The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Evan Rachel Wood
This article includes graphic discussions of mental health, suicide, domestic violence, abuse, and sexual assault. It may not be suitable for all readers.
Evan Rachel Wood is an acclaimed actor whose breakout role came when she was just a teenager starring in the film "Thirteen." She went on to appear in series such as "True Blood," "Mildred Pierce," and the HBO hit "Westworld." But Wood is not just an accomplished actor, she is also an activist and a survivor. The 2022 documentary "Phoenix Rising," detailed the abuse she endured throughout her long-term relationship with musician Marilyn Manson. While Evan Rachel Wood's dating life has often been the topic of tabloid fodder, her relationship with Manson was traumatic and left her with physical and emotional scars.
Wood's teen years in Hollywood were a difficult time for her as well. She keenly felt the pressures the industry puts on young women. Her mental health took a toll after a series of painful experiences, but Wood rose up like a phoenix from the ashes to reclaim her identity and help give other women a voice. Read on to learn more about the tragic real-life story of Evan Rachel Wood.
Evan Rachel Wood was put in an inappropriate position while filming Thirteen
In 2003, Evan Rachel Wood starred in the controversial film "Thirteen." Wood was just 14 while making the movie, and some aspects of filming it made her uncomfortable. In the 2022 documentary "Phoenix Rising," which details her journey as a domestic abuse survivor and activist, Wood described a particularly inappropriate scene. "I had to make out with a 23-year-old when I was 14 in front of a roomful of people. And I remember not wanting to do it, but I knew that the character needed to," she revealed. She also spoke about her lack of agency, which seemed to stay with her in the ensuing years. "[I]t didn't matter what Evan wanted. It just had to be done. And that set a tone for not good situations as an adult," she explained (via Nicki Swift).
"Thirteen's" acclaim helped put Wood on the map as an actor, but there was another negative consequence of the film's success: Wood and her co-star, Nikki Reed, didn't speak for several years afterward. Reed explained on the "Story + Rain" podcast, "We were too young to realize this at the time, but there were a lot of people that were kind of pitting us against each other, and making it a competitive atmosphere" (via E! News). She also reflected, "[I]sn't that the recipe for how to treat all young women in this industry?!" Thankfully, the two later reconnected and remain close friends.
Evan Rachel Wood 'felt her identity being erased' at age 15
Evan Rachel Wood's star was on the rise in the early 2000s, but along with its perks came the dark side of being young celebrity. During a photo shoot for Vanity Fair's 2003 Young Hollywood issue, Wood experienced an incident that made her feel "like meat." According to a series of Wood's tweets (via Vulture), she was uncomfortable with the outfit chosen for her and was told she had to wear high heels despite having asked to wear flats. "I was 15 and felt for the first time my identity being erased and the pressure to shut up and do what you are told," Wood said.
Wood went on to acknowledge her privilege, stating, "[T]here are far worse thing to go through" aside from an uncomfortable photo shoot. But she made clear that the glitz and glam of Hollywood is not all it's cracked up to be and emphasized the importance of speaking up. "I think when you are young and inexperienced and shy you can be bullied more," she wrote. "I learned to say no."
She suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Marilyn Manson
Evan Rachel Wood was in a relationship with musician Marilyn Manson from 2006 until 2011, but it was far from a love story. Wood was just 19 years old when she and Manson, who was 38 at the time, met at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. According to Wood, Manson groomed her and abused her sexually and emotionally over the course of their relationship.
In the documentary "Phoenix Rising," Wood details the first time Manson abused her, during the filming of his 2007 "Heart-Shaped Glasses" music video. Wood starred in the video, an experience that turned harrowing. "We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that," Wood recalled (via People). The actor added that the shoot was "chaos" and no one protected her. As she explained, "[I] felt disgusting and that I had done something shameful, and I could tell that the crew was very uncomfortable and nobody knew what to do."
Wood was afraid to speak out, and the abuse continued to escalate. In her documentary, she alleged that throughout the relationship, Manson made her drink his blood, whipped her with a Nazi whip (Wood is Jewish), and had sex with her while she was unconscious, among other extremely disturbing things. "I felt my brain change," she said. "I felt it almost calcify. And the world is never the same" (via The Atlantic).
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Evan Rachel Wood struggled with self-harm
In 2019, Evan Rachel Wood opened up about her abusive relationship as part of a Twitter movement called #IAmNotOk. The hashtag was created to promote awareness of domestic violence, and Wood shared some of her experiences, including a disturbing coping mechanism she'd used while trying to survive the abuse inflicted upon her.
"2 years into my abusive relationship I resorted to self harm [sic]. When my abuser would threaten or attack me, I cut my wrist as a way to disarm him," she tweeted, alongside a photo of scars from her wounds. She went on to explain, "It only made the abuse stop temporarily. At that point I was desperate to stop the abuse and I was too terrified to leave" (via Page Six).
At that time, Wood had not yet named her abuser but was candid about what she'd gone through. As part of the #IAmNotOk movement, the actor also tweeted pictures from a photo shoot during which she'd broken down behind the scenes. "I was so weakened by an abusive relationship. I was emaciated, severely depressed, and could barely stand. I fell into a pool of tears and was sent home for the day," she shared.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Evan Rachel Wood experienced a 'devastating' abortion
In the documentary "Phoenix Rising," Evan Rachel Wood was candid about having terminated a pregnancy while in a relationship with Marilyn Manson. Wood revealed she was pregnant while filming the 2011 miniseries "Mildred Pierce" and ultimately decided to get an abortion. "I was just so scared and sad," Wood said. "I obviously believe in a woman's right to choose, but that doesn't mean it wasn't devastating" (via Business Insider).
