Shailene Woodley once teamed up with Ansel Elgort for the sci-fi series Divergent. But it wasn’t the only feature the two worked together in. They would also link up for the hit film The Fault in Our Stars, where Woodley tried to give Elgort some helpful grooming tips.
Shailene Woodley wanted Ansel Elgort to fix his awful ‘Divergent’ odor before working with him again on ‘Fault in Our Stars’
Woodley and Elgort became good friends after their work together in the Divergent franchise. So when they collaborated for a second time in the feature The Fault in Our Stars, the transition was a smooth process. This time the two would be love interests in the film.
This once prompted GQ (via Cliche Mag) to ask Woodley who was the better onscreen lover between Elgort and her other Divergent co-star Miles Teller.
But the inquiry stirred up another memory for Woodley involving Elgort’s body odor.
“That’s actually a hilarious question, because on Divergent, Ansel used to wear this really awful-smelling deodorant. I joked, ‘If you book Fault in Our Stars, just don’t wear deodorant.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, OK. Fine.’ Then he booked it,” Woodley said.
Elgort ended up taking Woodley’s advice even after she offered him an alternative.
“So I wear this deodorant that I make myself, and I gave him some of that. But he just chose not to wear it – he just wore nothing the whole time,” she said.
As far as comparisons between Elgort and Teller, Woodley confided that they were both different because of their scent.
“So I guess Ansel smells more pheromone-y and Miles smells more – is delicious an appropriate word to say for a man? Delicious,” she said.
How Ansel Elgort felt about love scenes with Shailene Woodley
Elgort and Woodley played siblings in The Divergent series. Despite their familial relationship in the series, that didn’t affect the way they approached their Fault in Our Stars love scenes. Thanks to their friendship, Elgort found herself able to ease into their more intimate takes nicely.
“We were very comfortable with one another going into Fault in Our Stars,” Elgort once told Bustle. “Immediately we are totally comfortable which is nice, because sometimes you do love scenes with people and you have to kiss them and you have to be romantic and it could be very awkward. But because we are such good friends at this point, we totally understand one another.”
Having high praise for his co-star, Elgort also felt being able to work with Woodley twice boosted his own self-esteem as an actor.
“She’s one of the best actors right now around, the fact that they put me with her twice is a huge compliment to me. It’s given me confidence and made me feel great. Hopefully people love that movie too,” he said.
Shailene Woodley’s love scenes with Ansel Elgort in ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ was her favorite part of the movie
Similar to Elgort, Woodley had no reservations about making out with her Divergent brother. She even credited their relationship in the sci-fi franchise for helping their Fault in Our Stars chemistry.
“There’s something really beautiful about working with someone again, and again, and again because the more you get to know somebody on a personal level the more free you feel artistically. I think that if Ansel and I hadn’t known each other from Divergent, our relationship in this movie would not be what it is,” she once told People.
Their familiarity with each other might have played a part in their powerful love scene. Woodley couldn’t help gush that it was the best part of the movie.
“It’s very different than most love scenes in young adult films,” Woodley said. “It’s treated with integrity. Often times our society looks at teenagers and sort of discredits their love like, ‘Oh, it’s cute. It’s puppy love. They don’t know what real love is.’ And you look at adults and you go, ‘Are you actually happy? Is this real love?’”