Shailene Woodley: 'Survivalist lessons have primed me for disaster'

Actress Shailene Woodley's survivalist interests have her primed for a disaster.

The hippie chick has collected a series of top tips to help her ride out a national emergency or even an apocalyptic event, and she's convinced she could survive in the wild and in an urban setting longer than most.

The Descendants star tells WENN, "I started studying indigenous cultures a few years ago and I was really inspired by their lifestyles and the way that they lived. Part of that was knowing how to survive in the wild and knowing how to heal yourself with the plants that grow around you. That's how I became interested in wilderness skills.

"I studied herbalism and edible plants that exist in the wild. Then I realized, 'Cool, I know how to make fire out of sticks and I know how to build a shelter, but I live 90 per cent of my life in an urban environment, so these skills aren't gonna help me. There aren't trees that grow in Los Angeles that I could take a branch and make fire out of'.

"So I started learning urban survival skills. During Hurricane Sandy I had a friend living in New York, who, for a week, freaked out because they didn't have any water. They were standing in line for hours just to get a bottle of water.

"That's terrifying, especially right now with the drought in California; there are so many resources that we're depleting so quickly, so I thought it would be an interesting skill set if something were to go down. It's not post-apocalyptic idealism, but more of a fun hobby, what would I do if A, B or C were to happen?"

One of the things Woodley does to stay ahead of the game is collect her own drinking water from mountain streams.