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Evan Rachel Wood Profile |
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Birth Date: September 7, 1987
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Birth Place: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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Birth Name: Evan Rachael Wood
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Height: 5'7"
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Biography |
Evan Rachel Wood 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 gained 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.
Wood has been described by The Guardian newspaper as being
"wise beyond her years" and as "one of the best actresses of
her generation".
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 IV, is also an actor and her aunt, Carol Winstead
Wood, is a Hollywood production designer; she also has a
half brother, Dana, from her mother's first marriage. Wood
is of the Jewish religion.
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.
Wood auditioned for the child role in Interview with the
Vampire, which was eventually given to actress Kirsten
Dunst. She 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
2003 film Thirteen, for which she was nominated for a Golden
Globe Award as Best Actress - Drama. During the time of
Thirteen's release, Vogue 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
Running with Scissors (a drama scheduled for an October 20,
2006 release and co-starring Joseph Cross, Gwyneth Paltrow
and Jill Clayburgh), 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.
Wood received her 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.
As of July 2006, Wood, who was described by the Guardian as
an "Anglophile", is dating 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. |
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Other
Information |
Father is Ira David Wood III
Mother is Sara Lynn Moore
Brother is Ira David Wood IV
Trained in dance. She loves to sing, swim, rollerblade and
go horseback riding.
She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do
Has kept in touch with most of her "Once and Again" (1999)
castmates: Mischa Barton, Julia Whelan, and Shane West.
Sings two songs on the "School's Out" Christmas album
(Christmas Isn't Christmas, and Silver and Gold)
Niece of Carol Winstead Wood.
Has known Frankie Muniz since she was 6 years old.
Was originally set to play Terri in Raise Your Voice (2004),
but dropped out due to production changes. Hilary Duff was
then cast as her replacement.
Real-life friends with Nikki Reed.
Enjoys singing.
Got her high school diploma at the age of 15.
Parents divorced in 1997.
Attended San Fernando Valley junior high school but left
because she disliked the social environment of high school.
The actress was then home-schooled.
Lost out for the role of the child-vampire Claudia in
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) to
Kirsten Dunst.
Is the one of the new faces of the MIU MIU add campaign.
Her first name is simply Evan, however her mother chose to
add the Rachel as her stage name, so that people wouldn't
think she was a boy.
Is actually older than Brady Corbet, who played her older
brother in Thirteen (2003).
Her favorite actress is Cate Blanchett.
In 2003, Vogue Magazine named her one of the "It Girls of
Hollywood."
Met her present day boyfriend, Jamie Bell, when they were
filming Green Day's music video for "Wake Me Up When
September Ends", where they actually play a couple.
Her favorite actors are Edward Norton and Ewan McGregor.
Is close with the cast of Thirteen (2003) and still remains
in touch with them.
Her hero is U2 front man Bono. |
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