Laura Dern Told Shailene Woodley Not to Turn Down ‘Big Little Lies’

Shailene Woodley scored her first-ever Emmy nomination for playing Jane Chapman on the hit HBO series “Big Little Lies.” But, according to Woodley, she nearly turned down the role.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Woodley expressed her excitement over the opportunity to work with Jean-Marc Vallée, calling him an “incredible artist and filmmaker.” However, because Woodley had prior plans to travel to India on a journey of self-exploration, her involvement in the project was initially going to be delayed.

That is until Laura Dern stepped in. Woodley recalled how Dern, who played Renata Klein on “Big Little Lies,” ultimately convinced her to take on the role of Jane.

“She just said, ‘Listen, I know where you’re at in your life, I’ve been there before too. It’s a lot, this world is an illusion, but what isn’t an illusion is what you love to do. And what I see in you, Shai, is your purpose, at least in this moment in your life is to be a storyteller,’” Woodley said. “‘And I think it’s a massive mistake for you to walk away from this opportunity that you really should lean into.’ It was because of that call that I decided to leave India and come back to the United States, and it forever changed my life.”

Before working together on “Big Little Lies,” Woodley and Dern starred together in the 2014 coming-of-age romance film “The Fault in Our Stars.” Dern played the mother of Woodley’s character, Hazel Grace Lancaster.

Aside from Dern and Woodley, the star-studded cast of “Big Little Lies” included Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Zoe Kravitz. The series has been lauded as one of the most successful television shows in the history of HBO; along with her Emmy nomination, Woodley earned acting nominations for a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award.

“I’m grateful for Laura,” Woodley said. “That was a massive moment of courageous friendship to say, ‘I think that you’re making a mistake and I’m going to be brave enough to tell you why, because I see you and I see something you can’t see in your own life right now.’”

The hit drama series ran for two seasons from 2017 to 2019. In June, Kidman and Witherspoon provided an update on the progress of another season, with Kidman saying Season 3 is in “good shape.”

“The beautiful thing about ‘Big Little Lies’ is that we’re all actually friends in real life,” Woodley told Vanity Fair, sharing that the cast has an active text chain. “It’s constantly a check-in every few weeks — ‘Hey, what’s up! It’s still happening!’ I keep being told that there’s going to be a Season 3 but I haven’t read anything yet.”