Shailene Woodley is a "fun machine".

The 'Three Women' star began her career when she was just five years old but her parents Lori and Lonnie set out some guidelines for her to follow if she wanted to keep working during her school days, and the 32-year-old actress is pleased they weren't all strict rules.

Speaking to Virgin Atlantic's Vera magazine, she said: "My parents had three rules when I was starting out.

"In order to be an actor, I had to stay the person they knew I was, do well in school and have fun.

"I love that they included having fun because I am a fun machine. I’m really good at playing."

Shailene pushed herself at school so she could go further in her career.

She said: "I got the equivalent of my GED when I was 15 so that I could work legally as an adult during my junior year of high school."

But because the 'Big Little Lies' star "loved school so much and took pride in being an overachiever," she still stayed to go through some important milestones.

She explained: "I ended up staying to get a real diploma and go to prom."

Shailene previously told how her parents used to force her and her brother Tanner to "hug it out" if they had an argument and asked her to explore the feelings of the other person if she was teased at school.

And while the 'Divergent' star was upset at their reactions at the time, Shailene is now grateful for the lessons they taught her.

She said: “It’s enabled me to recognise that no one’s evil.

"They’re probably hurting and can’t express themselves, get no love at home, so it’s repeated. It gave me a broader outlook: just put yourself in another person’s shoes.”

The 'Fault in our Stars' actress previously reflected on how "hurt" she was when her parents didn't take her "side" when she was teased.

She told Net-a-Porter's digital magazine The Edit: “It would hurt my feelings, and my parents weren’t on my side. They would be like, ‘I’m so sorry you’re feeling this way, but what do you think that person was feeling?’ Oh, I hated it."