Shailene Woodley

Shailene Diann Woodley is an American actress and producer known for her roles across television, film, and theater. She first achieved widespread television recognition starring as Amy Juergens in the ABC Family drama series The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2013). She later expanded her profile in major film and television projects, earning acclaim for her performances in feature films and limited drama series.

Woodley was born on November 15, 1991, in San Bernardino, California. Her mother worked as a middle-school counselor and her father as a former school principal and family therapist. Raised alongside a younger brother, she began taking local theater classes and started appearing in television commercials at age five, booking over sixty television spots before age eleven. Despite a scoliosis diagnosis at age fifteen that required wearing a plastic brace for two years, she maintained her studies, graduated from Simi Valley High School, and pursued professional acting.

After making her acting debut in the 1999 television film Replacing Dad, Woodley appeared in minor roles on television shows such as The District, Crossing Jordan, and The O.C., alongside lead roles in television movies like A Place Called Home (2004) and Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005). Following numerous guest appearances, she landed her breakthrough role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which ran for five seasons.

Woodley made her feature film debut in Alexander Payne's The Descendants (2011), earning a Golden Globe nomination and winning an Independent Spirit Award. She followed this with acclaimed performances in the romantic drama The Spectacular Now (2013) and the thriller White Bird in a Blizzard (2014). In 2014, she starred as Beatrice "Tris" Prior in the film adaptation of Divergent, later reprising the role in the sequels Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016). That same year, she starred as Hazel Grace Lancaster in the romantic drama film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars, which became a major global commercial success.

Following a temporary break from acting, Woodley joined the cast of the HBO drama series Big Little Lies (2017–2019), playing sexual assault survivor Jane Chapman. Her performance garnered a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Her subsequent film work includes Oliver Stone's Snowden (2016), the open-ocean survival drama Adrift (2018), which she also produced, The Mauritanian (2021), Ferrari (2023), and To Catch a Killer (2023). In 2024, Woodley made her Broadway debut in Leslye Headland's play Cult of Love, receiving a Theatre World Award.

Outside of acting, Woodley is an environmental activist, a Greenpeace Oceans Ambassador, and a board member for environmental organizations. She is also the co-founder of the youth-development nonprofit organization All it Takes.