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Shailene Woodley Offered Lead in Drama 'The Fault in Our Stars'

by Ben Pearson
March 19, 2013

Shailene Woodley / The Fault in Our Stars

After making her film debut alongside George Clooney in 2011's The Descendants and stealing our hearts as the female lead in the excellent teen romance The Spectacular Now at Sundance, actress Shailene Woodley is well on her way to becoming the next big thing. She secured two major roles recently as Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the female lead in her own sci-fi movie Divergent, and now EW confirms that Woodley has won the coveted lead role in The Fault in Our Stars, a new drama written by (500) Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber.

We wrote before that Woodley was in the mix for the part of Hazel Grace Lancaster in the film adaptation of John Green's 2012 novel. The story follows the 16-year-old cancer patient as she falls in love with fellow teen Augustus Waters at a cancer support group meeting. Despite the fact that both are battling a life-threatening disease, they get wrapped up in a comedic and heartwarming relationship that proves love can thrive even in the bleakest of times. Director Josh Boone, who is also directing the upcoming Stuck in Love (see the trailer here) told EW:

“During our exhaustive search to find Hazel Grace Lancaster, I saw some stunning auditions by today’s finest young actresses. Over 250 girls read for the part, but it wasn’t until Shailene stepped in front of the camera that I truly saw Hazel for the first time. It was like lightning striking. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to see what I have.”

Woodley's performance in The Spectacular Now (which hits theaters this August) converted me into a big fan of hers, and she's absolutely capable of providing the sort of emotional highs and lows that a story like this requires. The Fault in Our Stars will likely be compared to Jonathan Levine's 50/50, and like Joseph Gordon-Levitt in that movie, Woodley is an equally affable presence that should help people get over the fact that they're watching a "cancer movie" and actually get lost in the performances and emotions instead. Wyck Godfrey (Twilight) is producing, and I have a feeling this is going to be something special.

Filed under Casting, Development, Movie News

From around the web:

Greg dinskisk

I've heard that novel is phenomenal, a fair amount of my friends are John Green junkies... I loved Shailene Woodley in The Descendants, and since I tend to agree with this website more than I disagree about whether a film is good or not, I have a feeling I will love her in The Spectacular Now too. The writers make me even more certain about this.
teacherkid

I still haven't seen her in anything - but if they trust her enough to be Tris I can only hope that she's got the talent to also portray Hazel. & if you haven't read the book - grab a box of tissues (you'll go through the box!) & get on it.