From being Marilyn Manson's girlfriend to playing Mickey Rourke's daughter, actress Evan Rachel Wood keeps getting attention for the older male company she keeps. She talks to Helen Barlow
At 21, Evan Rachel Wood has the air of a next big thing about her. The star of Thirteen and Across The Universe certainly has the talent and the brains to deliver intelligent performances that are way beyond her years. And she's forged relationships that match - her raft of high-profile admirers includes Ed Norton, Woody Allen and The Wrestler co-star Mickey Rourke. And then there was that now-defunct relationship with 40-year-old shock rocker Marilyn Manson.
Wood turned 21 just as The Wrestler starting generating hype on the festival circuit. Rourke plays her estranged father in the film, aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, who tries to have a normal life when he is told he risks death if he continues to wrestle. He attempts a reconciliation with his damaged daughter, whom he has neglected for most of her life.
"I'd grown up watching Mickey's movies; my mum is a huge fan. So when I came to work with him I was initially nervous," Wood admits.
"I knew he was a tough critic and I was going to have to prove myself and really earn his trust and respect. But with somebody like Mickey you have to go in there swinging and find a way to beat him up and he said that I did."
Incredibly the film proved to be a kind of therapy for Wood, who had long been estranged from her own father.
"My parents divorced when I was really young and it didn't help that I was in California and my father lived in North Carolina. Amidst all the family drama we were apart until recently. So I could completely relate to my character, to how she could be so sad and so angry at the same time. You're angry because you feel cheated and you feel this great sense of loss in your life and a longing for parental love and approval.
"It was right after this movie that my father and I connected more than we ever had. He had opened the door a little but before then, I was still a little hesitant, a little scared, because I didn't want to get hurt, but I think we just have such a better understanding of each other now.
"During this movie I was forced to deal with so many emotions I had been ignoring for so long and it was like 10 years of therapy in a week. It's been a great thing and it really got me over that anger.
"Now I have such a better understanding of where he was coming from, of what was really going on, rather than just what I was told. So now he's my number one supporter and it's great to have him back in my life."
It has been tough carving out her identity in the business. Wood first appeared all grown up at 18 on the cover of Interview magazine with Norton, her co-star and producer of Down In The Valley. In that film she played a woman who goes off with an older, slightly unhinged man, and she says Norton provided her with some of her current direction.
"Ed's been there through some pretty rough times for me," she says.
"He's given me great advice about the industry and how to handle it. He's somebody who doesn't compromise and really fights for what he believes in, no matter what."
This actress, who clearly steals older men's hearts, even managed to get the best of her latest director, Woody Allen, who in a rare moment allowed Wood to read his entire screenplay (as he had done with Scarlett Johansson).
In the movie, Wood plays the wife of Seinfeld's Larry David, who is a sprightly 61.
"It's a hysterical movie. It's really back to classic old-school Woody Allen style.
"He must have had a lot of faith in me because I'd never done comedy before."
Maybe he knew about her penchant for older men. In any case, no matter who Wood hangs around with, she can protect herself as she is a black belt in taekwando.
"I was a crummy dancer, but I actually started dancing again after I got my black belt. I was much more prepared."
And if she ever gives up her day job, there's a possible singing career.
"I've been writing my own songs and singing on my own for a while, sort of enjoying it being just mine, my own private artform. I'm hoping that once I get comfortable enough with it that I can release it on my own.
"I don't really want to sign with a record label or anything like that. But I hope I can share it eventually."
LOWDOWN
Who: Evan Rachel Wood
Key roles: The Wrestler, Thirteen, Across the Universe
Latest: The Wrestler opens at cinemas on Thursday
