Shailene Woodley has won the lead role of Hazel Grace Lancaster in the upcoming film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars and she’s decided to cut off her hair and donate it in preparation for the film. If you haven’t read the book and don’t know the story, Hazel is a cancer patient – and miraculously, the book isn’t as depressing as it might seem because of it.
Her hair will go to Children with Hair Loss, a charity that provides wigs for kids who have conditions that have caused them to lose their hair. No one asked Shailene to do this – it wasn’t a requirement for the role or anything – but it’s inspired plenty of other fans to join in the cause and also donate their own hair to those less fortunate. Pretty awesome.
Here’s a bit of what Shailene wrote about her decision on her tumblr page (click through to read the whole thing, as it’s long and worth a browse):
as some of you may know, i will be cutting my hair off this coming weekend in order to help morph my physical body into that of the incredible Hazel Grace Lancaster—-and i couldn’t be more amped. not only do i have the opportunity to externally shift my current establishment of self, but i have the blessed gift of donating my long locks to a wonderful organization who will then create a wig for someone in need. WHAT AN HONOR.
john green (author of T.F.I.O.S.), wyck godfrey (producer of the ?lm), and i all decided that this could be a beautiful opportunity to rally the troops of mankind and ask for some warriors to help contribute to the cause. any of you have 8 inches of hair to spare? or maybe know a friend or family member that does? if so, consider JOINING THE #hairforhazel TEAM! i’ve already got my mom committed, and possibly a few friends as well. i know the thought of chopping off part of your image is frightening, which is why i want to share with you my personal relationship with my hair (woah, that was a lot of “with’s” and “my’s”)
And here’s a little of what John Green himself added to the convo:
When Shailene told me about this, I immediately thought there might be people in nerdfighteria who want to join her. (We already have one convert joining in: Shailene’s mom!) So if you have eight or more inches of spare hair, consider donating it to Children with Hair Loss.
And if you do, let me know via the tags hairforhazel or itgrowsback, so I can put together some pictures/reblog your beautiful faces.
I want to be clear that this was entirely Shai’s idea. (I don’t even think the studio knows about it.) I hope if you’re able, you’ll consider joining Shai in donating. Thanks!
I’ve had my hair cut short before but I could never donate as it’s chemically treated, and I believe that’s a stipulation for most places. Either way, this is a really cool thing to do and really took her up a few notches in my book (because, you know, that’s totally what she’s doing it for).