Shailene Woodley detailed an illness that previously prevented her from playing acting roles.
On Friday, July 16, the Divergent star spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the mysterious illness she was confronted with in private.
“It was pretty debilitating,” she admitted. “I said no to a lot of projects, not because I wanted to but because I couldn’t physically participate in them. And I certainly suffered a lot more than I had to because I wasn’t taking care of myself. The self-inflicted pressure of not wanting to be helped or taken care of created more physical turmoil throughout these years. “
Woodley said she was “at the end” of her illness and coming out on the other side. The time she was sick taught her different aspects of life.
“It’s an interesting thing, going through something so physically dominant while having so many people pay attention to the choices you make, the things you say, what you do, what you look like,” she shared. “It made my head spin for a moment. You feel incredibly isolated and alone. Unless someone can see that you have a broken arm or a broken leg, it’s really hard for people to understand the pain you feel when it is silent, silent, invisible pain. “
Woodley said she has learned not to care what people think about her. She revealed that when she paid attention to the noise around her, it took longer for her mind and body to heal because “I wasn’t focused on myself, I was focused on one. image of myself through the lens of everyone around us.
Woodley first spoke briefly about his illness in a 2020 interview with The New York Times. She revealed that her illness started when she was filming the Divergent films and that she went through a “deeply personal and very frightening physical situation”. Meanwhile, she wondered if she would survive or be healthy enough to act again. She chose to take the time to focus on her physical and mental health, and it paid off.
