At the young age of 18 Evan Rachel Wood already has a resume most actors would die for. Since her breakout role in the movie Thirteen shes worked with James Woods, Cate Blanchett and Vanessa Redgrave.
Her latest role is the evil and manipulative Kimberly Joyce in the Heathers-like Pretty Persuasion. Kimberley will stop at nothing to become famous. She convinces her two best friends to join her in a sex scandal campaign against their befuddled teacher, Mr. Anderson. She entangles the entire Beverly Hills community in her carefully woven web of seduction and deceit.
Check out the official site for Pretty Persuasion
Daniel Robert Epstein: I read that Jena Malone was originally supposed to be in your role and you were supposed to play someone else. Is that true?
Evan Rachel Wood: Yes I only met with her once and I think Jenas great. I really respect her and I think she wouldve been great. But it wasnt up to me. It all happened so fast and I had to completely switch my mindset about the movie. It was a little scary at first, but I was excited because it was kind of the most challenging role that Ive taken on.
DRE: Even more so than Thirteen?
ERW: Yeah because Thirteen I felt like I could relate more to that character. With this one theres comedy involved and I had never really done that. With a character like this, where theres been so many similar characters, I really wanted to make her different and not just go with the easy one-dimensional, mean girl. I wanted to give her different colors and try to figure out where she was coming from and have moments where you do feel bad for her.
It was especially hard because this character has so much dialogue. The first ten minutes of the movie is just me ranting and talking. She is just pure venom and yet she still looks very sweet with a big smile on her face. But she was also very internal so you just had to see everything going on in her face and in her eyes. Having to mix all those things together was fun to play around with.
DRE: Actors always often say that you have to get things across in the eyes and of course in reality, your eyes are round and they dont change shape or anything. Its more of movements along the face. Its not like Jim Carrey where he looks in the mirror and does every kind of face he can. What do you do to try to make your eyes convey emotion?
ERW: It just happens. When you just think about it and think about the way youre saying it. The eyes are kind of unexplainable. Its weird how you can stare into somebodys eyes and know what theyre feeling and know what theyre thinking. I dont know how to explain it, but I know that it just happens if you put yourself in the right mindset. Even if your face isnt changing, you just kind of sense it and feel it for some reason.
DRE: Did you base your character on anyone you know?
ERW: Definitely, theres this one girl from junior high in particular that I based Kimberly on. She would pretend to be your best friend and completely stab you in the back with a smile on her face.
DRE: James Woods had such a completely over the top role in Pretty Persuasion, what kind of things can you pick up from watching him do this specifically?
ERW: I wish I was as fearless as he is. He always goes for the interesting part in the interesting movies and never goes for the big budget just going to do well at the box office kind of thing. Hes always doing something different. I cant really compare one of his roles to another one of his roles. Watching him do this, he was just constantly ad-libbing too and we never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. You can see tears in my eyes in certain shots because Im trying so hard not to laugh because he would just keep going and going. I think part of it was to see how far he could go before we broke down and just laughed. Thats definitely what I want, to go for it and not care and just do things that youre really passionate about. He said that to me, just do good roles. Thats all you have to do and youll have a good career. You cant lose if you just pick good interesting projects that youre passionate about.
DRE: The implied sex scenes were really gross and dirty.
ERW: And they should be. Thats what we were going for. You dont actually see anything and we werent actually anything doing anything so its all up to your imagination. We wanted them to be kind of gross and make you kind of cringe. What this girl is doing is really stinky.
DRE: I saw one of your TV interviews and you said that people think you always play these damaged girls. I remember one episode of CSI you were on and you played the most damaged girl.
ERW: Oh, that episode was so wrong. I was 15 when I did that.
DRE: What is it you do that makes people seem to see you in these dark roles?
ERW: I specialized in drama, so anything I do will be dark and dramatic. But all of the characters Ive played seem pretty different than me and come from different places. I do feel like I worked some sweet roles in there too. I was a pretty sweet character in The Upside of Anger. Now Im doing a musical.
