Shailene Woodley has been offered the role of Hazel Grace Lancaster in the adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.

“During our exhaustive search to find Hazel Grace Lancaster, I saw some stunning auditions by today’s finest young actresses,” director Josh Boone tells EW in an exclusive statement. “Over 250 girls read for the part, but it wasn’t until Shailene stepped in front of the camera that I truly saw Hazel for the first time. It was like lightning striking. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to see what I have.”

The best selling The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (and an EW Best Fiction of 2012 pick) tells the story of Gus and Hazel, two teenagers who meet in a cancer support group and fall in love. (From the EW review: “Their ensuing love story is as real as it is doomed, and the gut-busting laughs that come early in the novel make the luminous final pages all the more heartbreaking.”)

Producer Wyck Godfrey (who knows a little something about adapting popular YA novels to the big screen as he worked on all the Twilight movies) says, “When choosing the writers, director and now our first actor for Fault we’ve gone with the people that have had the strongest, most emotional and insightful connection to the material. Shailene’s love of the book and dedication to the character was evident in not only her pursuit of the role but her delivery of the essence of Hazel in her audition. I have no doubt that she will deliver a Hazel that will floor both fans of the book and those who have yet to be introduced to the transcendent story of The Fault in Our Stars.”

“I am absolutely thrilled that Shailene will be playing Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars,” John Green says. “It means a lot to me that she is a fan of the book, and I know from our conversations that she has a profound understanding of Hazel. Watching her audition, I felt like Hazel Grace Lancaster was talking to me. It was eerie–and very exciting.”

It’s clearly going to be a very busy time for Woodley: not only is she currently at work playing Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, she’ll soon start production on Divergent, playing heroine Beatrice Prior, in the adaptation of Veronica Roth’s popular YA series.

The book will be adapted for the screen by (500) Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber.

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