It's weird: you've been acting for many years, in a lot of critically acclaimed movies, yet your biggest media exposure comes when somebody thinks up a rumor about you and a famous rock star. This is what has happened to Evan Rachel Wood, actress in movies as diverse as Thirteen, Down in the Valley and the upcoming King of California, who was recently mentioned as being the object of Marylin Manson's affection. Evan's fans freaked out at the news, and are still waiting for their favorite actress to confirm that it was all just a rumor. I'm pretty sure though, if this turns out to be a false rumor, that she just doesn't care. All throughout her career, she has been more interested in her acting, never paying much attention to the whole Hollywood-thing. "I just hate all that showbusiness mingling," she told in an interview. "I just have to come back to reality for a little bit, have a real life.I'm pretty laid-back. I hang out with my friends, read, go to concerts and try and travel as much as I can. I'm not a party girl, I don't eat at the Ivy and I'm not shopping on Rodeo Drive. It's pretty easy to stay out of that if you want to. There are other places. I really like being able to go out anywhere and nobody really cares."
At the age of seven, Evan Rachel Wood lost out on her first big screen role when Kirsten Dunst, and not Evan, was chosen as the little girl in Interview with the Vampire (1994). Unwilling to let this get her down, she went on to act in many different TV-movies and series, when she got her first leading role in a theatrically released movie (only in ten theaters, but still) in 1998. The picture was called Digging to China, and starred Evan as a girl who doesn't feel appreciated by her mother and sister, and who dreams of leaving home. The movie was directed by Timothy Hutton, and garnered some acclaim for the young actress, who went on to play in bigger Hollywood flick Practical Magic. This was followed by more TV-work and some smaller movie roles, until Evan's big break came in Thirteen. With this movie, Evan shocked the world. She starred as Tracy, a girl who discovers drugs, sex and petty crime, driving her mother insane with worry. The movie was very graphic in it's portrayal of Tracy's world, and got criticized for this pretty heavily, but was equally showered with praise, especialy for Evan's impressive performance.
The movie put Evan right into the spotlights, which was a weird experience for the young actress, who claims she was too shy too even order pizza on the phone when she was younger. "It is a little weird, and I do feel a little bit disoriented sometimes. I'm usually pretty shy around people and pretty private. So yeah, it is a little weird all of a sudden to see yourself everywhere with your tongue hanging out! And a pierced tongue!" After Thirteen, Evan made one critically acclaimed movie after another, including The Missing, The Upside of Anger and Down in the Valley. Most of her movies have quite heavy subject matter, but she balances this with doing voice work for movies like Asterix and the Vikings and Shark Bait. And later this year we will see her in King of California, produced by the team behind Sideways, which features Evan as the daughter of a man (Michael Douglas) who hasn't got all the thoughts in his head straight. He has spent some time in a mental institution, and when he is finally released he goes home to convince his daughter that there is old Spanish treasure buried somewhere in their neighbourhood. The movie has the makings of being a quirky comedy, and it will be fun to see what Evan can do with her role. No word on whether Marilyn Manson will make a cameo experience...
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