Shailene Woodley Says Discussing Aaron Rodgers Relationship 'Always Makes Me Cry': 'It Was Not Right'

"It was not right. But it was beautiful," the actress said of her relationship with the NFL player

Shailene Woodley is getting candid with rare comments about ex-fiancé Aaron Rodgers.

The Divergent actress told Outside magazine in an interview published Tuesday, Dec. 3, that “I haven’t shared much about my relationship with Aaron because it always makes me cry."

Woodley, 33, added, "It was not right. But it was beautiful.”

In February 2022, PEOPLE confirmed that Woodley and the NFL quarterback, 41, called off their engagement just over a year after making their relationship public. The on-off couple then broke up again that April.

Elsewhere in the Outside interview, Woodley, though she didn't mention Rodgers by name this time, said she "had a really awful, traumatic thing happen in early 2022," which led to about six months of a depression.

Related: Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley's Relationship Timeline

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“I felt like I lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy. I really understood depression and anxiety and, like, complete soul detachment," said the Big Little Lies star, adding that she stayed in a "toxic situation" at the time because "empathy kind of kept me in this loop of feeling everything for everyone."

Her best friend, the stylist Kris Zero, helped her through that "lowest low of my life," she recalled.

Woodley, who is making her Broadway debut in the new play Cult of Love, was named the magazine's Outsider of the Year, highlighting her activism for the environment, including being on the board of the nonprofit Conservation International and working on the PBS docu-series Hope in the Water.

In a February 2022 Instagram tribute shortly after news of their breakup, Rodgers thanked Woodley for "letting me catch up to you and be a part of your life."

He added at the time, "Thanks for always having my back, for the incredible kindness you show me and everyone you meet, and for showing me what unconditional love looks like. I love you and am grateful for you."

In a previous interview, Woodley explained how she was going through the difficult period of her life while filming her latest drama series Three Women, now streaming on Starz.

"It was hard to film because I was going through the darkest, hardest time in my life; it was winter in New York, and my personal life was s—, so it felt like a big pain bubble for eight months," she told Net-a-Porter's digital title PORTER in January 2023. "I was so grateful that at least I could go to work and cry and process my emotions through my character."