No hay etiquetas aún.
The following text appears on the February 2017 Issue of Elle US Magazine. It'll be on newsstands nationwide on January 19th.
Thanks to my dear sista Katie for sending me the interview.
Woodley, 25, (slightly belatedly) joins us from Standing Rock Reservation, where she’s been protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline – the construction of which, at press time, had been officially halted by the Army Corps of Engineers, a major victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the thousands who protested the drilling. While Woodley’s Jane is the youngest, humblest, and most recent inductee to Big Little Lies’ mom squad, one thing’s clear about this girl: She has a past.
SHAILENE WOODLEY: I’m here! The crazy girl who can’t work her phone. I’m so sorry!
ELLE: No worries! You’re still in North Dakota, right?
SW: I am. Let me know if at any point you can’t hear me. I’ve been here for a few days. It’s the first time I’ve been back since I was arrested. And it’s freezing, man! It’s close to 4,000 people out here, and half of them are camping! They wake up with frost on their eyelashes, yet with a smile on their face. When you say, “Thank you so much for your sacrifice to protect clean water,” they look at you with this looks of confusion and go, “It’s not a sacrifice; it’s an honor!” That to me is really hopeful for the future that I get to bring my kids into.
ELLE: What made you know you had to go up there?
SW: The tribe has been trying to stop this pipeline since 2014, and I’ve been working with them since February (2016), when the youth of the tribe started a petition against the pipeline. My friend Ezra Miller said, “Hey, if you’re interested, this is going on.” I was completely appalled, but not very surprised. This happens all the time to indigenous communities around the world. It’s just that no one gets behind them enough to make it, like, a public issue.
ELLE: You were arrested at Standing Rock in October and charged with criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot. What was that like?
SW: Well, I didn’t plan on getting arrested, but sometimes activists do because it brings attention to a subject. I was one of the only one to get arrested out of 300 people, because I had a Facebook Live feed with 40,000 people watching. There are a lot of corrupt actions happening, but it’s a Catch-22, man: It’s beautiful that I got arrested. It got the attention of millions of people around the world.
ELLE: How has social media helped you get your message out?
SW: I got involved in social media this year because I realized I didn’t know anything about politics in our country, and I’m a well-educated, well-read, very much privileged woman. If I didn’t know about our political system, how is that democracy? What does that mean for everyone else in our country who doesn’t have the privilege? That’s why I got involved. Twitter came into that, and I got a Facebook for Standing Rock, just to be able to do the live feed. I’m fascinated to see the future of social media and also how the generation who grew up with it will evolve into adulthood.
ELLE: How are you doing since the election?
SW: I was shocked when – actually, I can’t say that. I wasn’t shocked. I was… silent when Trump won. It’s hard to talk about politics in a Hollywood world. I learned that really quickly. But after the California primaries, when Bernie Sanders lost – and I’m not saying he should have won – I knew that Trump was going to win. Because I’d been on the ground for months, and we would be in small cities in America and big cities in America, and Bernie would get tens of thousands of people at his rallies. And then Trump would come and he’d get the same numbers. But Hillary would only have a few hundred people at her fundraisers. It doesn’t matter how much more you have in your bank; if 50,000 people show up to your opponents’ rallies and you only have a few hundred people, it says a lot about what the people of America are ready to do. I grieved all of this months ago, whereas most people are grieving it now.
ELLE: Do you think the new administration will affect how people view Big Little Lies?
SW: Well, we’re going to have some amazing art over the next four years. Because when things go to shit, art just gets radical. But the heart of the show is that it deals with the dynamics between mothers and their children, mothers and their spouses, and mothers and their friends. And that’s something everyone can relate to, whether you’re a man, a woman, or a child. It’s intergenerational. There are so many relatability factors that I think people will find it comforting to know they aren’t alone in their experiences. That being said, we do have to acknowledge that it takes place in Monterey, California. Not everyone can relate to the lifestyle, but everyone can relate to the relationships.
ELLE: What was your hardest day on set?
SW: To be honest, there was a lot of running. I hate running! And I keep doing these projects where I have to run all the time. And it was during the winter, so it was freezing. That sounds like such a wimpy thing, but it was so hard. Because you have to still commit when you run. Vertical motion is not my thing.
ELLE: Tell me about working with Nicole, Reese, and Zoë.
