Shailene Woodley Opens Up About Her Deep Bond With Ansel Elgort

Shailene Woodley is opening up about her cherished friendship with Ansel Elgort in a candid conversation with Variety.

The 34-year-old actress and 32-year-old actor have maintained a close bond for years, having collaborated on multiple projects including The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent franchise.

"Ansel Elgort is to this day one of my best friends," Woodley revealed. "I feel like he transcends the label of best friend. He is like family to me. I love him so, so deeply."

The pair first connected while filming the original Divergent movie in 2014, where they played siblings Tris and Caleb. Woodley recalled the immediate rapport they developed on set.

"When we were doing the first divergent movie, we really connected, and we became sort of instant siblings," she said. "The dynamic between us is always very sweet, and it was very supportive, and he would come over to my house, and we would cook and just talk for hours after work."

Years later, Elgort was cast opposite Woodley in The Fault in Our Stars, where they played love interests Hazel and Gus. The actress admitted she initially thought the casting wouldn't materialize given their established sibling dynamic from Divergent.

"When I heard he was auditioning for Fault in Our Stars, I was like 'Oh that's sweet, but like obviously it's never gonna happen because he's my brother in Divergent, like there's no world where [that happens].' And then he was cast," Woodley shared. "You know, he's kind of the only person on Earth who could've played Gus."

The Emmy-nominated star credits their genuine affection with bringing authenticity to their on-screen romance. She noted that their real-life connection allowed them to explore love in its purest form.

"I think actually what made our relationship in that movie as tender as it was and as truly like unconditionally loving as it was [because] Ansel and I do genuinely love one another," Woodley explained. "It's so rare that you get to see love explored without intimacy, and although there is intimacy between Hazel and Gus, the core of it is just unconditional love. It's two people walking each other home. It's two people who have a desire to only be supportive to one another, and make the other person feel a little less lonely in a chaotic world."

However, Woodley acknowledged that filming intimate scenes together presented its own challenges, given how well they knew each other.

"Of course it was awkward when we had to do intimacy scenes together, cause I remember [us] laughing in between takes a little bit together," she said. "I know everything about you, that is so weird that we have to take our shirts off."