Evan Rachel Wood, born September 7, 1987, is an American actress, model and musician. She began acting in the 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again. Take a look below for 30 more interesting and awesome facts about Evan Rachel Wood.
1. Wood made her debut as a leading film actress at the age of nine in Digging to China and garnered acclaim for her Golden Globe nominated role as the troubled teenager Tracy Freeland in the teen drama movie Thirteen.
2. Since 2008, Wood has appeared in more mainstream movies, including The Wrestler, Whatever Works and The Ides of March.
3. On television, she has appeared in the supporting role of Queen Sophie-Anne on True Blood from 2009 to 2011 and playing Kate Winslet’s character’s daughter in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe and Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
4. As of 2016, Wood plays the sentient android Dolores Abernathy in the HBO series Westworld, for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and earned a Golden Globe and Emmy Award nomination.
5. In 2012, she married English actor Jamie Bell, with whom she has one son. However, they separated in 2014 after two years of marriage.
6. Wood’s mother, Sara Lynn Moore, is an actress, director and acting coach. She has also converted to Judaism.
7. Her father, Ira David Wood III, is a locally prominent actor, singer, theater director, playwright, and from a Christian family. He’s also the Executive Director of a local regional theater company called Theater in the Park.
8. Her brother, Ira David Wood IV, is also an actor. She has two other brothers, Dana and Thomas, and a sister named Aden.
9. Wood’s paternal aunt, Carol Winstead Wood, was a Hollywood production designer.
10. Wood and her brothers were actively involved in Theater in the Park while growing up, including an appearance by her in the 1987 production of her father’s musical comedy adaption of A Christmas Carol when she was just a few months old.
11. Wood’s parents separated in 1996, and later divorced, and Wood moved with her mother to her mother’s native Los Angeles County, California.
12. She briefly attended Cary Elementary, a public school in Cary, North Carolina. She was subsequently home-schooled and received her high school diploma at the age of 15.
13. She was awarded a black belt in taekwondo when she was 12 years old.
14. She has kept in touch with most of her Once and Again castmates, including Mischa Barton, Julia Whelan and Shane West.
15. Wood sings two songs on the School’s Out Christmas album: “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” and “Silver and Gold.”
16. Wood was originally set to play Terri in Raise Your Voice, but dropped out due to production changes. Hilary Duff was then cast as her replacement.
17. She attended junior high school in the San Fernando Valley but left because she disliked the social environment of high school. She was then home-schooled.
18. She was featured in the Miu Miu ad campaign, alongside Selma Blair and Lou Doillon.
19. She is actually older than Brady Corbet, who played her older brother in Thirteen.
20. In 2003, Vogue Magazine named her one of the “It Girls of Hollywood.”
21. She met her husband Jamie Bell at Sundance Film Festival. While dating, they went on to shoot Green Day’s music video for “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” where they play a couple.
22. Wood says 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.
23. She became the highest paid actress in music video history for her appearance in then-boyfriend Marilyn Manson’s video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses.”
24. She hates her middle name, Rachel, but kept it in her stage name so casting directors wouldn’t confuse her gender.
25. She was in consideration for the role of Joan Jett in The Runaways, but Kristen Stewart was cast instead.
26. Wood returned to work 6 months after giving birth to her son to begin filming 10 Things I Hate About Life.
27. Wood turned down a major role in Mean Girls as she’d already committed to the lead in Pretty Persuasion, a movie with a similar plot.
28. She’s a survivor of a double rape and severe physical abuse. She was one of three women giving evidence to the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. in support of the “Sexual Assault Survivor’s Bill of Rights Act.”
29. In January 2017, Wood became engaged to her Rebel and a Basketcase bandmate, Zach Villa. In September 2017, they called off the engagement.
30. After her split from ex-husband Jamie Bell, she dated The L Word actress Katherine Moennig.