Shailene Woodley didn't draw from personal experiences for her role in The Fault in Our Stars.
"Not at all," the 22-year-old actress told E! News at the film's premiere in New York City. "I don't work like that as an actor." In the movie, Woodley plays Hazel Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer patient who falls in love with Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a 17-year-old amputee and former basketball player.
For those who haven't read author John Green's best-selling young adult novel, first published in January 2012, the premise may sound a little grim. But, as Woodley pointed out, it's anything but.
"The subject matter is tough, but it's real, right? Cancer's a reality. One in three people in America have cancer. That's a pretty intense statistic to grapple with," Woodley said. "But also, it's a cancer movie that's not about cancer. It's about falling in love for the first time, and the trials and the tribulations and the beauty and the grief and the excitement of those feelings that everyone can relate to, whether you're in your 80s or whether you're 14 and haven't fallen in love yet."
Woodley also spoke to E! News about being labeled everything from an "It Girl" to a "neo-hippie."
To find out how the Divergent actress feels about being branded in Hollywood, watch the exclusive video now. For more celebrity red carpet interviews, tune in to E! News tonight at 7 p.m. and 11:30!
—Reporting by James Chairman