“Divergent” stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James gathered with novelist Veronica Roth on Monday at the Muvico Theater in Thousand Oaks for a special benefit screening that drew a crowd of 400 and raised $60,000 for charity.
Proceeds from the event will benefit All it Takes, an organization that Woodley and her mother Lori Woodley started four years ago to promote youth empowerment. Lionsgate, which is producing the film, donated the theater space for the event.
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Lori Woodley told TheWrap that the ticket sales from the screening and auction will allow the organization to sponsor two instructional camps for middle school-aged kids. As part of Monday’s screening, All it Takes alums addressed the crowd, taking them through the charity’s work and the impact it made on their lives.
“People came to see ‘Divergent,’ period,” Lori Woodley said. “But they left loving ‘Divergent’ and caring about our mission and what we do.”
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It was also a chance for Shailene Woodley to get in touch with her roots the night before she was scheduled to walk down the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of “Divergent.”
“”It feels like home here,” Woodley said. “I grew up in Simi Valley, the next town over… and my high school buddies are here…All It Takes started in this area. ”
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“It’s really great to come to a normal situation where 99.999 percent of the world exists,” she added. ” The Hollywood scene is really important and beautiful, but it’s sort of this fabricated little community. It’s just like Thousand Oaks, except people have a lot more makeup on.”
Ture to her words, Woodley shunned haute couture for a pair of jean shorts.
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All it Takes launched as a way for mother and daughter to give back to their community together, Lori Woodley said. Shailene Woodley’s interest was in the environment and healthy eating, whereas her mother was more focused on child development from her years spent as a middle school counselor.
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“Being philanthropic is something this was infused in me and Shae has equal or similar passions,” Lori Woodley said. “We’re all products of our environments and my children grew up knowing they had to think outside of themselves…all of us have something to contribute — be it time, finances or talent — and we need to do what we can to give back.”
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