DRE: But its the Julie Taymor musical [Across the Universe], how can that be light?
ERW: It is light! Its Beatles songs. Weve been rehearsing for a couple of months trying to perfect all of the songs and the dances.
DRE: How was it doing the movie version of Running with Scissors?
ERW: That was awesome. It has such a great cast. Working with Gwyneth Paltrow was great because you dont know what to expect because shes such a huge star. Then when you see her you really get the whole Gwyneth Paltrow thing and why she is so popular. Shes just got such this cool interesting beautiful face and shes really talented. I loved watching her and this is a role shes never really played before.
DRE: Did you get to meet Augusten Burroughs?
ERW: Yeah, that was amazing. I was such a huge fan of that book and its been the first time I ever got to do a movie based on one of my favorite books. Getting to hear him tell the real story and ask him about the real people was really cool and helpful. The whole cast just sat there and were mesmerized listened to him talk.
DRE: Do you still take acting classes?
ERW: I havent for a while. I took acting classes for years. I dont have a lot of time now.
DRE: Do you see yourself returning to TV anytime?
ERW: Yeah, if something really special came along like Once and Again. I would definitely consider it. .
DRE: Are there things you want to develop or anything like that?
ERW: Id love to start reading books and optioning things and trying to get some cool stories made. Its so hard to find a good script so I might as well just find my own.
DRE: With Thirteen and now Pretty Persuasion you have this dark girl image which has gotten you a certain type of fan, have you met any of them?
ERW: I definitely have those fans from Thirteen and I have met many of them. I can almost spot them on the street now; its a certain type of girl. I think its great and so cool. I feel like for some of the girls that Im their voice.
DRE: Does doing these kinds of roles get your wild side out?
ERW: Doing a lot of these movies is definitely like therapy. I probably would have a lip ring and dyed hair right now if I hadnt gotten to act it out. Its better if you get to do it for a month and try something on besides and get to move on to something else.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Her latest role is the evil and manipulative Kimberly Joyce in the Heathers-like Pretty Persuasion. Kimberley will stop at nothing to become famous. She convinces her two best friends to join her in a sex scandal campaign against their befuddled teacher, Mr. Anderson. She entangles the entire Beverly Hills community in her carefully woven web of seduction and deceit.
Check out the official site for Pretty Persuasion
Daniel Robert Epstein: I read that Jena Malone was originally supposed to be in your role and you were supposed to play someone else. Is that true?
Evan Rachel Wood: Yes I only met with her once and I think Jenas great. I really respect her and I think she wouldve been great. But it wasnt up to me. It all happened so fast and I had to completely switch my mindset about the movie. It was a little scary at first, but I was excited because it was kind of the most challenging role that Ive taken on.
DRE: Even more so than Thirteen?
ERW: Yeah because Thirteen I felt like I could relate more to that character. With this one theres comedy involved and I had never really done that. With a character like this, where theres been so many similar characters, I really wanted to make her different and not just go with the easy one-dimensional, mean girl. I wanted to give her different colors and try to figure out where she was coming from and have moments where you do feel bad for her.
It was especially hard because this character has so much dialogue. The first ten minutes of the movie is just me ranting and talking. She is just pure venom and yet she still looks very sweet with a big smile on her face. But she was also very internal so you just had to see everything going on in her face and in her eyes. Having to mix all those things together was fun to play around with.
DRE: Actors always often say that you have to get things across in the eyes and of course in reality, your eyes are round and they dont change shape or anything. Its more of movements along the face. Its not like Jim Carrey where he looks in the mirror and does every kind of face he can. What do you do to try to make your eyes convey emotion?
ERW: It just happens. When you just think about it and think about the way youre saying it. The eyes are kind of unexplainable. Its weird how you can stare into somebodys eyes and know what theyre feeling and know what theyre thinking. I dont know how to explain it, but I know that it just happens if you put yourself in the right mindset. Even if your face isnt changing, you just kind of sense it and feel it for some reason.
