Shailene Woodley demonstrated her acting chops in the Oscar-nominated "The Descendants" and is said to have caught the eye of "Fifty Shades of Grey" author E.L. James.
Shailene Woodley will not appear in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and neither will her character, Mary Jane Watson, THR has confirmed.
Woodley’s appearance in Spider-Man 2 always was intended to be brief – the actress only worked three days and shot around three scenes – but sources say director Marc Webb decided to streamline the story.
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“I made a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship,” said Webb. “Shailene is an incredibly talented actress, and while we only shot a few scenes with Mary Jane, we all love working with her.”
The plan now is for Watson, one of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s iconic love interests, to be introduced in the third movie.
It is likely that Woodley will not return and that the part will be recast.
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“Of course I’m bummed,” Woodley told Entertainment Weekly, which first reported the news. “But I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a specific reason. … Based on the proposed plot, I completely understand holding off on introducing [Mary Jane] until the next film.”
The studio earlier this week planted the flag for the third and fourth Spider-Man installments, dating the movies June 10, 2016, and May 4, 2018.
