Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Paradise season 1.
Paradise has just added a big name for season 2, but who could she be playing? One of the biggest surprise hits of 2025, Paradise premiered on Hulu in January 2025. Created by Dan Fogelman, creator of the hit This Is Us, the show took off majorly thanks to critical acclaim and its shocking first episode twist.
The show was a huge success with Hulu ordering a second season before the first wrapped up. It’ll get more eyes on it as the first season will be airing on ABC this spring. While plans for season 2 are tightly kept, the show has confirmed a big name joining up!
Per Variety, Shailene Woodley will be joining the show in season 2 in an as-yet undisclosed role. The actress rose to fame with her role in the ABC Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager playing a pregnant teen navigating her difficult life.
Woodley has kept up a great career since with numerous roles. That includes the Divergent film series and returned to TV in the Emmy-winning Big Little Lies and the recent Starz series Three Women. Woodley brings more star power to the series, and it makes sense that we don’t know much about her role yet as Paradise rests on shocking twists.
The secret of Paradise
Last chance to turn back in case you haven’t seen the show. Paradise opens in what appears to be a quiet community where President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) is found murdered. Leading the investigation (as well as a suspect) is Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), who clashes with Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), a mysterious power broker.
The first episode ended with the shocking twist that no one saw coming: Paradise is an underground city that houses the last survivors of the United States after a global disaster seemingly wiped out life on Earth. Flashbacks throughout the season showcased how this happened.
The first season finale had Xavier finding evidence that there were survivors on the outside which included his wife, Teri, who he assumed died in the disaster. He thus took a small plane and left the bunker to try and find her.
Who could Shailene Woodley be in Paradise?
Woodley’s role in Paradise is interesting to think about. One idea is that she’s a member of the underground community we haven’t seen before. She could be a simple inhabitant or perhaps tied to an important player like Sinatra or new President Mallory.
An obvious choice is Woodley plays a survivor that Xavier runs into on his quest to find Teri. Deadline even reported she plays “a prominent survivor.” However, given the show’s trend of putting viewers off, there could be more (after all, everyone in Paradise counts as a survivor).
The show is prepping for its next season to take advantage of the huge buzz of the first year. We’re likely to get more big stars joining up, while Woodley’s arrival shows Paradise is ready to make the second season even bigger and better.
Paradise streams on Hulu and premieres Monday, April 7 at 10/9c on ABC.