Shailene Woodley isn't the first starlet to score a role that required a drastic haircut, but when the actress lopped off 90% of her hair this year, it was the chop heard 'round the world.

Even though we all knew that Shailene's luxurious hair was going to have to go, after the announcement that she'd be playing cancer patient Hazel Lancaster in "The Fault in Our Stars," it was still a very big deal when the time came for her to go under the knife-- er, scissors. Shai's short new 'do was practically front-page news for a solid week before and after the cut, and not just because she shed some very real tears as her long, long locks were snipped away.

Here's why this was the pixie crop that everyone was talking about in 2014.

A show of commitment to TFiOS

Hazel Lancaster's "pageboy haircut" was a big deal for fans of "The Fault in Our Stars," the book on which the movie was based -- and many fans weren't so sure about Shailene when she first scored the lead role. In taking the plunge and cutting her hair, rather than trying to mess around with wigs (or insisting on a more flattering cut that was less true to the book), the actress demonstrated right off the bat that she was taking the job of bringing Hazel to life very, very seriously.

Cut for a cause

Not only did Shailene donate her hair to Children with Hair Loss, a charitable organization that collects hair to make wigs for kids who've lost their hair due to cancer, alopecia, and other conditions, she launched a campaign encouraging fans of "The Fauls in Our Stars" to do the same. Pretty soon, #HairForHazel and #ItGrowsBack were trending everywhere as supporters showed off their own cropped cuts on Twitter and Tumblr.

A second appearance for the pixie

Here's where things really get fun: As the star of "Divergent," Shailene had already made the first film in the series with her signature long hair still intact. But rather than wear a wig in the second movie, she asked the director of "Insurgent" to put her crop onscreen -- which means she has to hang onto the cut for much longer, maybe even until they're done filming the franchise. That's a pretty major commitment for a haircut that originally made her cry.