Evan Rachel Wood Finds "The Upside of Anger"
Interview with Evan Rachel Wood from "The Upside of Anger"
By Rebecca Murray, About.com
Not one to follow the normal path into the land of teen comedies, Evan Rachel Wood has instead been busy making a name for herself by taking on challenging roles in films such as “Thirteen” and “The Missing.” With “The Upside of Anger,” Wood continues to show why she’s considered one of Hollywood’s best young actresses.
INTERVIEW WITH EVAN RACHEL WOOD ('Popeye'):
Do you think there is an upside to anger?
Yeah. The biggest lessons I’ve learned in life have probably come from a bad situation, from an angry situation, even if I wasn’t the one who was angry. Just watching other people, I definitely learned from it and probably became a better person.
What was it like bonding with a bunch of women playing your sisters?
I guess it was a little weird for me at first. I’ve known Erika Christensen since I was like 9 years old so that made it a little better. We used to go to acting class together, so it was really cool that we got to work on something together. It really wasn’t that hard at all. They’re all really, really, cool down to earth people.
I guess I was a little awkward at first because I’m really shy. I’m definitely shy around girls. I was raised with a bunch of boys so I never know how it’s gonna be. But they were really great so it wasn’t hard at all.
What about romancing Erika Christensen’s brother (Dane) in the movie?
Yeah, it was a little weird. I think she was on set that day so it was a little strange. I think she was off behind the monitor or something. I’d come back there and say, “Hey, I just kissed your brother. He was nice.”
There’s so much tension in the film between the mother and all of the girls. What was Joan Allen like to work with?
She’s just the sweetest woman on the planet. And she is very shy and she honestly doesn’t have any idea how brilliant she is. I’m like, “You know you’re in the top three best actresses of all time.” And she’ll be like, “What? No...” She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t know how brilliant she is. She’s very sweet.
So she didn’t hold on to that tension between shots?
No, not at all. All the best actresses just snap in and out of it and she definitely did. She’d be really quiet and really sweet and she’d have to come out and be like [shouting], “No! No!” So it was fun to watch actually.
Did you learn anything about acting from working with her?
Yeah. Whenever I work with people like her I watch them like a hawk. All the amazing women that I work with can just turn it on and off like crazy, and I’m still trying to figure out how they do that. The scene where she comes in and tells me and Erika that she doesn’t know what’s wrong with our sister, my reaction to her in that scene is just, “How are you doing this?” She would just go off in the corner and listen to her iPod and meditate and just come in and open the flood gates. And it was really intense. Everybody on the set was crying. It’s intense on screen but you should have been there on the set.
How was working with Kevin Costner?
It was hysterical. We could never get through a scene whenever Kevin was in the room because Kevin could just give you a blank look and you’ll just fall on the floor laughing. He’s just got that way about him. He was totally cool. He wasn’t strutting around the set or anything. Just really laid-back and nice.
Did you get to dance with him?
I got to a little bit. I wasn’t holding his hand or anything, but we’re kind of dancing in the background at one point.
How good a dancer is he?
He was a good dancer. I was shocked. He didn’t care. He just went all out.
Why were you shocked?
I don’t know. I didn’t know if he’d be Mister Cool and just be bopping his head. But he was twisting.
Did your character in this film have a real name? They always refer to her as Popeye.
Yeah, her real name is Lavender.
Why do they call her Popeye?
To this day, I don’t think I know that. There was a reason in the first draft but I think it got cut out. I think she just wanted people to call her Popeye. She was like, “No, my name’s Popeye from now on.”
Would you consider this another one of your controversial movies?
No. No. See, this is good because this balances it all out. Everybody’s like, “You’re really attracted to the dark, extreme stuff, right?” I’m like, “No, I just like doing good movies.”
And nobody is being sexually harassed…
Nobody. I’m a completely normal girl. I don’t cry. I don’t scream. I’m not angsty. I’m really happy but I fall in love with a gay guy. But, you know, at least I’m sane. So there you go. I got the sweet movie for everybody.
You’ve been able to avoid all the so-called “teen-aimed” films. Is that by design?
It is. I do kind of avoid it. It’s just not my thing. They’re not the kind of movies that I want to watch. I usually just do movies that I would like going to see.
What kinds of scripts are you least interested in seeing?
If I picked up a script and it was all about car racing and there were absolutely no consequences and they were just kind of wrecking cars. I hate watching movies where there are giant car chases and they’re hitting cars and getting into accidents and they never [say], “Hey, what about the people you just killed?” I try to avoid that. If I’m going to do anything extreme, I want it to have consequences.
So if they offered you a million dollars to do “Fast and Furious 3” you’d turn it down?
I would! I’d be like, “Nah, I’m not gonna do that. I don’t want to put that out there.”
What’s the toughest role you’ve played?
Probably “Pretty Persuasion,” the newest one that was at Sundance. That was definitely the hardest role because I had most of the dialogue in the movie. I had to figure out a way to make this girl really evil, but still be charming. And make this girl really, really smart and have a lot of things going on in her head but have absolutely no heart and be completely dead inside. Finding that balance was really hard.
Will there be a “Thirteen” sequel?
No. I don’t think so. I don’t think people can take any more.
Have you started work on “Down in the Valley” yet?
It’s all done. I just saw it for the first time three weeks ago or something. I’m excited. I’m really interested to see how people are going to react because it’s really different. People are either gonna fall in love with it or not get it. But, I personally think that it’s the best work that Edward Norton has done. The acting in it is amazing. I’m interested to see. My career will be over or it’ll keep going on.
Is it true you really have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do?
Yeah, I do. Me and my mom. I’ve had it since I was 12.
Would you like to play an action heroine since you’re into martial arts?
Maybe, yeah. I’d be up for that. Why not? I got to do Tae Kwon Do on “Once and Again” once, but that was as far as it wen
Originally Posted by GeneChing
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