Shailene Woodley SaysThree WomenInspired Her to Be 'Very Open' with Her Emotions (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Shailene Woodleylearned a lot about herself from her latest project.

Talking to PEOPLE at the New York premiere ofher new seriesThree Womenon Monday, Sept. 9, the actress, 32, said that she has “learned a lot” about herself from her character Gia.

“Gia has this ability to be very open with her emotions in a way that I used to be more reserved with,” Woodley tells PEOPLE. “It was fun to play with that amount of freedom in expression.”

Shailene Woodley attends “Three Women” New York Premiere on September 9, 2024.Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

In a separate interview, the author shares with PEOPLE that Woodley had a lot of freedom while creating her character in the series. “From the start, I wanted Shailene to create her because I’m not the queen of England or someone you need to get emotions correct. I wanted her to have some freedom to bring her performance to that character using my DNA and the DNA of the women who had spoken to these other women,” she says.

Shailene Woodley in “Three Women” on Starz.Starz

Starz

Overall, Woodley hopes that the show helps people “feel a little less alone.” She says, “We feel like we have to hide who we are in order to be accepted. And the truth is… we really are so much more fascinating and interesting and delicious than the front that we try to put on the world. I hope people find some comfort in their truth.”

The Secret Life of the American Teenageralum stars inThree WomenalongsideBetty Gilpin,DeWanda Wiseand Gabrielle Creevy.

In a recent interview withBustleto promote her new show, Woodley was asked what made her"stop caring so much about performing for others,” to which she said, “A broken heart that healedand broke again. I fell in love over and over with unavailability.”

The actress did not name who broke her heart, though PEOPLE reported that she and her ex-fiancéAaron Rodgersbroke upin February 2022after one year of dating– which would have been during the last leg of the show’s production. The two briefly reconciled beforesplitting againin April 2022.

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Last year, Woodley described the time she spent filming the new series as one of the “darkest” periods in her life while speaking withNet-a-Porter’s digital titlePORTER.

“It was hard to film because I was going through the darkest, hardest time in my life; it was winter in New York, and my personal life was s—ty, so it felt like a big pain bubble for eight months,” she said. “I was so grateful that at least I could go to work and cry and process my emotions through my character.”

Three Womenpremieres Friday, Sept. 13 on Starz.

source: people.com