Evan Rachel Wood: "Whatever Works"

Beautiful and talented 21-year-old actress/singer Evan Rachel Wood marches to her own unique drummer. Ever since she bowled us over as a very young teen in the excellent coming of age film Thirteen, Evan has refused to go the popcorn, action movie route in favor of very edgy parts in stronger dramas and several successful indie films. She was Cate Blanchett's kidnapped teen daughter in the Western Missing and sang beautifully in the Beatles tribute musical film Across the Universe. Then there is her heartbreaking turn as Mickey Rourke's neglected daughter in The Wrestler.

Busy Evan will take to the Broadway stage next year in the musical version of Spider-Man so she had to turn down 300 director Zach Snyder's all gurl action fest Sucker Punch, a film which almost every young actress in Hollywood is vying for. But, since she's a vampire fan, she'll play a 400-year-old vampire queen in HBO's series "True-Blood". Starting the 19th, you can catch the actress as a clueless young Southern pageant queen, adrift in New York and seeking solace with a much older man in Woody Allen's comedy Whatever Works.

We wanted to know what Evan thinks about a May/December relationship (she's dated older men regularly), working with Woody Allen, her own Southern roots and wanted to get the latest on "True-Blood" and "Spidey". Picture the now red-haired Evan with red nails and wearing a sleek, L'Wren Scott lowcut, black sheath dress with capped sleeves trimmed with white tulle, and she does a great balancing act on very high heels. We jumped right in with the personal stuff....

TeenHollywood: Do you feel like the press is all up in your business all the time?

Evan: It's not my problem. I don't care. I'm going to be who I'm going to be, and if somebody's got an issue with that I'm sorry. I'm happy. It's harder that my friends and family have to read [tabloid news about her]. It affects them more and that's what makes me angry. Life's too short.

TeenHollywood: How did you relate to your character Melody? She's a Southern gal with a real controlling mom who is in her face about relationships. Can you relate to that since you grew up in North Carolina?

Evan: [laughs] [My mom] made every boyfriend in my life miserable. And absolutely she gets up in my business, and she's a Jewish mother too, so she's very like, [laughs] very, very up in my business. A Jewish southern mother, yeah. So I definitely went through the ringer.

TeenHollywood: You speak with a Southern accent in the film and it's very authentic. Did you base Melody on anyone you know?

Evan: I kind of based her off of my stepmother slightly. Not IQ-wise, but that sweet, southern hospitality and seeing the good in everything. It was hard. I didn't want her to be annoying. I wanted her to be endearing. I wanted my accent to be right and it drives us crazy if it's wrong. That was the main direction I always got. 'More southern. You should be in a potato sack in bare feet'. Whatever that means. So I did the best I could. Once you get that hair going and the nails, it's hard not be a different person. The tan was the hardest part and the boobs weren't mine.

TeenHollywood: Did you look at any of Woody Allen's leading ladies and what they might have had in common over the years?

Evan: No. I just wanted to make Melody my own. I'm very honored to be in that group of women now. I never thought I'd be starring in a Woody Allen movie having grown up with actor parents and my mother going 'This is Diane Keaton. Watch, learn, live it, love it!' Now, I'm one of the girls. Pretty cool.

TeenHollywood: Was it fun to play the wife of a much older guy?

Evan: It does seem to haunt me wherever I go. It's innocent and sweet. I didn't think it was quite Lolita-esque but I always compare it to [the classic May/December romance film] Harold & Maude more than anything. Even that was more romantic. But it was cool. I enjoyed it. I felt fine about it.

TeenHollywood: Can you talk about working with Woody Allen as your director? This is your first comedy and he's known world-wide for his great comedies. He also does really long takes, like a play.

Evan: I almost had a panic attack the first day! I was certain I was going to get fired because I just wasn't used to it. You ask him, 'Was that okay?' and he says, 'Yeah, that was fine.' I don't know what that means, but I guess it's good. I ended up liking it, and I kind of get what he was going for after watching the movie. I don't think he wants to distract you or make you think about it too much, he wants it to be as natural as possible. His favorite takes were when we messed up. And every now and then, he'd say 'That was really funny,' and you're like 'Ahhhh' [she breathes a sigh of relief]

TeenHollywood: But, if you mess up one line, don't you have to start the scene all over from the top with him?

Evan: Yeah. It's not like you can say, 'Can I take that line again?' You take the scene again. It was the hardest thing I ever did. We were lucky. We all got together and ran our lines. We'd sit in Larry's room and go through our massive amount of lines. That was the best part was picking it apart and finding out what worked and what didn't, and the little moments. My favorite [response from Woody] was 'that was actually a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be.'

TeenHollywood: Melody is so upbeat but she's sooo clueless. Do you think happiness and lack of intelligence go hand in hand?

Evan: I've known people who are so smart that they're stupid. They get so caught up in themselves that they miss out on so much. It's a shame.

TeenHollywood: You're a bright young woman, so how fun or frustrating was it to play someone this clueless?

Evan: [laughs]. I don't want to sound pompous saying it, but it was really hard to play dumb. And, I was worried that she was going to be really annoying or really endearing. There's a fine line there and I didn't want to cross. But, I think she's sweet. I had fun actually. It was kind of nice to not have to come to set and cry every day [laughs].

TeenHollywood: Woody's dialogue is legendary. Did you have a relationship with Woody where you could say 'uh, maybe not' or did you just go with what was on the page?

Evan: I was too afraid so change anything. We really didn't like to though. We're like 'it's so good, I don't really want to change it'. I tried to do it once at the Grant's Tomb [scene] and just lost it completely and didn't know where I was. So I didn't do it again after that.

TeenHollywood: What was the most challenging scene for you then?

Evan: Eating the sardines, over and over and over, I went home and threw up. We had to reshoot it and I substituted tuna for it. I did get sick. I remember the first take, I looked down and I saw a spine and an eyeball and I went, 'ew.'

TeenHollywood: We hear you are doing some guest appearances on "True-Blood" on HBO.

Evan: I'm doing a few episodes of "True-Blood". I love me some vampires! I just got fitted for my fangs. [she laughs]. I'm playing the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, 400 years old, and gay, so it's going to be a good one.

TeenHollywood: And once you get those fangs in.....

Evan: They just take over. You can't help but just snarl and be evil, it's great.

TeenHollywood: What's with the vampire craze lately?

Evan: It comes every now and then. I have always been into the vampire craze, okay? But, this whole Twilight thing? No. For teenage vampires, it's like The Lost Boys thing, which I liked more. I've been waiting to play a vampire since I was five. It's romantic. Why now? I don't know.

TeenHollywood: Your vampire on "True-Blood" versus the Collins family from Twilight - who'd win?

Evan: Considering I'm a real vampire, probably me!

TeenHollywood: Ooooo, scary! So, how are things going in "Spider-Man" world? You're going to play Mary Jane on Broadway!

Evan: They're going great! I just spoke with Julie [Taymor] today, actually. We're still looking for our 'Spider-Man' but it's going to be incredible. It's going to be a crazy, rock 'n roll circus show. Julie's doing what she did for 'The Lion King' for this. It's just another whole level of stuff.

TeenHollywood: Have you started any rehearsals?

Evan: We actually haven't started. I did the workshop and then I worked with U2 and Julie and learned the songs. But we don't start rehearsal until October. And just wait until you hear who's playing the villain! I know and I wish I could tell everyone but it's gonna be good. [note: We hear that it's a female villain]