Three months after Shailene Woodley revealed what caused her split f Aaron Rodgersrom, the actor is back with another major red flag about their relationship.
During a December 2024 feature with Outside, Woodley implied that her breakup with Rodgers traumatized her. “I had a really awful, traumatic thing happen in early 2022,” she said, without name-dropping the NFL star. The author, however, noted that this was around the time the exes went their separate ways. “I felt like I lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy. I really understood depression and anxiety and, like, complete soul detachment,” she added. Unfortunately, Woodley’s empathetic nature, which she’s spoken about at length during her career, “kind of kept me in this loop of feeling everything for everyone.”
Woodley also briefly addressed Rodgers in a direct manner. Unlike previous interviews, however, where she seemed careful not to speak about him on the record, Woodley opened up about why she withheld details of their breakup from the public — and that reason is absolutely heartbreaking! “I haven’t shared much about my relationship with Aaron because it always makes me cry,” shared “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” star. She also revealed another bombshell, implying that their relationship wasn’t always healthy. “It was not right,” she continued. “But it was beautiful.” Despite her ongoing healing journey regarding their relationship, Woodley is still excited to experience one of life’s most precious milestones.
Shailene Woodley wants to have kids
Shailene Woodley may not have gotten her happy ending with Aaron Rodgers, but she still has hopes of having children one day. While speaking with the journalist from Outside about her own baby, Woodley revealed that she, too, hopes to experience motherhood one day. “One of my biggest dreams is to be a mom,” she said Interestingly, Rodgers — who hasn’t publicly spoken about his ex-fiancée since their breakup — revealed in 2021 that he was looking forward to starting a family with her. “I’m in that age group where a lot of my close friends from high school and college are fathers now and have families of their own,” Rodgers shared on Instagram Live (via Us Weekly). “It’s maybe not in the immediate future but definitely something that I really look forward to.”
As for what kind of mother Woodley would be? Well, there’s really no way to know for sure until she crosses that bridge. In the meantime, Woodley sat down for a discussion with her fellow “Big Little Lies” cast members in 2019 and revealed the responsibilities she believes all moms must adopt. “To me, the idea of motherhood is really like, ‘What can you provide?’ and ‘What can you be provided for?'” said the star (via Facebook). She added, “And then how can you also give back?” However, Woodley also believes kids can help enrich their parents’ lives, as well. “My mom grew me up and provided for me and kept me safe and taught me and gave me all of her wisdom, and I was able to grow her up too.”
How Shailene Woodley’s career is going
Lingering heartbreak or no lingering heartbreak, Shailene Woodley’s life post-Aaron Rodgers looks pretty sweet, at least as of 2024. In addition to landing a role in “Cult of Love,” her first-ever Broadway production, Woodley’s also been enjoying reflecting on being a cast member in “Three Women.” Taking to Instagram, she said, “One of my favorite things about playing GIA in three women was finally letting my lion hair roar for a character,” adding, “Thank you mom + grandpa for the hair genes. and big time thank you’s to @karihillhair for being my secret weapon for over a decade in helping me build characters using your bananas coloring skills, and @mariagracia.__ for up-leveling my curl game + giving gia her EXTRA. bts from when we were shooting 2021-2022.”
Woodley also made time to appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” During her appearance, which aired on December 2, Woodley confirmed that she’s slated to star in an upcoming biopic about the life of the late Janis Joplin. “I’m really excited, we’ve been working on it for seven years now, and it’s just … she’s such a groovy chick,” said Woodley about the late star. “She really brought the light to this planet in a really singular way.” Even more exciting, Woodley revealed that she’ll actually be singing in the film. “[Music producer Linda Perry] has really pushed me how to find my own voice … because I can’t sing like Janis.” Also, “Big Little Lies” has a solid chance of getting a third season!
