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Shailene Woodley has opened up about the “conflation” of health issues she experienced while filming the Divergent film series.
The Big Little Lies actress appeared on the latest episode of the She MD podcast where she said her health problems cost her acting jobs after her role in the major sci-fi franchise.
Woodley played the lead character, Beatrice Prior, in Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant from 2014 to 2016.
“I haven’t spoken about what exactly it was because that feels like a personal thing that I don’t need to disclose,” Woodley said on the podcast.
“But essentially, I was in a position in my early 20s. It got to the point where I was losing my hearing. I couldn’t walk for longer than five minutes at a time without having to lay down for hours and hours and hours and sleep. Everything I ate hurt my stomach.”
She said she went to various health professionals from “real MDs” to “independent healers” but struggled to find a diagnosis for her condition.
“It was this conflation of issues and diagnoses and different doctors telling me different things,” The Secret Life of the American Teenager alum said. “I come from a very holistic background and studied herbalism so I was really keen on, ‘Alright I’m gonna work with real MDs and I’m gonna work with independent healers.’ And I was just trying to search for some sense of comfort in my own skin. It was a long journey.”
Woodley explained that through her physical health struggles, she began to struggle mentally as well, thinking that any action she took could somehow worsen her symptoms.
“Throughout that decade a lot of other things came from feeling so much discomfort physically, which was ‘My gosh, if everything I’m eating hurts my stomach, I’m now suddenly afraid of food,’” she recalled.
“And then going into the mental f***ery that can happen with that – of body dysmorphia and confusion about identity and feeling safe in my own capsule.”
The actress clarified that she is no longer sick and that the issue “resolved itself.” “I am very healthy. I’m so happy to be able to say that. And also, it forced me to really take a deep look and become introspective,” Woodley said on the podcast.
The Fault in Our Stars actress has previously spoken about her health struggles in an interview with The New York Times back in 2020.
“While I was doing the Divergent movies and working hard, I also was struggling with a deeply personal, very scary physical situation,” she told the outlet at the time. “Because of that, I said no to a lot of opportunities because I needed to get better, and those jobs ended up going to peers of mine who I love.”
