Jennifer Lawrence is one of Hollywood's biggest actresses. She is best known for starring in the film adaptations of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. The Hunger Games became a cult classic and before she knew it, Lawrence skyrocketed to fame as any dystopian/teen movie star does at the time.
Like Lawrence, Shailene Woodley began acting as a teenager. She first starred in the ABC Family series The Secret Life Of An American Teenager, which put her on the map. She then went on to star in films such as The Fault In Our Stars, The Spectacular Now and more. But once she got cast in the Divergent series, her career was looking eerily similar to Lawrence's.
They both played the main character, a strong female lead, in each of their dystopian series based off of popular books and went on to have successful careers.
So, because Lawrence was already in that boat, she gave Woodley some major advice. Find out what she told her.
8 Jennifer Lawrence's Career
Jennifer Lawrence has been in the entertainment business since 2006 but didn't really rise to fame until she starred in X-Men: First Class and The Hunger Games in 2011. After that it seemed like every movie that came out, Lawrence was starring in, including Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Red Sparrow, Dark Phoenix and more. She has consistently been in films since The Hunger Games came out and has many awards behind her name. Lawrence was the World's Highest Paid actress in 2015 and 2016 and even appeared in Time's most influential people in the world list in 2013.
7 Shailene Woodley's Career
Unlike Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley starred in a good amount of popular roles before she starred in her dystopian book turned movie franchise. Woodley was best known for being the lead character in The Secret Life Of An American Teenager, which ran from 2008 to 2013. The first Divergent movie came out in 2014, and that same year she acted in numerous other movies, including her other famous role in The Fault In Our Stars. Woodley has won many MTV Awards, People's Choice Awards and Teen Choice Awards, long with others along the way.
6 Their Relationship
It's hard to believe that two of Hollywood's hottest stars have actually never met each other in real life. Woodley told New York Magazine that she doesn't understand why people constantly compare them. Just because she reached out to her and they both starred in dystopian movie franchises doesn't mean they are automatically bffs.
“As women, we are constantly told that we need to compare ourselves to a girl in school, to our co-workers, to the images in a magazine. How is the world going to advance if we’re always comparing ourselves to others? I admire Jennifer Lawrence, but she’s everyone’s favorite person to compare me to. I see us as separate individuals. And that’s important. As women, our insecurities are based on all these comparisons. And that creates distress," she said. Maybe one day they will actually get to meet.
5 Shailene Woodley Reached Out To Jennifer Lawrence For Advice
In 2014, Woodley revealed on Late Night With Seth Meyers that she sent Lawrence a letter, we know, so 2000s right? In the letter, she asked Lawrence for advice on if she should take the role of Tris Potter in Divergent, because that role might skyrocket her to fame like THG did for Lawrence. The movies were based on widely popular books, and Woodley knew the films would be huge, like THG, The Twilight Saga and Harry Potter.
4 Jennifer Lawrence's Response
Of course Lawrence wrote Woodley back and offered hilarious advice. In an interview with The Daily Mail, Woodley revealed what she said to her. “She was like, ‘Small things will change, but if you stay who you are, nothing will change,'” Woodley recalled. “'The big picture won’t change. It’s only going to make your life greater and you’ll be so grateful for it. Don’t be stupid, don’t make a sex tape, don’t do drugs, don’t go to Whole Foods the day the movie opens, and you’ll be fine!’ I thought, ‘I’m gonna love this chick when I meet her.'”
3 Her Advice Was Based On A Real-Life Incident
Many fans were convinced on her Whole Foods comments and after doing some digging, outlets reported that it actually happened to Jennifer Lawrence. The Oscar-winner didn't realize how popular the movie was and how famous she was and made the mistake of going out to the grocery store on the day the first movie premiered. She told CNN that she was swarmed by people wanting to talk to her and get a picture or autograph. Whole Foods helped her out of the situation. They called the police and escorted her to the cargo elevator, which she cried in the whole way down.
2 Their Similarities/Differences
Many actors who appear in popular teen franchises tend to have the same careers. For Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley, their careers are similar, but not by much. For example, after starring in The Hunger Games, Lawrence's career was jolted into high gear, and she even won an Oscar for her acting. Woodley is only a year younger than JLaw, and her career is still on the rise. Once the third Divergent movie came out, people kind of lost interest. Whereas, The Hunger Games is still talked about today.
Since starring in Divergent, Woodley has maybe two other big roles, while Lawrence was practically in everything. However, they both did launch their careers through small independent films. They both don't conform to Hollywood's beauty standards and have a great sense of humor.
1 What They Are Doing Now
Even though Lawrence currently has two films in post-production, you actually haven't seen her in a movie in a while. Her life has been the subject of tabloid attention for the past few years, after her recent films flopped. In October 2019, she got married to art gallery director, Cooke Maroney and has been lowkey ever since. She is rarely on social media.
As for Woodley, her life has been pretty lowkey recently too. She did have some not as popular movies come out this year, such as The Last Letter form Your Lover, and currently has one in post-production. She is now living a pretty private life with her fiancee, NFL player Aaron Rodgers.