In Shailene Woodley’s best movies and shows, the Hollywood actress has played characters who’ve experienced tragic relationships such as in The Spectacular Now, Adrift, The Fault in Our Stars, Secret Life of the American Teenager, and more. In real life, the Emmy Award nominee has dealt with her own share of difficult relationships. Now, Woodley talks all about moving on and changing after her breakups with Aaron Rodgers and others.
Set to premiere on Starz, Three Women stars Shailene Woodley as Gia, a reporter who travels in her van to cover the sexual desires of three women while dealing with her own complex personal life. Not only did Woodley resonate with her character’s experiences on the road, but the talented actress has had complicated romances of her own. While speaking with Bustle, the Divergent actress spoke about what made her own personal happiness a priority over “performing for others.” Here was her explanation:
Just a broken heart. A broken heart that healed and broke again. I fell in love over and over with unavailability. I’m very open as a human. I love easy and I care easy, but I do not love lightly, and I do not care lightly. It’s really taken me a lot of time to understand that it’s not on me to fix or heal or do anything about [a relationship] other than protect the deep care and love that I have for the world and for my people. Ultimately, that has helped me walk away without the need to understand why certain things didn’t play out the way that I may have desired them to.
Shailene Woodley’s response truly speaks to me about loving intensely and trying not to overanalyze why things didn’t work out in relationships. As the Snowden actress says, we need to remember our love for life and the people we already have compared to centering on what’s broken.
In 2018, Shailene Woodley was in a relationship with rugby player Ben Volavola which reportedly ended after two years. During the time Woodley was filming Three Women, she and fiancé NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke up for the second time. After two years of being together, the alleged reason for the breakup was Woodley feeling “everything was on Aaron's terms and it wasn't making her happy.” Their first breakup was two months prior with reports claiming the New York Jets athlete “put football first.” After Woodley and Rodgers' relationship ended for good, the Ferrari actress wrote an endearing post about dealing with grief, viewing that tough emotion as “praise” for honoring what’s missed instead of shame.
Each breakup has the potential to give you a new perspective on your life and how you see yourself. Shailene Woodley certainly learned from her previous relationships how to view people and how much of yourself to give:
I give all of myself. I used to be a person who, if you crossed me and disrespected that, would continue to give and give. And now you cross me, I respectfully go, ‘Thank you so much for that information. Have a beautiful life. I wish you well.’ Not interested.
It’s true that we can’t waste so much time giving to people who aren’t worthy of affection. As Three Women deals with the theme of trauma, Shailene Woodley explained that the important way to love without trauma is to avoid making others “taste” that pain. In other words, each relationship is an opportunity to start new instead of bringing the pain from history onto the next person. Even though The Mauritanian actress is in her 30s, she said she places no expectations on her life living moment by moment while still holding onto her dreams like becoming a mom.
The Golden Globe nominee clearly has a good head on her shoulders in learning from her previous relationships. While Shailene Woodley admits she may not “love lightly,” she’s learned to walk away without questioning why things didn’t work out and not to give so much of herself to those who are undeserving. These are powerful lessons we all can learn. You can watch the film/television actress star Three Women with its 2024 TV premiere coming to Starz on September 13.
