Shailene Woodley On Starring In The New Romantic Drama, "Endings, Beginnings"

Set in present-day Los Angeles, "Endings, Beginnings" follows Daphne (Shailene Woodley), a thirty-something woman navigating love and heartbreak over the course of one year. Daphne becomes intertwined with friends Jack (Jamie Dornan) and Frank (Sebastian Stan) after meeting them at a party. During that time, she will unlock the secrets to her life in a sudden turn of events and in the most surprising of places.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to "BUILD at Home." I'm your host Brittany Jones- Cooke-- Cooper coming to you. Let me do that again. I can't mess up my name.

[LAUGHTER]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to "BUILD at Home." I'm your host, Brittany Jones-Cooper coming to you from my home in New York City. And today, I'm pumped to be catching up with Shailene Woodley. But before we bring on Shailene, I just want to remind you guys to visit NoKidHungry.org. Due to school cancelations, there's a lot of kids who are missing their daily meals. In fact, 641 million school meals have been missed because of COVID-19 related Closings so if you're looking for a way to help, if you want to donate, make sure you visit NoKidHungry.org. And now, I want to switch gears and welcome Shailene Woodley to "BUILD at Home." Hi, Shailene. How are you?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Hey, I'm well. I'm well. How are you?

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: I'm well as well. Where are you?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I am somewhere on the west coast.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Got ya. So how long have you been sort of social distancing? And just what's your general vibe?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Yeah. I mean, I've been social distancing for a hot minute. I feel like I'm going on seven-- a friend earlier asked me, he was like, when was the last time you hugged someone? And I think it might have been six or seven weeks ago. It's a long time without physical touch.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: You know what, yeah-- it has been a while.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: It's been a hot minute. But you know, I feel-- I feel good. We were speaking about this a little bit before we started. And we're just lucky. You know, we're healthy and we're alive. And it's just another day in this wild life of never knowing what comes next and I kind of see is a beautiful opportunity for, you know, if you do happen to be stuck at home and you are fortunate enough to be healthy, it's-- you know, there's a lot of pressures and fear and anxiety of what's going to happen after this. But in the moment, there's not much we can do apart from really [INAUDIBLE] with our neighbors support organizations that you were just mentioning, and take time for ourselves-- like, really take time to spend time with ourselves because it's something that we're not often afforded to do.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah, how have you been spending the time? Have you picked up any new hobbies? Have you checked" anything off of a to-do list?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I mean, I keep saying by the end of this I'm going to have my handstand, I'm going to be great at roller-blading. Neither of those things have happened yet. I've watched more movies than I've ever watched in my life, which is really productive for me. Because I never think to watch TV or film. So that's been really lovely. I have bathed. I'm, like, kind of a raisin, because I just bathe all the time. I-- what do you do to fill the time? What do you do?

It's hard-- I feel like once 2 PM hits, I'm like, man, if I'm not in a rhythm or a flow and I don't have any movie momentum, I'm just like, I might as well get in my pajamas and go back to bed?

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, I've had days where I stayed in my robe, and that's OK.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Then when you're in, like, month two and you're like, oh-- you know, there's something-- I've got to do something different here.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: There's, like, dual use of this time, though. I think you should, like, obviously have a to-do list. But when else have many of us had an opportunity to just sort of sit still, you know?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I almost feel like we're all-- we're all a little, like, monk-like right now. You know, like, monks are so good at sitting still. And just whatever tradition or religion they're part of, it's like any practicing monk is just really good at stillness and slowness. And so that's what I'm trying to channel right now.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Is that your self-care routine? Is it, like, meditation and yoga-- stuff like that?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I do do a lot of meditation. I do do some yoga-- a lot of yoga. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it all looks different for me, you know, because I think if you're not in a space to meditate, then it's really pointless. I know some people who seem to not have that issue. I definitely do. So I kind of take it one day at a time. Sometimes my meditation is having a glass of wine and putting on loud music. And sometimes my meditation is actually doing the whole, you know, breathing and what not.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: I'm the same. I've been meditating most days, but also sometimes my meditation has been coloring. I've been coloring a lot.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: My dad-- it was his birthday a few weeks ago, and I colored him this mandala, and it took, like, seven hours of my day. I was exhausted. But it was great. I just FaceTimed with friends for seven hours and colored, and every time they turned on their phone they were like, are you coloring right now? Yeah, it's actually really motivative.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: I love that. I love that you're making the most of your alone time. I just finished your film, "Endings, Beginnings," and your character is somebody who maybe needed to take some alone time to figure out what she needed.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Pretty relevant for right now, right? I feel like the movie is actually coming out in a good time because it offers us a little bit of reflection on, you know, what are we using as distractions in our lives and what could we maybe calm down with or, you know, desensitize ourself from in order to go within and really get to know ourselves more?

