Divergent actress Shailene Woodley recently became candid about her ex-fiancé Aaron Rodgers for the first time since their breakup last year. The star said that she learned a lot from her first “famous” relationship.
Speaking to Net-A-Porter, Woodley said that the public’s interest in their romance felt “violating”, especially on social media. The 31-year-old told the outlet that filming the upcoming Showtime series Three Women — based on the 2019 book about a writer who interviews three different women to gather a snapshot of what sex lives are like for American women — proved challenging during one of the “darkest” periods in her life.
Shailene Woodley – darkest moment
“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—-, so it felt like a big pain bubble for eight months,” Shailene Woodley said. “I was so grateful that at least I could go to work and cry and process my emotions through my character.”
The Showtime series was filmed between October 2021 and the following May. That February, PEOPLE reported that Woodley and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers had ended their engagement just over a year after making it public. They were then spotted spending time together; PEOPLE confirmed that April that they’d broken up again.
“It honestly never really hit me that millions of people around the world were actually watching these things and paid attention to them. Then, I dated somebody in America who was very, very famous,” she explained. “It was the first time that I’d had a quote-unquote ‘famous’ relationship, and I watched [the] scrutiny, opinions, the desire for people to know my life and his life and our life — it just felt violating in a way that, before, it was fun.”
Shailene Woodley joined Instagram in 2016 and would post about politics and various passions. In 2020 when the couple started dating, social media became a different place. Woodley’s post were scrutinised during their year-long relationship.
Social media became different after she started dating
“I’m a very private person, and so I found that any time I posted anything, I instantly felt like I was sharing too much of who I am with people I didn’t necessarily trust,” she added.
During the pandemic, Rodgers, 39 and Woodley, 31 started dating secretly. They got engaged weeks after they dated.
In Feb. 2022, Yahoo Entertainment confirmed the couple called off their wedding. They were still spotted out together after the failed engagement made headlines. They reportedly ended things for good that spring.
Removing Instagram from her phone
Shailene Woodley has since removed Instagram from her phone. Woodley said she’s focusing on being more present and is already enjoying inner peace that’s coming with age.
“I’ve always loved getting older, but it’s almost like I feel an exhale; I’ve been waiting so long to experience not giving a f*** about what other people think about me and my life and the choices I make,” she declared. “I’m so excited to continue letting go of so many of the things that controlled me in my twenties; to really experience the joy of life in a way that, when you’re younger, is more difficult to experience — because it’s controlled by the way you were raised instead of the identity that you create as your own person.”