Woodley opened up about her October 2016 arrest in Marie Claire UK.
There’s nothing glamorous about jail, even if you’re a celebrity. Big Little Lies star Shailene Woodley got extremely candid about her brief time behind bars in the new issue of Marie Claire UK, opening up about her October 2016 arrest.
At the time, Woodley had been protesting the Dakota Access pipeline when she spotted two military tanks.
“I’m like, ‘This is some Divergent s**t,’” she told the magazine, referencing her post-apocalyptic film adaptation. “The only time in my life that I saw a tank like that was on set in Atlanta.”
Shortly after, she was arrested for criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot, which was documented on Facebook Live. The disturbing moments that followed were not seen by the public.
“I was strip-searched,” she revealed. “Like get naked, turn over, spread your butt cheeks, bend over. They were looking for drugs in my a**.”
In addition to the invasive protocol, Woodley also admitted to feeling a certain level of panic about being behind bars.
“When you’re in a jail cell and they shut that door, you realize no one can save you,” she said. “If there’s a fire and they decide not to open the door, you’ll die. You are a caged animal.”
And while the experience was certainly disturbing for her, Woodley has vowed to stay vocal.
“The only way to address climate change and these radical, detrimental policies is for us, as citizens, to shift our lifestyles,” she said. “People are too comfortable. We’re complacent in many ways. We need to be willing to get uncomfortable.”
In March, ET reported that Woodley would plead guilty to one count of disorderly conduct and will be sentenced with one year deferred imposition, and a year of unsupervised probation.
For more from the case, watch the clip below.
