Star: Shailene Woodley has a ‘diva attitude, won’t mingle with fans’ at premieres

Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley endured a whirlwind press tour to promote Divergent, and it paid off. Many people watched the movie — it scored $55 million on opening weekend. The fans who attended were those who read and enjoyed the first book. They didn’t show up because Shailene eats clay and fakes not using a cellphone. The press tour worked though. Everyone knows who Shailene is — the girl with the sunshine vagina. She’s also becoming a tabloid fixture. This week’s issue of Star paints Shailene as an up-and-coming diva. Emphasis on the diva:

Shailene Woodley is the face of the next huge movie franchise — and she has the attitude to prove it.

The young-adult blockbuster Divergent made a whopping $56 million over its opening weekend, giving headliner Shailene Woodley a taste of what it’s like to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. But sources say that fame got to the head of the 22-year-old well before her movie was No. 1 at the box office.

Shailene’s diva attitude was on display during the film’s March 18 premiere party at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, Calif. That’s where the actress set up her very own VIP section — away from her costars in the official VIP area — and refused to talk to anyone. “Shailene treated the event like she was Mariah Carey,” says an eyewitness. “She was walked to her area by her handlers and stayed there all night. She didn’t mingle with fans, and bouncers even stopped them from trying to take pictures. The bodyguards were acting like a blockade!”

While Shailene made waitresses deliver her soft drinks, costar Theo James, 29, acted like a seasoned movie star, schmoozing with guests and posing with fans all night long. “Theo couldn’t be sweeter,” says the partygoer. “He was in the VIP booth away from Shailene, but he also walked around with everyone else. He was mobbed, but he took it all in stride.”

Shailene’s privileged attitude isn’t a surprise to those who have known her for years. The young actress, who became the star of the hit TV series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, began to change at the age of 15, before her career took off, when her mother, Lori, filed for divorce from her father, Lonnie Woodley.

“The divorce was tough for Shailene and her brother, and that’s about the time she took on more of a negative, entitled attitude,” a source tells Star.

Shailene’s family has also struggled financially. In 1995, Lori and Lonnie filed for bankruptcy, and Lonnie filed for bankruptcy a second time in 2010. “Financial problems really took a toll on the family,” adds the insider. “Shailene’s success could be a great benefit to them, but her diva attitude may be the demise of her career.”

[From Star, print edition, April 4, 2014]

Is it just me, or does this not seem like a huge deal? Shailene didn’t want to get all touchy feely with the fans, which is weird because she hugs everyone. Here’s how I feel about the situation: Star is either making sh-t up, or someone is deliberately stirring the pot. It’s entirely possible that Shailene is putting on an act with her “kumbaya” personality. Or not. I do doubt she’d choose to drop the act at — of all places — a very visible film premiere. This story seems a lot like the Lena Dunham Enquirer story that painted the Girls star as “a demanding control freak.” Kaiser had it right when she said that tabloid tale meant Lena had arrived. Likewise … Shailene has arrived with her own version of diva-dom. She’s here to stay for at least a few more years.

Here’s some photos of Shailene at CinemaCon (where the lighting is just awful). As is that outfit.

Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN

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37 Responses to “Star: Shailene Woodley has a ‘diva attitude, won’t mingle with fans’ at premieres”

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  1. FLORC says:

    It’s Star so it’s automatically taken with a handful of salt, but I believe there’s truth to this.

    These entitled/diva rumors have been around since her SLOTAT days.
    And you can be happy go lucky granola cruncher that hugs everyone and also be a b!tch.

    • Heather says:

      Am I the only one who has a problem with the line “she made the waitresses bring her soft drinks”? Isn’t that what they do? They bring people drinks and food and stuff? This is obviously someone who’s trying to stir shit up. Some hanger-on who somehow finagled her way into the Divergent premiere party and didn’t get the glowing reception from the films star that she was expecting.

      • Rachel says:

        Ha. That was the first thing I noticed. How dare she… ask a waitress for a drink!? What a diva.

      • FLORC says:

        That was a weird line, but I think it was to combat her earthy all natural persona that cuts down on plastic waste and treats her body like a temple. If that was the case I can see that being damaging.

        And…
        Almost every article on this site today has been from a Star story too… Is Star more credible overnight? Did I miss something?

  2. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    I’ll say one thing for this girl. She has me confused.

    • Dirtnap says:

      I’m so confused, I’m eating clay.

    • Liv says:

      Nah, I believe her talk about nature and spirit and so on. But I don’t think she’s that down-to-earth like she wants us to believe. She says she doesn’t use a phone, doesn’t want to do big films and be a part of Hollywood, but she signed on to Spiderman and Divergent, two major Blockbuster. She wants to be movie star and she wants it bad!

