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HQ - Nina grabbing a coffee with Emma Miller in New York City on June 11, 2014.

Pictures from Vanity Fair's instagram

Shailene in Modern Luxury Magazine Stargazer Done with The Descendants and being Divergent, Shailene Woodley shines in The Fault in Our Stars this month. “Let’s get in our comfies!” declares Shailene Woodley at the end of her extensive five-hour photo shoot. The 22-year-old actress, who stars as the teenage cancer-patient protagonist in this month’s The Fault in Our Stars (based on the best-selling young adult novel and romantic heart-wrencher by John Green), is speaking to no one—and everyone—on the set. And while her sentiment is meant to address the 5-inch heels that further accentuate her already long, lean, nearly 5-foot-9-inch frame; the painstakingly applied makeup she would normally eschew; the pixie cut that is rarely so perfectly coiffed; and the never-before-worn, form-fitting designer duds she’s donned instead of her standard secondhand treasures, it’s also an affirmation of Woodley’s mindset and general life orientation. Call it an impromptu, casual cri de coeur, California-style! Born in Ventura County’s Simi Valley, Woodley bears many attributes often associated with those who make the Golden State their home. To start, she’s permanently peripatetic. “I’ve never lived in the same place, let alone the same house, for more than seven years,” says Woodley, the eldest of two children born to an elementary school principal (dad) and a middle school counselor (mom), who moved twice within California prior to returning to Simi Valley before her 10th birthday. To this day, she remains perpetually on the move. “I live in my car,” she jokes, pointing at her ride, which has a patina that makes clear its familiarity with the state highway system. Woodley is also eco-conscious, Gaia-aware, prone to practicing alternatives to Western medicine, a ready explorer of the unconventional and a clear proponent of positivism. “I’ve always been an optimist, an adventure-seeker, a believer that we’re all born perfect and feel perfect until society teaches us otherwise,” says Woodley, who is clearly fond of embraces, as this writer experienced at our interview’s beginning and end. “You’re a good hugger,” she pronounces. But here’s the deftness in Woodley’s magic: Her serious beliefs are not just skin-deep; they’re carefully considered, often extensively researched, nuanced as opposed to naive, and frequently presented with a sense of humor that squarely targets herself. They also reflect an openness, curiosity and rigor that she says have kept her both whole and happy, “recognizing, of course, that not every day is rainbows,” while propelling her to the front of the queue in a profession rarely conducive to emotional stability or inner peace. “I find a sacredness in meditation, and in a tree, but I’m also aware it’s just a meditation and just a tree. It’s both ways,” Woodley says, emphasizing duality, perspective, fluctuation and, above all, a balance that must be continually recalibrated. Rose-colored or not, it’s an attitude that works for her, at least judging by her productivity, earnest enthusiasm and absence from TMZ—and all at an age when many a college senior consider a drinking game the shortcut to self-awareness. As many young actors dream, Woodley got her first break in acting class. Unlike most of these acting students, she was only 5 years old. “I was in an after-school program, and a friend of the teacher called my mom and said she wanted to represent me,” Woodley recalls. “Mom was like, ‘What’s an agent?’” Nevertheless, seeing their daughter’s enthusiasm—“Acting for me was always just pure fun,” she says—her parents were supportive, and they remained so over the next five years, as one commercial grew to 40, and as small and recurring TV roles on shows such as Replacing Dad, The District and Crossing Jordan started to appear. “We had three rules if I wanted to keep acting,” she says. “I had to stay the person I was; I had to stay in school; and I had to have fun.” An even-keel formula, it remained balanced despite the general waves of adolescence as well as trials more specific: her parents’ divorce when she was 14, followed the next year by a diagnosis of scoliosis. “I never saw either as ‘poor me’; I figured I’d just adapt and move forward,” she says. In terms of acting, that forward direction led to Woodley’s breakout TV role on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a five-season stint she started at age 15. “I got my GED, but I also wanted a hard diploma,” says Woodley, who for half of her junior year and her entire senior year picked up schoolwork from Simi Valley High School once a week to complete and return. She notes, “It was as normal as it could be. I went to prom; I had good friends and a first kiss; I got to do the whole program.” Post-diploma, Woodley also received a major graduation gift: the chance to co-star with George Clooney in The Descendants, her feature film debut and professional watershed, which won Woodley numerous awards and nominations as well as concentrated industry attention. Not that she was overly fazed. “It’s hard to tell from when different projects were released, but after The Descendants, I didn’t work for two and a half years,” she says, adding that she had no problem resisting advice to move quickly, compound gains or strike while the iron was hot. “If I’m not passionate about something, I’m not going to do it,” she maintains. Following that tandoori-oven dry spell, inspiration fully overtook Woodley. In the course of a year, she’s starred in four films. Running the gamut of both budget and genre, the cinematic quartet includes indie coming-of-ager The Spectacular Now; the low-budget thriller White Bird in a Blizzard, by controversial independent filmmaker Greg Araki; the Chicago-filmed blockbuster Divergent, the success of which has guaranteed the franchise as well as Woodley’s return as protagonist Beatrice Prior in three more films, with Insurgent soon to be filmed in Atlanta; and finally, The Fault in Our Stars, a story of romance, redemption and renaissance as told by the 16-year-old with cancer played by Woodley. “Nothing teaches you as quickly about the unfairness of life, as well as the importance of living fully and presently, as kids with cancer,” she says, adding that the book (one of her favorites) and its author, John Green, also reminded her of how important it is to overcome fear. “Fear is taught to us when we’re young, by society, which teaches us we’re not perfect [and] compares us to others, and by a media that compares us with fantasy. I say, ‘Enough,’” says Woodley, with the same resoluteness of the teenage heroine she portrays, a character inspired by a real-life friend of Green’s who died of cancer at 16. “Screw fear,” she scoffs. Living large, not as in bling but in being, is indeed on Woodley’s mind. It’s a cornerstone of her acting process. “I’ve [long] taken acting classes, but I’ve only had three teachers, and none of them spoke about method or technique,” she says. “What they talked about was truth, being truthful and grounded, and then using that to see the world through the eyes of another person.” It’s also a cornerstone of her personality. “I never thought of acting as something I did in addition to something else; I never thought of it as a career. But it obviously is, as it takes up all my time.” Breaking eye contact, her big browns wander, making them all the stronger. “But when it’s no longer fun, I’ll quit doing it,” the star avows. After the interview, we hug for the last time and I make the sensible observation that after five hours on her feet among a battalion of stylists, photographers and a demanding writer, she must be tired. “Tired?” she says, as though she’s never before heard the word and doesn’t like the sound of it. “I’m ready to start my day!” Clearly, this actress is just getting started.

