Shailene Woodley "couldn't walk for longer than five minutes at a time" while shooting the 'Divergent' movies.

The 32-year-old actress played Beatrice Prior in the sci-fi film trilogy between 2014 and 2016 - but Shailene has now admitted to battling some debilitating physical symptoms on set.

The Hollywood star said on the 'She MD' podcast: "I haven’t spoken about what exactly it was because that feels like a personal thing that I don’t need to disclose.

"I was in a position in my early 20s, it got to the point where I was losing my hearing, I couldn’t walk for long periods of time without having to lay down for hours and hours and sleep. Everything I ate hurt my stomach."

Shailene recalled going on a "long journey" with her health troubles, as she searched for a possible solution.

She said: "It was this conflation of issues and diagnoses and different doctors telling me different things.

"I come from a very holistic background and studied herbalism so I was really keen on, ‘Alright I’m gonna work with real MDs and I’m gonna work with independent healers.’ And I was just trying to search for some sense of comfort in my own skin. It was a long journey."

Shailene actually took a decade to return to her old self. However, the physical issues ultimately took a toll on her mental health, too.

The actress explained: "Throughout that decade a lot of other things came from feeling so much discomfort physically, which was ‘My gosh, if everything I’m eating hurts my stomach, I’m now suddenly afraid of food.' And then going into the mental f****** that can happen with that - of body dysmorphia and confusion about identity and feeling safe in my own capsule."