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah, absolutely. When I started watching, I was like, this is amazing because there are so many people who rely on other people to define who they are. And we're in a moment now where we can't do that. We have to be alone and figure it out. And so watching your character sort of battle with those things, I was very much aware of where I'm at and what I'm doing. And I don't know, it was kind of perfect timing.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Yeah.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: So let's talk about the premise. What is the premise of the movie?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Oh boy. You know, I find it to be a very simple story about a woman in 2019-2020 just trying to figure out who she is and what she wants and discovering her own identity. She's in her late-20s, and I think most of us when we-- female or male-- go through our late-20s, it's a big catalyst for how we're going to choose to spend the rest of our lives.

I think it's a pretty concrete moment in reflecting upon who we've been throughout our 20s and who we want to be moving into our 30s. And so you witness this woman on a journey that's a very beautiful, and some people would say chaotic or messy-- I just think very simple journey. It's a journey of love. And it's a journey of trying to understand why she makes choices that she makes. And really, I think, at the end of the day, it's about a woman who's understanding discernment and understanding refinement in a way that she never has before for herself.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah, absolutely. Your late-20s is such a time of tremendous growth. And so what was your balance of making her relatable and you could empathize with her while she was being kind of frustrating and making decisions that maybe the viewer didn't agree with? Because I did find myself frustrated with her, but also totally empathizing and realizing that I've done things like that as well, you know?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I think we get frustrated with people because we want the best for them. You know, and it's so much easier when you're not in a particular position to see clearly and to approach situations with a certain sense of clarity that when you are the person in the hot seat, you can't see because you got your blinders on. And so I think as an audience member when you feel frustration, it's more because you can see the clear answer when the characters can't.

And so it was fun to play that. I mean, it was really fun to immerse myself in a character and a role where she didn't have all the answers, because I tend to be someone who's an over-analyzer and I approach situations from all angles before I make decisions. And I'm much more serious and I think responsible in many ways than she is. So it was-- it was nice to explore this alter-ego part of myself that could just be a little bit more free and spontaneous and live with a little bit more abandon.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah, I love her spontaneity, but she was also super lucky because the men in her life were very beautiful. Let's talk about your co-stars.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: They were-- they are beautiful. I mean, they're fucking gorgeous. But they're also just beautiful souls. I mean, I got so lucky. I worked with Jamie Dornan and Sebastian Stan and Matthew Gray goo goo goo-- Gubler. I always mess up his last name. It's a tongue-twister.

You know, they're just-- I was talking to Sebastian earlier today about something, and it's just-- we had to throw ourselves in with such trust and such sensitivity to ourselves and to the other person that it really allowed for us to connect in a way that you don't get to connect all the time on other movie sets. And so that felt-- that felt very special. And it felt like this time capsule of a sort that will stay in our hearts forever.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah, for sure. And take me through those scenes with Sebastian, because your chemistry is just so palpable. I mean, what kind of work did you guys do to get those scenes right and to feel confident in them?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I mean, listen, most of the movie is improvised. And the way you normally rehearse as an actor is you go through the scenes, the lines, duh duh duh-- you find the truth. My rehearsal with Sebastian was-- literally we went over to our director's house and he had us stare into each other's eyes for 30 minutes without breaking eye contact and answer very personal questions about ourselves to the other person.

