew, well said.
- Musician
  
  Bwahaha! Great line, Andrew.
theaterboy1

Yet another book I need to read before I see the movie lol. I can’t wait to read it though and looking forward to the movie!
- Crazy-Eight23
  
  The book is amazing. You’ll enjoy it!
- normalizboring
  
  that is what i have been doing for a while now! my next book: mortal instruments
  - applepie
    
    Do read TMI, its great :)
http://twitter.com/akacj7 Caroline J.

i can’t help but roll my eyes when young starlets say they never want to do big movie franchise roles. at least Jennifer Lawrence had the where-with-all to follow it up with some self-deprecating humor. nonetheless, so excited to see this adaptation. it has the potential to be so f****** cool!
- Madeline Reyes
  
  Exactly. “I wanted to educate people on…” Oh please. Veronica Roth is doing the educating. Jennifer Lawrence does have the right humble attitude. Hope the movie is great. Books sure are.
  - Jessica
    
    I think Shailene meant using the fame that came with being part of such a series, as well as the material. And if you follow her twitter, it’s already pretty clear that’s she’s passionate and educated about certain issues.
    
    And also, she already has experience with a popular series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, so I can completely understand, especially coming off that trainwreck why she’d be hesitant to do another huge thing aimed at teens.
- TheOneAndOnlyCliche
  
  ‘At least Jennifer Lawrence…’ It’s not fair to base your view of other young actors on Jennifer Lawrence. No question, she’s a breath of fresh air, but there’s no need to roll your eyes at ‘young starlets who say they never want to do big movie franchise roles’, there’s no reason them shying away from fame should say anything about them as people. Joseph Gordon Levitt was that way for years, and then 2011/2012 happened. I always feel bad for actors when it comes to this. A lot of actors are acting just to ACT, there doesn’t need to be a ‘Well here’s how I feel about fame’ monologue with it. She’s an actress. It doesn’t go hand-in-hand with celebrity. That’s a choice people make on their own (except for those cases when movies do surprisingly well in spite of everything suggesting it wouldn’t.)
  - http://twitter.com/akacj7 Caroline J.
    
    i don’t disagree. im just talking about it more from a PR perspective. it comes across as a bit disenchanting, no matter who says it. in this specific case jennifer lawrence did a better job deflecting the disenchantment. i dont blame either of them or anybody else for being reluctant to dive into that level of media attention. you’re basically guaranteeing yourself years of harassment by paparazzi, unwarranted scrutiny from millions of strangers who call themselves fans, and constant fear or concern for the security and safety of yourself and those around you. none of that is lost on me. i’m talking strictly from a PR perspective. then again, they’re just being honest human beings, so i guess i shouldn’t fault them for that.
    - divergent
      
      You don’t have to join a big movie franchise to inform people of what is
      going on. Educating people comes in many different forms. In fact, what she is even saying does not pertain to the main message/themes of the novels. She can reach out to people through her popularity from being in a big movie, but to whether it will have the desired impact she wants will be up to her and how she conveys herself to the public. Mind control? I wish she would elaborate on that and how the serum used in the book is related to pets being injected with a tracking device. Remember, Divergent takes place in a dystopian society. On the acting side it is a take and give situation when you gain fame. How she handles it is another factor.
Movieloveer

This is honestly a good book but to me Tris wasnt as kick-ass like katniss in the hunger games and the book was a bit less awesome as i expected but im definitely looking forward to the movie
http://twitter.com/LiamFloyd Liam Floyd

I’m excited for this movie but I do not like her.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Diego-Hernandez/539018211 Diego Hernandez
  
  a lot of people had problems with jennifer lawrens as katniss before moive first released and now people are complaining about Shailene Woodley as tris come on wait till you see the movie before you start judging actors/actresses that “she doesnt look anything like what I thaought tris would look like” or “shes gonna ruin the film she should just stay on her show” people come on chill DONT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!! how would you like it if you were playing a major roll like this and people said they say “I’m excited for this movie but I do not like her/him” -_-
natalie

I love the books but I’m really bummed that they picked Shailene Woodley to play Tris. :( And maybe it’s just me but somehow her answers in the interview are kinda weird to me: never wanting to do big movies? Totally agree with @twitter-142764643:disqus on this one.
Not wanting to be in a franchise like The Hunger Games? Weird I think I remember reading about her being one of the actresses auditioning for the role of Katniss.
And at the end the interview just left me thinking what the ?
But like I said maybe it’s just me who thinks that, so: sorry for ranting a little. :)
Aj

Modern day torture? What? How is that specific? There was no torture in the book through mind control. The mind control came from the government. The more obvious guess.
blujai

There actually is mind control tests going on at Stanford (I think).

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‘Divergent’ star Shailene Woodley talks about playing Tris for the first time

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