Sometimes it feels like you know pretty much everything about a movie star just by looking at them. We’re here to tell you that there’s more to Divergent stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James than meets the eye!

Sure, they’re both up and coming actors who landed the two main roles in one of the biggest movies this year. But what do you really know about them?

We’ve done the research and compiled a list of the 15 most interesting fun facts about the actors. From clay eating to tap dancing, we all have a lot to learn about Shailene Woodley and Theo James.

Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley is a giant hugger

She loves to hug everyone she comes into contact with because she believes it establishes more of a personal connection. Whether it’s her first time meeting someone or just a casual meeting with friends, she always greets everyone with a hug. Sure, it’s caused a few awkward situations (like Ansel Elgort not knowing what to do when she hugged him at their first meeting), but it mostly solidifies her sweetheart status.

She doesn’t own a cell phone

The star ditched her cell phone recently because she believes that technology is not only a threat to privacy but also to interpersonal relationships. She has said that she’s talking to people more now than she ever has, especially strangers, because she doesn’t have her cell phone as a crutch anymore. We couldn’t imagine keeping in touch with all of our friends who live far away without a cell phone, but, we have to admit that it sounds intriguing.

She was in ‘The O.C.’

One of Shailene Woodley’s first roles was actually on The O.C.. She played young Kaitlin Cooper during the popular show’s first season. Unfortunately, she was later replaced by Willa Holland (who now plays Thea Queen on Arrow). But that’s ok because it allowed her to move on to bigger and better things like playing Felicity Merriman in An American Girl Adventure. And her more recent projects of course.

She always carries a mason jar glass with her to drink from

Shailene Woodley brings a mason jar with her wherever she goes because she doesn’t like drinking (or eating) from plastic containers or cups. She believes that they affect what she ingests. In an interview with the L.A. Times, Miles Teller joked that “Shailene always has a mason jar with her, and 100% of the time it smells like crap,… Usually it’s, like, seaweed or something weird from the ocean.”

She’s a herbalist

Shailene loves herbal remedies and natural products (as you may have noticed from her most recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon). She not only makes her own medicines, but also her own cheese and condiments. She eats clay, forages for her food, and collects natural spring water for drinking. She even uses coconut oil as a moisturizer, saying that it’s natural and makes her smell like a “yummy macaroon.”

When she was 15, Shailene Woodley was diagnosed with scoliosis

For those of you who have never encountered it, scoliosis is basically a severe curvature of the spine. Instead of looking like a straight line from the back, it looks like an “S.” Instead of letting her condition get her down, Woodley donned her back brace with a positive attitude, making jokes about needing a new wardrobe. Fortunately for her, her doctors allowed her to remove her brace after about two years.

She screams/sings when she wakes up

While most of us start the day by hitting the snooze button or groaning and pulling the covers over our faces, Shailene Woodley starts every day with a bang. As soon as she wakes up, she screams “Good morning! Good morning!” to the tune of the Singin’ in the Rain song at the top of her lungs. She believes it sets the tone for the rest of her day. It’s certainly something for the rest of us to try…

She was considered for the role of Katniss Everdeen

That’s right. Shailene Woodley could have potentially been the star of The Hunger Games instead of Jennifer Lawrence. How strange would that be? Would Woodley then have tried to convince Lawrence to take on the role of Tris, making her a rising star? The world will never know, but we’re ok with that. We think these two ladies are perfectly suited for their respective heroines.

 
Continue on to the next page to see what fun facts we dug up about Theo James!

Theo James

‘Theo James’ isn’t his full name

Theo’s full name is Theodore Peter James Kenneth Taptiklis. Try saying that five times fast. We love how classy and sophisticated his full name sounds, but we can also see why he would adopt a stage name. “Theo James” just seems to roll off the tongue more comfortably. If you’re wondering about the interesting mix of cultures in his full name, it’s because he’s Greek, English, and Scottish.

He’s a man of many voices

Thanks in part to his interesting background, Theo James can do quite a few accents. His accent mastery includes British, Scottish, Southern Irish, American (perfect for his role as Four), New York American (perfect for his previous Golden Boy role), and Australian. Interestingly, if the role he’s playing requires him to use an accent, he’ll keep it throughout filming instead of jumping back and forth in between takes or shoots.

He’s a pretty talented musician

Seriously though. He’s not just another one of those actors who tries to be a musician because he can. In fact, James has stated a few times that if he wasn’t an actor, he’d consider being a musician. Personally, we think he’d be a fantastic musician. Just listen to a few of the tracks he recorded with his previous band, Shere Khan. He has a sensitive singing voice that sounds similar to the lead singer in Bastille and we can’t stop listening to it. Plus, he has some pretty great dance moves. How different would life be if we were seeing him in concert instead of on movie screens?

Theo James’ acting career was accidental

James majored in philosophy in college with no real plans for what he’d do career-wise. Sure, he had always loved music and had been in a few plays or two growing up, but he’d never thought about acting. Then, one day, his current girlfriend was auditioning for a drama school so Theo just applied for fun. It turned out that he was accepted and she wasn’t. The rest is history.

One of his most well-known roles was on ‘Downton Abbey’

While he was the lead actor in the CBS drama Golden Boy, Theo James is perhaps most recognized as being Mr. Kemal Pamuk, the Turkish Embassy diplomat (the Turk) on Downton Abbey. That’s right. He’s the one who died while in bed with Lady Mary! Though he was on the show very briefly, his role seems to have left quite an impression. A few people we met at the Chicago premiere of Divergent actually didn’t recognize James until we mentioned this role!

He’s taken on quite a few odd jobs before coming an actor

Theo James knows the value of hard work. He has worked as both a bartender and a lifeguard in the past. His most interesting job, however, was working for the National Health Service in England. While that may sound normal (or even slightly prestigious), it wasn’t pretty. His job was to go to the homes of recently deceased persons and clean up any and all body fluids they left behind. It’s pretty safe to say that being an actor is definitely a step up. No wonder why he doesn’t have a problem with long days on set. Anything’s better than cleaning up miscellaneous body fluids.

Theo James has some moves

You can add dancing to the list of Theo James’ many talents. Not just dancing with a mic stand, but actual dancing. He can dance ballet, tap, and jazz. How impressive is that? He’s a man of many skills, that Theo James.

 
You can catch Shailene Woodley and Theo James in Divergent, which is now in theaters!