Shailene Woodley to star in Edward Snowden film

Los Angeles: Actress Shailene Woodley is in talks to star as the female lead in Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone's untitled drama on US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Snowden is an American computer professional who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA), starting in June 2013. He has been a subject of controversy as his leaked documents revealed numerous global surveillance programmes, said the Hollywood Reporter.

Woodley, 22, would star opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is tackling the NSA whistleblower in the film, which will be distributed by Open Road in the US, said The Hollywood Reporter.

The 'Divergent' actress is poised to play the role of Snowden's girlfriend. The project is based on Luke Harding's 'The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man' and 'Time of the Octopus', the upcoming novel from Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena.

Stone is producing the untitled film with longtime producing partner Moritz Borman. The project is currently in preproduction in Germany with principal photography set to start in January.