Shailene Woodley has been doing a lot of thinking about what she wants in life. She may be currently self-isolating at home, but it was her role in her most recent film, Endings, Beginnings, that made her question the role dating plays in her life. Now, Woodley has come to the conclusion that she feels no pressure to jump into a relationship for the foreseeable future, and that’s not just because no one can leave the house.
“We’re societally conditioned to assume that one person can be our end-all, be-all. This is a concept I’ve been thinking about often right now, because I’m very much single, and I’ve chosen to be single for a while,” Woodley told The New York Times in an interview promoting her new film, which would have been released in theatres but will now be available digitally on April 17.
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In Endings, Beginnings, Woodley plays Daphne, a woman torn between dating two best friends. Being with Jack (Jamie Dornan) offers her stability and comfort while being with Frank (Sebastian Stan) might be more unpredictable, but she can’t deny that the excitement is attractive. It is less about the love triangle itself and more about how Daphne sees the different iterations of her life playing out should she choose one path over the other.
Woodley and rugby player Ben Volavola, her ex-boyfriend, began dating in October 2017. They made a number of red carpet appearances together and she was regularly seen supporting him at rugby matches, reports Harper’s Bazaar. It is unclear exactly when the two split up; however, the NYT confirmed that they parted ways.
“Listen, I’m someone who has experienced both an open relationship and a deeply monogamous relationship in my life,” said Woodley, who said she is choosing to focus on herself right now. “I think we’re in a day and age where there should be no rules except for the ones designed by two people in a relationship — or three people, whatever floats your boat!” Woodley added that the responsibility in a relationship is “simply honesty and communication and trust.”
As far as dating, it seems that Woodley continues to hold the opinion she expressed to The Telegraph in 2015. “Partnership should not take away from your life, it should add to your life, right?”