Shailene Woodley made some unusual comments about his friendship with a former costar Ansel Elgort.
“Ansel Elgort is still one of my best friends to this day,” Woodley, 34, said in an interview. Variety shared via the store's YouTube page on Thursday, May 21. “I feel like he goes beyond the label of being a best friend. He's like family to me. I love him very, very deeply.”
Wolley and Elgort, 32, both worked together The Fault in Our Stars as well as Being different films. They met for the first time in the first set Being different film, which premiered in 2014. Wooley and Elgort played siblings Tris and Caleb, respectively. As they get to know each other, they form a strong friendship.
“When we did the first film separately, we really connected, and we became kind of brothers immediately,” he recalled Thursday, “The dynamic between us is always very good, and it was very supportive, and he would come to my house, and we would cook and talk for hours after work.”
After working on that film, Woodley and Elgort reunited for the 2014 film The Fault in Our Starswhere they end up playing love interests Hazel and Gus, respectively.
“I said when I heard that he was on an interview The Fault in Our Stars. I was like 'Oh that's great, but obviously it's not going to happen because you're my brother Being differentas if there is no world there [that happens] … And then he was cast,” she said, “You know, he's the only person on Earth who could play Gus.”
Wolley explained that his real-life connection with Elgort made their characters' chemistry stronger on screen.
“I think what made our relationship in that film as tender as it was and as unconditionally loving as it was. [because] Ansel and I are truly in love,” she shared. “It's rare that you get to see love explored without intimacy, and while there is intimacy between Hazel and Gus, the core of it is unconditional love. Two people went home. They are two people who only want to support each other, and make the other person feel a little less lonely in a chaotic world.”
Rethinking the past? Some actors aren't proud of all the projects they've been a part of – even the ones that advance their careers. Shailene Woodley got her big break in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, but the experience came with its problems. After playing young mother Amy Juergens from 2008 until 2013, […]
In this film, based on the best-selling novel written by John GreenWoodley and Elgort's characters had many love scenes. The Big Little Lies actress admitted it was “not easy” filming those intimate moments with Elgort.
“It was definitely not easy when we had to do intimate scenes together, because I remember [us] laughing in between takes a while together,” she said.
Woodley and Elgort last worked together in 2016 in the final installment of the Divergent series. Since then, they have remained close and even took a trip to Italy together in 2022.
