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Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7,
1987) is an American film, television and theater
actress, and singer. She began acting in the late 1990s,
appearing in several television roles, including
American Gothic and Once and Again. Wood made her debut
as a lead film actress in 2002's Little Secrets, and
became well known after her Golden Globe-nominated role
in Thirteen, which garnered her critical praise.
She has since starred in several independent films,
including Pretty Persuasion and Down in the Valley, and
has several more starring roles in films yet to be
released. She is currently the highest paid music video
actress in history due to her role in Heart Shaped
Glasses
Wood has been described by The Guardian newspaper as
being "wise beyond her years" and as "one
of the best actresses of her generation".
Early life: Wood was born in Raleigh, North
Carolina to Ira David Wood III, an award-winning actor,
singer, theatre director and playwright, and Sara Lynn
Moore, an actress. Her brother, Ira David Wood IV, is
also an actor. She also has a half brother, Dana, from
her mother's first marriage. Her aunt, Carol Winstead
Wood, is a Hollywood production designer. Wood is
Jewish.
Wood and her brother were actively involved in their
father's theatre, Theatre In The Park, while growing up;
she appeared in a production of A Christmas Carol at the
theatre when she was a few months old, and later starred
as Helen Keller in a production of The Miracle Worker,
under her father's direction.
Career: Wood appeared in several
made-for-television films from 1994 and onwards, also
playing an occasional role in the television series
American Gothic. In early 1997, Wood's parents separated
and later divorced, and Wood moved with her mother to
her mother's native Los Angeles, where Wood was cast in
the supporting role of Jessie Sammler on the television
show Once and Again.
Wood's first major screen role was in
the low-budget 1998 film, Digging to China, which also
starred Kevin Bacon and Mary Stuart Masterson. Wood
remembers the role as initially being "hard",
but notes that it eventually led to her decision that
acting is something she "might never want to stop
doing".
Wood left regular school at the age of eleven, and was
home schooled, because of bullying and difficulty with
teachers, who Wood says treated her like she was
"spoiled" because she was an actress. She
later drew upon her experiences with bullying to portray
a malicious high school student in Pretty Persuasion.
Wood subsequently appeared in a number of films catering
to a teenage audience, including Little Secrets. She was
set to have the leading role in the films Raise Your
Voice and Mean Girls, but was unable to because of
production scheduling changes.
Wood's breakthrough movie role followed,
with the controversial 2003 independent film Thirteen,
for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as
Best Actress - Drama. During the time of Thirteen's
release, Vanity Fair named Wood as one of the It Girls
of Hollywood, and she appeared, along with the other
actresses, on the magazine's July 2003 cover.
Her next two starring roles were in the dark independent
films, Pretty Persuasion (2005), in which she played a
villainous, sexually active high-schooler, and Down in
the Valley (2006), in which her character engages in a
sexual relationship with an older man posing as a
cowboy.
Wood has commented on her choice of
sexually themed roles, saying that she is not aiming for
the "shock factor" in her film choices, and
adding that she hopes her roles "spread
awareness" about the consequences of deviant
behavior among teenagers, citing that she has known
people who behave similarly to her film characters. In
2005, Wood starred in the music videos for Bright Eyes'
"At the Bottom of Everything" and Green Day's
"Wake Me Up When September Ends". In September
of 2006, she received Premiere magazine's
"Spotlight Award for Emerging Talent".
Wood has roles in several as-yet unreleased films,
including King of California, and Across the Universe, a
musical directed by Julie Taymor and set in the United
Kingdom, United States and Vietnam; she will perform
musical numbers in the film. During August and September
2006, Wood filmed In Bloom, in which she plays a younger
version of a character played by Uma Thurman. She is
also in negotiations to star in Bronte, a film about the
Bronte Sisters.
Personal life: Wood was homeschooled due to
bullying, and received her high school diploma at age
fifteen. She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and enjoys
singing, having recorded the songs "Christmas Isn't
Christmas Without You" and "Silver and
Gold" for the School's Out Christmas Album, which
featured various artists. Wood is now considering taking
part-time college courses, but is not yet pursuing a
full-time college education.
Wood has said that her character in Across the Universe,
whom she describes as an "old soul, street smart
and ahead of her time", is close to her real-life
personality. Wood also describes herself as being
"laid back" and "not a party girl",
citing her choice to stay away from what is considered a
typical Hollywood lifestyle.
In 2006, Wood, who was described by the
Guardian as an "Anglophile", dated her
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" music video
co-star, English actor Jamie Bell. She is also a friend
of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
In 2007, Wood's relationship with shock rock star
Marilyn Manson became public. The two met at a party at
the Chateau Marmont Hotel; Wood has stated that she was
attracted to Manson's frequent use of black eye liner
and has described their relationship as "healthy
and loving".
Two portraits of Wood, painted by Manson, hang in the
Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art. Wood is
also the inspiration behind Manson's song
"Heart-Shaped Glasses" and appeared with
Manson in the music video for his song,
"Heart-Shaped Glasses", having simulated sex
with him in the video.
Wood has three tattoos: the letter J, on
her ankle, in reference to her relationship with Jamie
Bell; a Beatles-themed tattoo on her other ankle; and a
black heart with a lightning bolt on her thigh, with the
heart representing her love for Marilyn Manson and the
bolt referencing to David Bowie. |
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