Shailene Woodley had hit a wall with acting before 'Big Little Lies'

Shailene Woodley says she was fed up of doing similar kind of roles till she landed "Big Little Lies".

The 26-year-old actor, who plays Jane, a single mother in the hit HBO series, says she almost rejected the show as she was "still not interested".

"There was a point in my life, right before 'Big Little Lies', where I had hit a wall with acting. I felt it was time to do something different. I called my agents and said, 'Please don't send me any more scripts; I need to explore other avenues'.

"They respected me and didn't send me anything for almost a year until 'Big Little Lies'. I didn't know what it was or who was involved, I just said, 'Thanks, I'm still not interested'," Woodley told PorterEdit magazine.

The actor says she fell out of love with acting as she did not want to "look or speak a certain way".

"I can't half-a**e anything, so when it came to me having to look a certain way or speak a certain way for this image I was meant to create, it turned me off. We often see a pattern with young women in this industry: they lose a bit of weight after they become successful, their hair changes or their skin becomes clear.

"There's a lot that goes into the behind the scenes that, if that's not your thing, can itch at your soul," she says.

Woodley will reprise her role in the upcoming second season of "Big Little Lies".