Shailene photographed by Miguel Reveriego for the July 2014 Cover of Vanity Fair Shailene Woodley tells Vanity Fair senior West Coast editor Krista Smith she nearly quit acting after her supporting role in The Descendants earned her laurels from Hollywood and sudden success. “Somebody came to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to see what you do next.’ I took that as pressure—that I had to live up to somebody else’s expectations,” she recalls. “There were a few months where I was like, ‘I don’t want to act anymore.’ And then I got over it and realized it’s none of my business what other people think of me.” The headstrong young actress adds that George Clooney, her co-star in The Descendants, has helped reaffirm her beliefs amid the distractions of Hollywood. “He has been an angel in my life for many reasons,” she tells Smith. “He knew everyone’s name on set,” she says. “He treated everyone as an equal and everyone got his warmth.” For Clooney, the adulation is mutual. “Shailene can do whatever she wants,” the actor tells Smith. “If she wants to be a movie star, she has it. If she wants to change the world, she will. Her talent and kindness go hand in hand.” Though Woodley has a reputation as an actress with a conscience, she tells Smith she realizes that not everyone wants to hear about it. “As much as this industry is a platform for talking about big issues, there’s also so many fuckin’ issues. You could talk about Russia, or Argentina, or fracking, or G.M.O.’s. Maybe the only thing that I’m supposed to do is just show up and be me in every moment. Because I do feel like one of my gifts is to be open and lovely—simple things like smiling at strangers and having kind, small interactions. I think that is what’s going to ultimately shift things.” Her refreshing sensibility has helped her deal with the disappointments that follow a career in acting—case in point, her reaction to her role as Mary Jane Watson being ultimately cut out from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. “For a few hours it was literally like, ‘Oh, my God, was I awful? Why did they cut me? What are people going to think?’ I woke up the next morning and I was like, ‘O.K., it makes total sense.’ I’m a pretty spiritual person, so I can just sit back and trust that everything happens for a reason, even if my ego doesn’t like it.” Woodley also confides in Smith that her commitment to saving the world could get in the way of her love life—at least when it comes to dating a fellow actor, which she’s hesitant to do. “I’m never going to say never. I love acting, but I also really love nature and most actors don’t want to get dirty.” She tells Smith she considers herself lucky not to have had to work with any, as she puts it, “dicks,” and shares a special camaraderie with Miles Teller, her co-star in last year’s The Spectacular Now and Divergent. “I look at Miles and, like, I’m sort of Julia Roberts in the same way she is to George. Their relationship I could see being our relationship in 20 years, and that really is special.” The last word on Woodley comes from the male co-star who perhaps knows her best. “We’ll be talking about Shailene Woodley 40 years from now,” Clooney says. “I’ve never seen anyone so young that has so much together.” The full story is available June 12 in the digital edition. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbK2l5z9YkM

HQ - Performing during the Wired 96.5 Fest at Festival Pier on May 30, 2014 in Philadelphia

