SHAILENE WOODLEY INTERVIEW BY JUDY GREERPHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ECCLESSTYLING BY KRISTIN ZEROHAIR BY CAMPBELL F. MCAULEY AT SOLO ARTISTSMAKEUP BY GLORIA NOTO AT JED ROOTPHOTOGRAPHED AT SUNSET MARQUIS HOTEL, LOS ANGELES —- JG—So you’re 20 years old and you’re in an Oscar-nominated movie, and everyone’s talking about you and your performance in it. I look at all these amazing actresses that start out young and they just spiral and you have never seemed like someone who would ever do that. What is your plan as a young actress to stay out of jail or rehab? SW—I’m really lucky with my mom – she’s amazing. I think I’m too hyper to do a ton of drugs and to party a lot because I get bored easily, so even if I were to go through that phase it would be very short-lived because I’d be over it. JG—What are the things you see younger actors doing that you think are stupid? SW—I think the stupidest thing that people my age do is judge other people. And another thing I find interesting about our culture and about my generation is we’ve kind of lost respect for our elders, but if you look at indigenous cultures the elders are the ones everyone learns from. And I know a lot of my friends, I even find myself doing it sometimes, are impatient with people who are in the senior citizen age range. JG—I get impatient with people who are a few years older than me. I totally get that. SW—I think we should get that respect back because there’s a lot to learn from all of the people who have already lived life. Every time I speak to my grandma, I learn something, and I think it’s just a matter of being patient with the process. JG—You’re so wise for your age. SW—That’s because you’re my friend and you’ve taught me everything I know! JG—When I first met you on set I was like, “Oh, she’s so pretty; she’s so nice,” but after getting to know you, it’s just really incredible how together you are. You inspire me and I’m old enough to be your mother. It would’ve been a teenage pregnancy, though. SW—There’s nothing wrong with teenage pregnancy. Have you ever seen the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager? JG—Sure have. And I sure do love it! Did you go to a regular high school or were you tutored on set? SW—I went to a normal high school. I never wanted to do a TV series growing up because I wanted to stay in school. I loved the social aspect of it and I really love to learn – I’m definitely that nerdy girl. And then my junior year of high school I booked Secret Life and my principal was super gracious and allowed me to stay in school. So I was working on the show, doing homework in my trailer in between takes and then a teacher from my public high school would come to my house once a week and walk me through what I had missed, so I finished school that way. And the really cool thing was I got to go to prom and I got to walk with my class. It was really good. JG—Do you have plans to go to college? SW—I used to want to go to college, but then I started traveling and seeing so many different cultures and so many different things that interest me instead of calculus. So I don’t want to go to normal university. I would love to go to NYU. It would be fun to take a few courses there, live in New York and work in a coffee shop. I would love to attend school for Herbology and survival skills – that’s what I’m really interested in right now. JG—I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What is it? SW—It’s the study of plants and their medicinal purposes, and also their nutritional purposes. I’m fermenting sauerkraut right now; that’s really fun. (Excerpt from Issue 05) Enjoy more of this on thelabmagazine.com, coming summer 2012!

SHAILENE WOODLEY

INTERVIEW BY JUDY GREER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ECCLES
STYLING BY KRISTIN ZERO
HAIR BY CAMPBELL F. MCAULEY AT SOLO ARTISTS
MAKEUP BY GLORIA NOTO AT JED ROOT
PHOTOGRAPHED AT SUNSET MARQUIS HOTEL, LOS ANGELES

—-

JG—So you’re 20 years old and you’re in an Oscar-nominated movie, and everyone’s talking about you and your performance in it. I look at all these amazing actresses that start out young and they just spiral and you have never seemed like someone who would ever do that. What is your plan as a young actress to stay out of jail or rehab?

SW—I’m really lucky with my mom – she’s amazing. I think I’m too hyper to do a ton of drugs and to party a lot because I get bored easily, so even if I were to go through that phase it would be very short-lived because I’d be over it.

JG—What are the things you see younger actors doing that you think are stupid?

SW—I think the stupidest thing that people my age do is judge other people. And another thing I find interesting about our culture and about my generation is we’ve kind of lost respect for our elders, but if you look at indigenous cultures the elders are the ones everyone learns from. And I know a lot of my friends, I even find myself doing it sometimes, are impatient with people who are in the senior citizen age range.

JG—I get impatient with people who are a few years older than me. I totally get that.

SW—I think we should get that respect back because there’s a lot to learn from all of the people who have already lived life. Every time I speak to my grandma, I learn something, and I think it’s just a matter of being patient with the process.

JG—You’re so wise for your age.

SW—That’s because you’re my friend and you’ve taught me everything I know!

JG—When I first met you on set I was like, “Oh, she’s so pretty; she’s so nice,” but after getting to know you, it’s just really incredible how together you are. You inspire me and I’m old enough to be your mother. It would’ve been a teenage pregnancy, though.

SW—There’s nothing wrong with teenage pregnancy. Have you ever seen the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager?

JG—Sure have. And I sure do love it! Did you go to a regular high school or were you tutored on set?

SW—I went to a normal high school. I never wanted to do a TV series growing up because I wanted to stay in school. I loved the social aspect of it and I really love to learn – I’m definitely that nerdy girl. And then my junior year of high school I booked Secret Life and my principal was super gracious and allowed me to stay in school. So I was working on the show, doing homework in my trailer in between takes and then a teacher from my public high school would come to my house once a week and walk me through what I had missed, so I finished school that way. And the really cool thing was I got to go to prom and I got to walk with my class. It was really good.

JG—Do you have plans to go to college?

SW—I used to want to go to college, but then I started traveling and seeing so many different cultures and so many different things that interest me instead of calculus. So I don’t want to go to normal university. I would love to go to NYU. It would be fun to take a few courses there, live in New York and work in a coffee shop. I would love to attend school for Herbology and survival skills – that’s what I’m really interested in right now.

JG—I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What is it?

SW—It’s the study of plants and their medicinal purposes, and also their nutritional purposes. I’m fermenting sauerkraut right now; that’s really fun.

(Excerpt from Issue 05)

Enjoy more of this on thelabmagazine.com, coming summer 2012!

Tags: Shailene Woodley The Lab Magazine Judy Greer Andrew Eccles Kristin Zero Campbell F. McAuley Solo Artists Gloria Noto Jed Root