Shailene Woodley Got Head Lice Doing First Stage Role as a Kid: 'Maybe Turned Me Off from Doing Plays Until Now'

Mar. 15, 2025

Shailene Woodley on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ on Dec. 2, 2024.Photo:Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Shailene Woodleyis going back to her roots!

On Monday, Dec. 2, the actress, 33, made an appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonto talk about making her Broadway debut inCult of Love, the new play now in previews at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York City. And while there, Woodley explained the sweet throwback reference she included in herPlaybillbiography, which she called a “nod” to her father.

“Yeah, that’s where we know you from,” Fallon joked. “The Palmdale Community Theater production.”

“And if people know Palmdale, they understand why it’s even funnier,” Woodley responded.

Michaelah Reynolds

However, Woodley did not have the best experience while starring in the production. In fact, theSecret Life of the American Teenageralum joked that it may have dissuaded her from pursuing more stage work when she was younger.

“I got head lice from wearing the caps that all the kids shared,” she said. “And I think that maybe turned me off from doing plays until now.”

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Woodley said the show explores “the complexities and intricacies of becoming adults with our own lives and our own identities, and all of the things that we’re confronted with when we are reminded of our childhood conditioning and trying to find love.”

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The show also stars Molly Bernard, Roberta Colindrez,Barbie Ferreira, Rebecca Henderson, Christopher Lowell,Zachary Quinto, Christopher Sears, Mare Winningham and David Rasche.

“It’s the holiday season for the Dahl family! The four adult children return to their childhood home with partners in tow,” the synopsis teases. “The Dahl traditions include singing carols in harmony at the drop of a hat, but the gathering is anything but harmonious. Old conflicts resurface, new issues battled, and dinner is taking absolutely forever to be served. Will the love the Dahls have for each other be enough to get them through, or will this be their last Christmas together?”

Tickets forCult of Loveare now on sale.

source: people.com