DRE: Did you base your character on anyone you know?
ERW: Definitely, theres this one girl from junior high in particular that I based Kimberly on. She would pretend to be your best friend and completely stab you in the back with a smile on her face.
DRE: James Woods had such a completely over the top role in Pretty Persuasion, what kind of things can you pick up from watching him do this specifically?
ERW: I wish I was as fearless as he is. He always goes for the interesting part in the interesting movies and never goes for the big budget just going to do well at the box office kind of thing. Hes always doing something different. I cant really compare one of his roles to another one of his roles. Watching him do this, he was just constantly ad-libbing too and we never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. You can see tears in my eyes in certain shots because Im trying so hard not to laugh because he would just keep going and going. I think part of it was to see how far he could go before we broke down and just laughed. Thats definitely what I want, to go for it and not care and just do things that youre really passionate about. He said that to me, just do good roles. Thats all you have to do and youll have a good career. You cant lose if you just pick good interesting projects that youre passionate about.
DRE: The implied sex scenes were really gross and dirty.
ERW: And they should be. Thats what we were going for. You dont actually see anything and we werent actually anything doing anything so its all up to your imagination. We wanted them to be kind of gross and make you kind of cringe. What this girl is doing is really stinky.
DRE: I saw one of your TV interviews and you said that people think you always play these damaged girls. I remember one episode of CSI you were on and you played the most damaged girl.
ERW: Oh, that episode was so wrong. I was 15 when I did that.
DRE: What is it you do that makes people seem to see you in these dark roles?
ERW: I specialized in drama, so anything I do will be dark and dramatic. But all of the characters Ive played seem pretty different than me and come from different places. I do feel like I worked some sweet roles in there too. I was a pretty sweet character in The Upside of Anger. Now Im doing a musical.
DRE: But its the Julie Taymor musical [Across the Universe], how can that be light?
ERW: It is light! Its Beatles songs. Weve been rehearsing for a couple of months trying to perfect all of the songs and the dances.
DRE: How was it doing the movie version of Running with Scissors?
ERW: That was awesome. It has such a great cast. Working with Gwyneth Paltrow was great because you dont know what to expect because shes such a huge star. Then when you see her you really get the whole Gwyneth Paltrow thing and why she is so popular. Shes just got such this cool interesting beautiful face and shes really talented. I loved watching her and this is a role shes never really played before.
DRE: Did you get to meet Augusten Burroughs?
ERW: Yeah, that was amazing. I was such a huge fan of that book and its been the first time I ever got to do a movie based on one of my favorite books. Getting to hear him tell the real story and ask him about the real people was really cool and helpful. The whole cast just sat there and were mesmerized listened to him talk.
DRE: Do you still take acting classes?
ERW: I havent for a while. I took acting classes for years. I dont have a lot of time now.
DRE: Do you see yourself returning to TV anytime?
ERW: Yeah, if something really special came along like Once and Again. I would definitely consider it. .
DRE: Are there things you want to develop or anything like that?
ERW: Id love to start reading books and optioning things and trying to get some cool stories made. Its so hard to find a good script so I might as well just find my own.
DRE: With Thirteen and now Pretty Persuasion you have this dark girl image which has gotten you a certain type of fan, have you met any of them?
ERW: I definitely have those fans from Thirteen and I have met many of them. I can almost spot them on the street now; its a certain type of girl. I think its great and so cool. I feel like for some of the girls that Im their voice.
DRE: Does doing these kinds of roles get your wild side out?
ERW: Doing a lot of these movies is definitely like therapy. I probably would have a lip ring and dyed hair right now if I hadnt gotten to act it out. Its better if you get to do it for a month and try something on besides and get to move on to something else.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 16 of 16 COMMENTS
lxaviarq:
I have been a fan or hers since Once and Again, and the only reason I picked up Thirteen was because she was in it. I think she is an amazing actress and am looking forward for Pretty Persuasion to come to DVD.
texy:
I love her. My fav 