Divergent Star Shailene Woodley Isn't Looking for a Katniss Catfight

Shailene Woodley, star of the upcoming movie Divergent was recently asked the kind of question you only get asked when you’re the face of a YA franchise that’s poised to be the Next Big Thing in the Universe.

The Hollywood Reporter asked her what would happen if her character Tris faced up against the reigning YA hero, Katniss from The Hunger Games. Her answer was truly great:

“If my character and Katniss from The Hunger Games battled
it out? I don’t know. I don’t feel like they would actually battle,” she
says. “I feel like it’d be like, ‘You’re a strong lady? I’m a strong
lady, too. Let’s combine forces and bring it together.'”

Yes, badassness! Bring it on. Woodley also offers some pretty interesting behind-the-scenes revelations about how she came to be part of the movie, including details about an email sent by a special Goddess of Celebrity:

Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Katniss in the Hunger Games films, was instrumental in recruiting the actress for Divergent. “‘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,’ ” Woodley recalls Lawrence telling her in a
series of emails written at the behest of Erik Feig, Lionsgate motion picture group co-president.

Emails sent “at the behest of” a studio executive. Hmm. There’s so much one could read into that. But I won’t and instead I’ll just point out that there’s a lot of other cool parts of this interview with Woodley, which can be found here.

Divergent, which actually looks pretty fantastic to me, a person who has never read these books, opens on March 21.