It sounds like Shailene Woodley has Jennifer Lawrence to thank for landing the lead role in Divergent!
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate motion picture group co-president Erik Feid revealed he enlisted the help of the Oscar-winning Hunger Games star to get her pal Woodley on board with the Divergent role.
According to Woodley, Lawrence told her via a series of email exchanges, "You must do it. You will not regret it for a second. Yes, there are some hard things, but there are so many beautiful things that will come from an opportunity like this."
Feid added to THR, "I don't know what happened, but I do know that after that interaction, Shailene said, 'OK, now I'll make Divergent. Let's talk.'"
Comparing Woodley's burgeoning stardom to the already super-successful career of Lawrence, producer Alix Madigan, who worked with Lawrence on Winter's Bone and with Woodley on the Sundance drama flick White Bird in a Blizzard, told the trade, "Their career trajectories are similar in the sense of doing independent films and then going on to the YA franchise. I think Shailene certainly has the talent and the charisma and the inherent likability to follow in Jennifer's footsteps. But honestly, I can't see Jennifer doing a role like White Bird."
While the Divergent trilogy is sure to only increase Woodley's growing fame, the 22-year-old actress didn't get a mega-sized box office paycheck for the first film. THR reports Woodley is only banking between $250,000 to $500,000 for Divergent, which hits theaters Mar. 21.