So my intro to Seb was, you know, hey, so lay yourself bare on the table, tell this person all of your vulnerable bits, and he'll do the same back to you. So really from the very beginning, we-- and I think also, we're both-- we're both people who are hungry constantly for connection and for truth and for presence. And it is rare that you get to-- that you just-- that you find people, I suppose, who are as willing to be as fair and as raw and as honest as he was. And Jamie as well-- Jamie and I didn't get to do that staring exercise because he was working on another film, but from day one with him too it really was-- there was no trying to build chemistry with either of them.

It really was what existed between us energetically. And then you add the layers of the characters and the intimacy and the sexuality all those things on top of it, and you get what you get in the film. But the base essence of our, I think, deep love and connection was just-- is just inherently there.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: That's so beautiful-- so lucky when the chemistry is there.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Oh, so lucky.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: I love it. And that staring exercise-- have you done that with real partners in real life on a first date? That seems very intense.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: No, I haven't. But you know, it definitely inspired me to-- I mean, I have no-- I love exercises like that, because I love being uncomfortable. And I love a good challenge. But man, if you really have true feelings for someone and you know, you're beginning to fall in love or date or be intimate with them, that would be-- that would be very vulnerable.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: It sounds terrifying.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: At least [INAUDIBLE] we knew that we are actors and we knew that, like, you know, this is part of the job and we're doing the thing. But to apply that to real life, oof, that would be mildly uncomfortable.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah, that's a lot. The dynamic your character is in was very Aiden and Big from "Sex and the City" for me. Because--

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I never watched "Sex and the City."

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Oh, you didn't?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I didn't grow up watching TV.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Well--

SHAILENE WOODLEY: But you can keep going.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: I was going to say, well, you have a lot of time now, so if you want to check it out--

SHAILENE WOODLEY: [INAUDIBLE]

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Like Season 3-- 3 and 4 are the best. But either way, she has kind of these two guys-- one is more passionate and one is maybe more stable. And the whole journey is who is she going to pick? And so that's sort of what your character's dealing with. And I think what kind of conversations did you guys have about that? Because the conversations your characters have about it is so interesting.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Yeah. You know, I really-- I don't think it really was ever about who Daphne was going to pick, more so than it was about Daphne learning what both of these men taught her about herself. You know, I think in our society, we're conditioned to think one person can be our end all, be all. But the truth is, different people bring out different sides of us, because we are multidimensional, musical, creative creature monster people.

And you know, with Daphne, I think that Frank, Sebastian's character, he brought up the philosophical and the dreamer and the creative and the kind of fiery, juicy, sensual elements of herself. And Jamie's character, Jack, brought out the intellectual, stable, comfortable, cozy side of herself. So I think she used both of these men as mirrors to actually understand what she wanted to prior-- I don't think it was conscious, but I think afterwards, you know, what she wanted to prioritize in her life, what felt the most important to her as traits and qualities for her to be, you know, exercising her own energy on as she grows.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah. Which is honestly just dating, right? I mean, that's the journey. That's all we're all trying to figure out. With that said, when you go back to your early-20s to now in your late-20s, just what is something you would tell yourself about dating or romantic relationships that you wish you would have known?

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I mean, I dated quite a few assholes. So I think that for me, it would have been-- my advice would be you don't have to hold on if they're not going to. That and also, like, not every guy you fall in love with needs to last more than a month. I think it's very OK in your early-20s to be with someone for a month and then move on. I think the mistake is when you fall in love with somebody and then you stay for a long period of time in your early-20s, that's the [INAUDIBLE] you're a little bit more free with yourself.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: That is such good advice. And I think that's where we leave it. I don't know. Because people just-- yeah, I think that's just great advice to young people out there everywhere. I really love this film. Thank you for being a part of it-- and just the timing is so good. I think people are really going to connect to it.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: I hope so. I really hope people watch it. It meant a lot to us when we were filming it, and I also just think it's very rare you get to see movies that are so based on character and on real people versus anything else. So I hope people--

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Absolutely. Absolutely. I got emotional. I laughed. You know, I felt everything. "Endings, Beginnings" is available to stream on April 17th. Shailene Woodley, thank you for joining us. We'll see you next time.

SHAILENE WOODLEY: Thank you so much. Stay safe out there-- or in there.

BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Bye you too.

[MUSIC PLAYING]