Wearing a white, plunging Valentino gown adorned with sequined starfish, 23-year old actress Shailene Woodley took to the stage at the Hollywood Film Awards on Friday night to accept the award for Breakout Performance by an Actress. Woodley won the said award for her role as a cancer-stricken teen in "The Fault in Our Stars".

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"The Fault in our Stars" is based on John Green's novel of the same title. The story revolves around two teens stricken with different cancers who fall in love after meeting in a support group.

Ansel Elgort stars opposite Woodley in the movie.

Accepting the award, the actress talked about her role in the movie, she shared that at 16 years old, her character already knew that life is not about longevity nor about legacy, rather, she said that life is about gratitude and about never taking anything for granted.

"Every day we wake up and we're breathing, we're winning. We all already have victories on our plate the second we leave our pillows in the morning. [My character] reminded me of that, that simple truth," the young actress shared.

Woodley continued on to say that the character she portrayed understood that the conditions we have do not define us. Whether our situations be spiritual, physical or mental, our "exterior situations" do not define us.

Laura Dern, who portrayed Woodley's mother in the flick, was the one to present the award to the actress. Dern referred to Woodley as having "the biggest open heart I know".

Recently, Woodley, a self-proclaimed hippie who forages for her food and walks on the red carpet with bare feet, celebrated her 23^rd with colleagues during Variety's 10 Producers to Watch Brunch at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone College in St. Helena, California. The said event was held last Saturday.