      • FLORC says:

        I didn’t see Spiderman on her IMDB page. What’s her role, if you know?

        And yea. She wants to be a star.

      • HHazel says:

        @ Liv. Yup and don’t forget TFiOS another YA-movie/book

      • Erinn says:

        FLORC – I think she was slated for MJ? She got cut from Amazing Spider man 2

      • Mia4S says:

        She was cast as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 2 and then they decided to totally change the movie so she was cut out completely! Very odd. I am hearing the movie is bad though so maybe she dodged a bullet.

      • FLORC says:

        Mia4S
        Bad movies like that still make a profit.

    • Hiddles forever says:

      Star only publishes nonsense and gossip made up by them but considering we get to see an article about this lady twice a week, not surprised if that was true. Having said that… Usually waitresses carry drinks at any table…

  3. Belle Epoch says:

    She seems like the poor man’s J Law.

    If J Law had not come first, where would this girl be? Would she be as famous?

    • Vanessa says:

      I don’t see anything similar to JLaw other than the fact that they’re both good actresses.

  4. lucy2 says:

    Not everyone is comfortable in every situation, and a big event like that might be overwhelming, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt- for now.
    I hope her whole family hasn’t been relying on her to support them. That is too much pressure, and often an issue many troubled child stars had.

  5. Dani2 says:

    I have trouble believing this because I remember reading an interview where she talked about being a big hugger. That being said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of her posing with fans for pictures so there might be some truth to this.

  6. Steph says:

    She could be a total clay eating, “tree-hugger” AND be an entitled, stand-offish person. Think of the reputation vegans as a group have (just an example! Don’t shoot me bc I am vegetarian and find the stereotype trite). I don’t think she is vegan but it’s just an example. Just because you are all one with nature doesn’t mean you can’t be a bad person in general. Also, I don’t know if I totally believe this story but it will be fun to see how her persona comes out in the next couple years.

  7. grabbyhands says:

    I knew the kumbayah hippie thing was just a cover!!

    Actually, I have no idea if this is true, but for some reason I find this girl so completely annoying, so I am taking it as gospel.

  8. huh says:

    Has anyone seen Divergent? Is it any good? Thinking of seeing it this weekend.. I havn’t read the books..will I still enjoy it?

    • Amelia says:

      Average tweener fair, with a trendy dose of totalitarian rule thrown in for good measure.
      Better than that crappy Mortal Instruments film (not particularly difficult), not as good as The Hunger Games. No need to read the books.
      Ah, the joys of Orange Wednesdays.

    • Penny says:

      I saw it and it was God Awful. I had a please make it stop moment. Actually plural moments. You really see the distinction in quality of picture and acting with Hunger Games – suffice it to say the picture can only be as good as the material in the book. It was sooooo bad. Pure garbage. Wait for the DVD, better yet wait til it’s on cable when you need something as white noise while engaging in some more entertaining leisure activity. Bad. Taste. In. My. Mouth. So rotten the tomatoes must be over ripe. 2+ hours I can never get back – the deeper you get into the movie the more her face almost looks like she’s prematurely aging right before your eyes or she had a change in make up artists or something.

      • FLORC says:

        Hmm… I’ll watch it when it’s free on a movie channel. I did that with Mortal Instruments and damned if I didn’t like it. Lily was awful and the better actors still struggled with the corny lines, but it was enjoyable in a lounging around setting.

        I’m betting the same for this. She will be awful, but it’ll pass the time during Yoga.

      • Vanessa says:

        I’d probably hate it then because I thought The Hunger Games was a terrible movie too.

  9. Lucy says:

    Yeah, bullshit.

  10. T.C. says:

    I find her so so exhausting but do not believe this story at all. Sounds like one or more of the minor cast members who didn’t get to seat at Shailene’s extra special VIP section told the tabloid this story.

  11. JaneS says:

    Lol, no surprise here.

    The hippy-dippy sh*t was always a ruse to make her relateable to her core market: women who want to see stylised and idealised versions of themselves on screen.

    If she’s being a little sh*thead to her fans, who is really surprised?

  12. Other Renee says:

    I was wondering the same thing as Florc – why is every article here based on an article from Star?

  13. Adrienne says:

    I got to work with Shai for the entire run of Divergent. I was a featured extra (one of the other transfer initiates) and so our little group got really close. TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS IS ALLLLLL BULLS***. That girl is THE nicest and most genuine human being I’ve ever met. For instance I got hurt pretty bad one day on set and the medic bandaged me up pretty half-assed because we had to keep filming and they couldn’t wait for an extra. She saw that I was bleeding a bit and she stopped Neil Burger and the medic and was like “why isn’t she being taken care of properly!?” Then she came and sat and chatted with me while the medic reassessed me and fixed me up again. That’s just one example of the kind of person she is.