Getty ImagesWhile Shailene Woodley has the utmost admiration for Jennifer Lawrence, she insists she doesn't want to be compared to the Oscar winner.
And she has a good reason.
"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," the 22-year-old beauty muses in the latest issue of New York magazine, which she covers with BFF Brie Larson. "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."
"Is it because we both have short hair and a vagina?" she continued. "I see us as separate individuals. And that's important. As women, our insecurities are based on all these comparisons. And that creates distress."
Despite her distaste for the endless comparisons, Woodley does admit that she sees many similarities between herself and Lawrence.
"I do think we have things in common," she revealed. "We both believe in having fun and still telling the truth. We're not fashion girls, but we play the game. And we both care deeply about being actors."
When it comes to her craft, Shailene will go to great lengths to ensure she's authentic—even if it means stripping down for the camera.
"It was so much fun," she says of her sex scene in the upcoming flick White Bird in a Blizzard. "Everyone was freaked out because I'm nude, but in real life, when I have sex, I'm naked. I don't have a bra on, and I don't usually have panties on. So let's make a real movie! Let's bring truth to the scene! I didn't want to be exploited, but this girl—like most girls when they first have sex—doesn't know what she's doing. I wanted their first kiss to be sloppy, teenagerish making out. When you're younger, you think you know what to do, but you really don't."
The Descendants star also briefly opened up about her role in The Fault in Our Stars, in which she plays a 16-year-old cancer patient.
"In Fault, I am trying to rewrite what a female lead can look like: You've never seen a woman on the poster for a movie with a cannula in her nose," she said.
And despite her current status as one of Hollywood's leading ladies, Shailene has maintained her sense of self with the help of her bestie Brie.
"It was a constant dialogue. First we were venting about things we are supposed to do and don't want to do," she revealed. "Then we agreed that the biggest issue is to pick films that are honest and not detrimental to girls. We realized that our choices might make people say we are ‘weird.' But rather than be ashamed of that or try to change, we embraced it: Brie and I decided that we'd rather be weird than anything else."