Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort famously went from playing brother and sister in the Divergent series to hopeless lovers in The Fault in Our Stars. And it’s safe to say that things got a little awkward during filming.
While looking back at some of her most iconic roles in a new interview with Variety on May 21, the 34-year-old actress admitted that filming romantic scenes with Elgort, 32, felt strange because of how close they had become while working together on Divergent.
“Ansel Elgort to this day is one of my best fr- I feel like he transcends the label of best friend —he’s like family to me. I love him so, so deeply,” Woodley shared.
The Big Little Lies star explained that the pair formed an immediate sibling-like bond during the first Divergent film, often spending time together off-set cooking and talking for hours after work. “The dynamic between us was always very sweet, and it was very supportive,” she noted.
So when she learned Elgort was auditioning to play Augustus Waters opposite her Hazel Grace Lancaster in the film adaptation of John Green’s popular novel, Woodley never imagined he’d actually land the role.
“I was like, ‘Oh, very sweet, but obviously it’s never gonna happen because he’s my brother in Divergent… and then he was cast,” she recalled.
Still, Woodley believes their real-life connection became the emotional backbone of the beloved romance. “He’s the only person on earth who could have played Gus,” she explained, adding that their bond brought an authenticity to the film’s “unconditional love.”
But that didn’t make the intimate scenes any less uncomfortable.
“Of course it was awkward,” Woodley admitted. “I mean, I remember laughing in between takes a little bit together. Like, I know everything about you, you know everything about me, this is so weird. And then we had to take our shirts off.”
