Shailene Woodley, left, and George Clooney, at the premiere of "The Descendants" in Beverly Hills on Nov. 15."Aloha!" says an enthusiastic Shailene Woodley. She's calling from Arizona, but it's safe to say she has totally gone Hawaiian.
She spent three months traversing the dreamy islands while shooting "The Descendants," Alexander Payne's new comedy-drama that is already generating healthy Oscar buzz for its stars, George Clooney and his much less well-known co-star.
"I had never been there before, and now it's home," she says. "My body was born in L.A., but my heart is from Hawaii." That body just turned 20 last week. And for all the accolades she has received, you would think Woodley was a more seasoned film actress. But her background is mostly in television, including her current gig as Amy Juergens on ABC Family's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."
"The Descendants," which expanded into wider national release this week, follows the struggles of attorney Matt King. When his wife falls into a coma, he is forced to reconnect with his two daughters, the bratty Scottie (Amara Miller) and the mouthy teen-on-fire Alexandra, played by Woodley. The film's best moments are when Clooney and Woodley are sorting out their emotions.
When asked why he was so impressed with Woodley, Clooney told Entertainment Weekly, "She cries underwater, for [expletive's] sake!" On a more serious note, he added, "This could have easily become a caricature of the angry daughter, but she just always has that extra gear to hit that makes it matter more."
Woodley is flattered, but did not see the underwater crying as a big deal. Provoked by Matt telling her that her mom would never be recovering, Alexandra drops deep into a swimming pool and breaks down. I asked if the reaction was improvised.
"There was zero improvisation because we wanted to stick to the script," she says. "The direction was 'she goes underwater and distorts her face.' I interpreted that as she goes under water and loses herself. It's kind of the first time Alexandra was able to be vulnerable and the first time she's let this whole situation hit her. There was something so beautiful for me about being able to go down there and release my own emotions and scream underwater."
Woodley gets second billing after Clooney, in a cast that includes Beau Bridges, Robert Forster and Judy Greer. What was it like working with one of the planet's biggest movie stars?
"George is one of the most genuine men I've ever met in my entire life," she says. "So down to earth and humble and professional. He's a phenomenal actor and he was so available to us as actors, whether he was on screen or off. It was fun to work with him. I felt challenged. There was a sense of having to rise to the occasion. That was fun because your adrenaline runs and you've got to perform your best."
Woodley is disarmingly honest answering questions, including having little knowledge of writer-director Payne's previous work -- "Election," "About Schmidt," "Sideways."
"No, I didn't know Alexander's films at all," she says. "I had seen some of 'Sideways' when I was like 14, but I said, 'Mom, this isn't funny at all. This is so boring.' I am very uneducated when it comes to this industry. I haven't seen many films so I don't really know actors or directors. I can't really justify sitting down to watch a movie when there are so many mountains to be climbed."
Preferably Hawaiian mountains.