Yearbook pictures of Shailene ranging from 2005-2008 (credit: SplashNews)

chrissyteigen: Nina is wearing the centerpiece because she is an astronaut @ninaagdal #guyschoice Video: http://instagram.com/p/o-KMELpjc0/

HQ - Attending Spike TV's 'Guys Choice 2014' HQ - Nina with Chrissy Teigen and Lily Aldridge accepting the Holy Grail of Hot award from Kit Harington onstage during Spike TV's 'Guys Choice 2014'

johngreenwritesbooks: Hazel and Gus in Amsterdam on the last day of the #tfios movie shoot. Don't have words for how I'm feeling now, but thanks SO MUCH for caring about this story and responding to it so generously. anselelgort: Shai's amazing disguise to go see #tfios last night without causing a scene!

me too, i think she really deserves it!

HQ - Arriving at LAX airport

The Reviews Are In For ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ Of all the books made movies in recent history, not one has ever been so highly anticipated as “The Fault in Our Stars” — and not one has stood to fall so far if it doesn’t live up to its pre-release hype. But at last, with views for the trailer counting in the millions and sales of “Okay, Okay” t-shirts through the roof, we can finally see how the critics fell in love with “The Fault in Our Stars.” Was it very slowly, and then all at once? Or, heaven forfend, not at all? Below, a roundup of what movie tastemakers have to say about it so far. It Says Smart Things Above Love“[The film] offers its core young audience the bracing, even exhilarating suggestion that love isn’t just about finding someone worth dying for, but someone who makes life worth living. For that alone, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ achieves that rare feat of eliciting as many cheers as tears.” — Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post “The quarrel between the novelist and his fans, the only real conflict in the film other than the one with disease, is essentially a battle between argument and feeling. It’s hardly a fair fight, and the way it is rigged — fresh-faced, innocent, possibly dying young people facing off against a cynical, broken-down, alcoholic old wreck — provides a clue to the emotional logic of ‘The Fault in Our Stars.’ It’s less a movie about cancer than a depiction — really a celebration — of adolescent narcissism.” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times …Or Maybe More Than a Bit“It really is almost great and almost awful interchangeably, sometimes simultaneously. Manipulative in the worst way, it’s also manipulative in the best way, so that, in order to be unmoved by it, you would have to try actively to be a jerk.” — Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle The Name On Everybody’s Lips Is Gonna Be… Shailene“[it is] Shailene Woodley as Hazel who melts your heart with a dazzlingly fresh breath of air. She may not be conventionally beautiful by Hollywood’s definition, but she has an indirect sweetness, a paralyzing presence and a vast emotional range that defines star quality on the screen. As a girl who discovers, in death, the meaning of life, she is a rapture to behold. The camera loves her, and so will you.” — Rex Reed, New York Observer “After having the privilege of witnessing Shailene Woodley’s transcendent, pure and authentic performance in “The Fault in Our Stars,” I believe there are now only four slots available in the category of Best Performance by An Actress in a Lead role. She’s that memorable.” — Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times And Ansel Ain’t Bad, Either“Elgort… has a natural screen appeal and suave chemistry with Woodley. He could almost make smitten girls in the audience think it would be worth getting cancer to meet such a paragon.” — Richard Corliss, TIME And Oh, OHMIGOD, the Love Story“The movie is… funny and touching and brimming with youthful life, filled with a brightness and a piquancy that’s well channeled through Woodley and guided smartly by Boone… The real story here is of course about Hazel and Augustus falling in love and grappling with how limited their time on this lonely Earth may be. And Woodley and Elgort fall in love beautifully, possessed of a lively, natural rapport that is rare among actors their age.” — Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair Source: MTV

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort Cry Over The Notebook + VH1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3vxesygmA0

HQ - Attending the Macbeth Opening Night After Party in New York City on June 5, 2014.

HQ - Attending The Night Before Our Stars at Regal Hollywood on June 5, 2014.

johngreenwritesbooks: Backstage with Shailene Woodley and @anselelgort before the #nightbeforeourstars.

Shailene Woodley on Chemistry with THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Co-Star!

HQ - Visiting 106 & Park at BET studio in New York City on June 2, 2014. Video: http://www.bet.com/video/106andpark/106guestrewind/the-fault-in-our-stars-cast-106-and-park-3439-s1.html

More HQ's of Shailene promoting The Fault In Our Stars at the Apple Store in NYC on June 1, 2014. Shailene Woodley - Signing Autographs at the Apple Store in NYC

here's more. sorry for all the posts!

More HQ's from the New York premiere of The Fault In Our Stars

HQ - On her way to The Fault In Our Stars premiere in New York on June 2, 2014.

and more!

More HQ's from the New York premiere of The Fault In Our Stars'

HQ stills from The Fault in Our Stars