We last spoke to Shaileen Woodley in 2013, as she was making the transition from supporting actress to her first feature-film lead role as Tris in the _Divergent_ series. Since then she’s been busy, most recently starring alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden’s girlfriend Lindsay Mills in the politically charged Oliver Stone bio-pic on the government whistleblower.
_Snowden_ wasn’t her first foray into activism and alternative lifestyles—when we [interviewed her in 2013](http://archive.flaunt.com/s/people/shailene-woodley/img) she told us, “I think everything about my lifestyle is fairly alternative…I make everything from my own toothpaste to my own body lotions and face oils, I make my own medicines; I don’t get those from doctors.” She also often uses her Twitter handle as a platform to raise awareness for issues like factory farming and GMOs.
So it’s not too surprising that Woodley took the trek out to North Dakota to join native Americans and environmentalists in protesting construction of the [Dakota Access pipeline](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/understanding-controversy-behind-dakota-access-pipeline-180960450/?no-ist), a massive project that, if completed, would run some 1,168 miles and transport up to 570,000 barrels of oil every day through four states. However, it was surprising to see her live-streaming her own arrest (according to police she was one of 27 people arrested on charges of criminal trespass and engaging in a riot) to Facebook this morning, if only because she has always come across as such a peaceful spirit.
"They grabbed me by my jacket and said that I wasn't allowed to continue,” she said on the stream, “and they have giant guns and batons and zip ties and they are not letting me go."
It’s not rare for an actress or actor to have a progressive pet cause, but few turn their words into action to the extent that Woodley has, using the attention-grabbing power of fame to highlight an important issue. More power to her.
#### Written by Sid Feddema
Photographed by Eric Guillemain
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