Shailene Woodley wasn’t shy when she broke up with her Aaron Rodgers influenced her.

Woodley and Rodgers sparked dating rumors in July 2020 and subsequently began a quiet romance. Us weekly subsequently confirmed their relationship days before the soccer player announced his engagement in February 2021.

“I got engaged and played the best football of my career,” Rodgers shared as he accepted an award. That same month, Woodley opened up about how their relationship blossomed at the start of the COVID pandemic.

“It’s kind of funny. Right now everyone’s freaking out about (our engagement) and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’ve been engaged for a while,'” she said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in February 2021. “He is just a wonderful, incredible person. But I never thought I would get engaged to someone who throws balls for a living.”

However, the following year Us confirmed that Rodgers and Woodley had called it quits. Rodgers later praised Woodley when addressing their breakup in a social media post.

“Thank you for letting me chase you for the first few months after we met and for finally letting me catch up with you and be a part of your life,” he wrote via Instagram in February 2022. “Thank you for always having my back, the incredible kindness you show me and everyone you meet, and for showing me what unconditional love looks like, I love you and am grateful for you.”

A source later reported Us in May 2022 that Woodley was “more upset” about the breakup, while Rodgers seemed to be “moving on well,” adding, “Ultimately, Shailene was not happy in the relationship.”

Woodley has since pulled back the curtain, saying he went through something “really terrible, traumatic” around the same time as the breakup.

“I really understood depression, anxiety and complete disconnection,” she said Outside the magazine in December 2024. “I knew I was depressed when I looked at a tree and didn’t feel anything. That was the lowest point of my life.”

Woodley praised her best friend – the stylist Kris Zero – for helping her stay active during the emotional time of her life.

“We went surfing and for ten minutes that day I thought life might be okay again,” she added at the time. “Then the depression came back and she said, ‘We’re volunteering at the horse ranch!’ And we randomly picked a horse ranch and cleaned up the horses. We cleaned the hooves and brushed the horses, and for 20 minutes that day I thought life might be okay again.”

Keep scrolling for Woodley’s most honest insight into her split from Rodgers:

The darkest days

While filming her drama series Three womenWoodley said she went through the “darkest, hardest time.” porter in January 2023: “It was winter in New York and my home life was s–, so it felt like a big bubble of pain for eight months.” I was so grateful that I could at least go to work and cry and express my feelings through my figure could handle.”

Become open

“I fell in love with unavailability again and again. As a person, I am very open. I love easily and care easily, but I don’t love lightly and I don’t care lightly,” she admitted hustle and bustle in September 2024. “It really took me a lot of time to understand that it’s not up to me to repair (a relationship), heal, or do anything other than protect the deep care and love that I have for the world and my people.”

She continued, “Ultimately, this helped me get away without having to understand why certain things didn’t turn out the way I might have wanted.”

Learn some important lessons

Woodley spoke about dealing with “a broken heart” during filming Three women.

“A broken heart that healed and broke again,” the actress explained to Bustle about what helped her stop caring about performing for others. “I give everything of myself. I used to be a person who, when someone gave me trouble and disrespected me, continued to give and give. And now that you’re teasing me, I’ll respectfully say, “Thank you for that information.” Have a nice life. I wish you all the best.’ No interest.”

Reconnecting it to their work

“The plot and story of (my character) Gia correspond to Lisa’s story, but is also fictional. She was able to convey her emotional complexity through these experiences,” Woodley said Natural diamonds in October 2024 about bringing her real life into a role. “But when I met her I thought, ‘Oh, you’re a soulmate.'”

Woodley recalled the “micro elements” of the story.

“I was going through a pretty tough personal transition (when we were filming), and coming to work, seeing her face and laying the groundwork artistically and professionally was something I’ll carry with me forever,” she noted. “One of the things that causes the most suffering in my life is this feeling of existential loneliness, which is different from loneliness.”

She continued: “Three women has become (for me) a means of feeling less alone with my experiences and the emotional complexity that comes with a human heart. I hope it can offer the same to other women. There is room for conversation or connection. It’s good to have art in the world that shares this idea.”

Still affected by the past

“I haven’t said much about my relationship with Aaron because she always makes me cry,” Woodley told Outside magazine in December 2024. “It wasn’t right. But it was beautiful.”

Even though it’s been more than a year since their breakup, Woodley was still affected by the relationship.

“I felt like I had lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy,” she said of a six-month depression that seemed to coincide with the end of her engagement. “I truly understood depression, anxiety, and complete soul detachment.”

According to Woodley, she remained in a “toxic situation” at the time because “empathy kind of kept me in this vicious circle of feeling everything for everyone.”