Wood also explained that Manson flew out to be with her for the procedure, but his behavior was not that of a supportive partner. In fact, he was demanding and seemed to have no compassion at all for what she'd just gone through. "The second it was over, [he] was like, 'Make me dinner,'" the actor recalled. "And I remember being like, 'I'm supposed to be resting — my body has gone through this trauma, there's aftermath here.' And he didn't care."
She was hospitalized while dealing with PTSD
The years of abuse Evan Rachel Wood endured left her with a host of physical and emotional symptoms she would later learn were caused by post-traumatic stress disorder. In a 2019 essay for Nylon, Wood described in detail what led her to check herself into a psychiatric hospital. "I hadn't eaten or slept in three days. I felt like if you'd dropped me I would shatter," she wrote, a feeling that motivated her to call her parents and ask for help.
Wood had struggled with panic attacks and anxiety before, but her new symptoms were different and unbearable. "I heard my name in my ear while I slept, which would jolt me awake. ... I was afraid to be alone, but I also couldn't be around people. ... I was too afraid to go outside. I couldn't sleep because every little noise was deafening," the actor recalled. "I was struggling with PTSD and didn't know it."
Through a combination of therapy and medication, Wood slowly began to find herself again. But she was quick to point out how difficult it was to find a facility that could accommodate her. "If I didn't shell out a significant amount of money to snag a private room at a decent place, I don't know what I would have done," she admitted, adding, "Mental health shouldn't be a luxury for the rich."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Evan Rachel Wood attempted to take her own life at age 22
Although Evan Rachel Wood survived an extremely abusive relationship and its subsequent mental health consequences, she barely made it out alive. Sadly, Wood attempted to take her own life when she was just 22 years old, according to her essay for Nylon. Wood did not describe the attempt, but wrote about calling her mother for help the next morning. "It was one of those moments when you have a choice that goes beyond the initial choice you make by calling out for help: You can not die, or you can come back to life," she shared.
Wood also wrote about how hitting rock bottom allowed her experience a feeling of surrender, which was something she needed in order to ask for help. "The beautiful thing about being at the bottom is there is nowhere to go but up. I wasn't supposed to be alive, so nothing I did at that point mattered," she explained. Wood recalled her mother asking why she'd attempted suicide, to which she replied, "I just wanted some peace."
Ultimately, Wood found peace after a period of hospitalization, therapy, and medication, along with speaking out about her experiences.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
She opened up about her public shaming in the press
Even before Evan Rachel Wood went public about the abuse she suffered in her relationship with Marilyn Manson, Manson's fans did not treat the actor kindly. In 2007, Wood revealed to People that she'd come across things written about her online that were downright cruel. "I've seen blogs where I've been called a slut, a whore, that say I should be condemned to death simply because I've fallen in love," she said.
She felt as though her credibility had already been damaged, and that the public viewed her in an unflattering light. "No one knew I was being abused, but when the abuse was happening, in the press ... they were calling me a whore, they were calling me crazy, and they were calling me names before I'd even said anything," she shared in a 2019 Harper's Bazaar interview.
Unfortunately, those early experiences of being judged so harshly were part of the reason Wood was hesitant to come forward with her story years later. "One of the scariest parts for me about coming forward was a smear campaign, or slander, or someone trying to discredit my experience because it's very re-traumatizing when that happens," she explained.
Marilyn Manson threatened her and her family
In March 2021, Evan Rachel Wood came forward with more (and more disturbing) allegations against Marilyn Manson. During a custody hearing regarding her son, with whom Wood shares with actor Jamie Bell, she revealed that Manson went so far as to threaten her family. According to papers obtained by Daily Mail, Wood claimed that Manson threatened to sexually assault her then-8-year-old son. "I took his threat seriously, then and now," the actor said, explaining that she'd gone to great lengths to protect herself and her family from Manson, including having security measured installed in her home such as bulletproof windows and a steel door.
Wood dropped another bombshell, revealing, "I only recently learned that [Manson] was involved in human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors on a large scale. These new developments, combined with the pending criminal investigation, lead me to be very concerned about our child's safety when in Los Angeles." Wood also told the court she had been considering obtaining attack dogs and security guards in order to keep her child safe from Manson.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Evan Rachel Wood's abuser sued her
To add insult to injury, Marilyn Manson sued Evan Rachel Wood for defamation in 2022, ahead of the release of "Phoenix Rising," in which Wood speaks candidly about the abuse she suffered. The lawsuit claimed that Wood's allegations were part of "a conspiracy" and that her accusations amounted to "a malicious falsehood that has derailed [Manson's] successful music, TV, and film career" (via Deadline).
Wood responded during an appearance on "The View," saying, "I am not scared. I am sad, 'cause this is how it works. This is what pretty much every survivor that tries to expose someone in a position of power goes through, and this is part of the retaliation that keeps survivors quiet. ... I'm very confident that I have the truth on my side and that the truth will come out."
Although the case is ongoing, in January 2024, a judge ordered Manson to pay the legal fees that Wood accumulated while defending herself from the defamation and emotional distress claims that a judge threw out in May 2023 (via Rolling Stone).