Shailene Woodley Went Through “Heavy Personal Transition” While Making ‘Three Women’

Shailene Woodley latest role in Three Women required some emotional heavy lifting.

The 2x Golden Globe nominee recently opened up about her Starz drama, based on the Lisa Taddeo‘s book, and how she identified with the “emotional complexities” of playing writer Gia.

“I can relate to the micro-elements of all these characters, including Gia,” Woodley told Only Natural Diamonds. “One of the things that causes the most suffering in my life is this feeling of existential aloneness, which is different from loneliness. Three Women has become a pillar [for me] to feel less alone with my experiences and the emotional complexities of having a human heart. I hope it can offer the same thing to other women. There is room for conversations or connections to happen. It’s good to have art in the world that shares this idea.”

The show, which airs Fridays at 10pm ET, follows three women on a crash course to radically overturn their lives, each recounted through Gia, a writer grieving the loss of her family. She persuades each of these three spectacular “ordinary” women to tell her their stories, and her relationships with them change the course of her life forever.

“The plot line and story of [my character] Gia are truthful to Lisa’s history but also fictional,” explained Woodley. “She could relay her emotional complexities about those experiences. But when I met her, I was like, ‘Oh, you’re a soulmate.’ I was going through a pretty heavy personal transition [when we filmed], and to come to work and see her face and have that grounding rod artistically and professionally was something that I’ll take with me forever.”

Three Women also stars Betty Gilpin as Lina, a suburban homemaker who is stuck in a passionless marriage when she embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming; DeWanda Wise as Sloane, a glamorous entrepreneur in a committed open marriage until two sexy new strangers threaten her aspirational love story; and Gabrielle Creevy as Maggie, a student who weathers an intense storm after accusing her married English teacher of an inappropriate relationship.

Woodley added, “Three Women was like a high-alert experience; it felt very technicolor, and there was no safeguarding against any heightened situation. Everything was on the table, explored, and had the space to be precisely what it was without any pretense or presentation.”