SW: It’s rare that you get to work with actors, female or not, where you all get along. Just because of the nature of humanity – I’m sure it’s the same in your office. But everyone truly got along. And I must say I am generally really bad with my phone. I’m not on it a lot because I try to be present in any given moment, but I get messages of support from Reese constantly. Same with Laura [Dern], Zoë, and Nicole. I feel like I understand Nicole in many ways that are silent. We’re deeply spiritual people who show up for others. You constantly see Nicole – and this is true for Zoë and Reese and Laura – asking if they’re okay. If you’re warm enough. Do you need a blanket; do you need hand warmers? Are you feeling supported? Do you need a break? She’s a true mom but retains her self integrity. And the power of that is her separation from her family and her independence. She also feels on every level, whether it’s the food she’s eating or smells she’s inhaling or the things she’s touching. In moments I catch myself saying, “God, I bet Nicole would really love this tree right now.”
ELLE: Were you intimidated to work with her?
SW: To be totally honest, I was so nervous I was going to break into a Moulin Rouge! song. It's my favorite movie. At least once a day, I catch myself singing a song from it. There were multiple times on set when I’d start singing “One Day I’ll Fly Away” or “Elephant Love Medley.” So I’d have to do a check in to make sure she wasn’t next to me. I’d have been mortified.
ELLE: What did you learn from her?
SW: When it comes to sexuality, sensuality, self representation, self nurturance – America fails in those departments. Women like Nicole trailblaze these paths of self love and self recognition. Not from a pretentious place or a greedy place, but from a place of knowing that in order to help those around you, and in order to even be a good actress and a good mother at the same time, you have to know your worth. *
For this issue, Nicole Kidman and Shailene were supposed to do the interview together. Due to problems communicating with Shailene, they both did individual interviews. During her own interview, Nicole talks a few time about working with Shailene, and why they have deep admiration for each other. Here are some excerpts of Nicole’s interview in which Shailene is mentioned.
ELLE: Shai’s team just emailed me saying they’re trying to find her – but I’ll go ahead and say it’s so exciting to see all you powerful actresses in one TV show.
NICOLE KIDMAN: It kind of speaks to what’s happening on television right now, right? And the way in which you can get thing made. We optioned the book and got it written and into production in 18 months. That never happens.
ELLE: Sorry, I just have to interject for a minute – Shai’s team is still having trouble tracking her down. They’re suggesting we just continue…
NK: This is kind of good for the article, right? This is so Shai. It’s why she’s such an original and amazing girl. She’s not ruled by anything other than passion and her desire to live her real life, and I love that. Half the time, you can’t get her when you want to, because she’s never within cell-service range. I just say, “You go, baby!”
ELLE: What else do you admire about her?
NK: Shailene and I talked a lot about love. She’s very love-based. She asked a lot about relationships and marriage and how I got through certain parts, shall we say, of my life. She would see [my husband Keith Urban] and me together and go, “Ugh, I love how you guys are really just so in love.” And I’d say, “It’s such a blessing.” She’s just into digging around in that and trying to find the how and the why. She also has an extraordinary talent. Acting is very easy for her. It’s not a struggle for her to do the performances she does. It’s just a God-given gift. The same way Adele can sing. How do they do it? Who knows?
ELLE: What have you learned from Shailene?
NK: She gives me access to the mind-set of girls in their twenties, which you can become removed from if you’re not surrounded by it. She’s politically engaged, which is surprising for someone her age and in her career. She’s very, very responsible. She’s good at keeping her boundaries and standing up for herself. If she doesn’t believe in something, she says so. I could probably have learned from that at her age. I don’t think I stood up for myself in the same way she does. Reese and I have both said it: It’s a whole different world now. When we were growing up, we were far more protected, but we weren’t as empowered. We weren’t connected through knowledge, which is what social media gives you.
ELLE: Do you identify with her activism?
NK: Do I talk about my process of voting and all those things? No, because this is what it is now. But I think we do need radicals. We need extremists, because that’s how change happens. And I also believe in continuing to put love and kindness and compassion and art into the world. That’s me as a woman who has seen many, many things over the course of her 49 years old. Oh my gosh – Shai just texted me! Do you want to hear? “Oh my God, I can’t believe it. I’m on the reservation with Standing Rock and totally lost service and my phone was dead and there was no way to contact anyone. I’m so sorry!”*