Shailene Woodley Opens Up About Her Health Condition
Shailene Woodley is known for her acting chops in shows like "Big Little Lies" — and her relationship with fiance Aaron Rodgers — but now she's making headlines for talking about health struggles she previously kept quiet.
Woodley, who has a bunch of upcoming projects coming out this year, appeared in the 2020 film "Endings, Beginnings," but it seemed like everyone was focused on her new romance with Rodgers. The pandemic apparently helped their relationship, as she told The Hollywood Reporter in July. "There was a sense of anonymity that otherwise I don't think we would have had. We were really able to get to know one another the way we wanted to get to know one another and not have any noise or chaos around us," the actor explained. She told Shape in June that the two, who have been engaged since February, "were meant to be together." Woodley added that they "jumped in headfirst and got some of the sticky bits out of the way early," probably because they spent a lot of time together in their early days. It sounds like these two are meant to be!
It's clear Woodley is in relationship bliss, but things were not always this great for the actor. Keep reading for more details on the health struggle that affected her career.
Shailene Woodley turned down a lot of work due to her health struggles
Shailene Woodley took breaks between projects to explore the world and decompress, but she also really needed the time off for her health.
The actor got candid in a July 16 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she talked about why she had to turn down a lot of work. "It was pretty debilitating," she explained. "I said no to a lot of projects, not because I wanted to but because I physically couldn't participate in them. And I definitely suffered a lot more than I had to because I didn't take care of myself. The self-inflicted pressure of not wanting to be helped or taken care of created more physical unrest throughout those years." Though Woodley didn't reveal her specific diagnosis, she added that she's "on the tail end of it," but she felt "so incredibly isolated and alone." "It spun out on me for a while," Woodley said.
Woodley also noted what it was like to be dealing with something others can't see. "Unless someone can see that you have a broken arm or a broken leg, it's really difficult for people to relate to the pain that you're experiencing when it's a silent, quiet and invisible pain," she noted. It appears Woodley learned not to care what people say about her on the Internet, adding, "It made me learn the incredibly difficult life task of not caring what people think about you very quickly."