In Andrew Fleming’s Barefoot, Scott Speedman plays Jay Wheeler, the “black sheep” of a wealthy and prominent family led by Treat Williams and Kate Burton. Working at a mental health facility, Jay meets a young woman named Daisy, played by Evan Rachel Wood, who has lived her entire life in isolation. To try to convince his family that he’s finally straightened out his life, Jay takes the sheltered Daisy home for his brother’s wedding. An improbable romance blooms between the two and Daisy impresses everyone in Jay’s high-brow family with her honestly and simplicity. But, of course, the ruse is revealed and both Jay and Daisy find themselves in a lot of trouble.
Evan Rachel Wood has been doing great work since she was a little girl in TV shows such as American Gothic, Once and Again and more recently True Blood, and in movies including Thirteen, Running with Scissors, Across the Universe, The Wrestler and The Ides of March. She was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work on the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce opposite Kate Winslet. Wood received a lot of attention for her long-term relationship with rocker Marilyn Manson but she is now married to actor Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, The Fantastic Four) and they have a young child.
I spoke with Evan Rachel Wood by phone.
Danny Miller: I admire your work so much and how you don’t seem to make career decisions based on how “big” a project is or how much money you can make. How do you decide these days what kinds of movies you want to make?
Evan Rachel Wood: When I read a script, I have to get butterflies in my stomach. I have to get excited about it, I have to connect with it in some kind of fundamental way. Otherwise, I know I’ll turn into a moody artist! If I get into a situation where I don’t like what I’m doing, I’ll be miserable! It’s just not worth it to me.
Good for you — even if it sometimes makes your agents wring their hands!
It’s a blessing and a curse! I could definitely make more money. But you have to make those decisions based on what you think is going to fulfill you, especially since it takes you away from your family and your friends, and you’re going to be alone for long stretches of time. I have to really love it.
Daisy seems like a pretty difficult character to play. At first it seems like she’s suffering from some kind of mental illness but then it becomes clear that there’s something else going on. How did you figure out how to get into her head?
It was challenging. Especially because I didn’t really have anything in my own life to draw from to connect with that girl. I’ve never been dealt the circumstances that she has — thank God! She’s been extremely sheltered, she’s been in the house most of her life, and the only real relationship she’s had is with a mother who was very unstable, to say the least! I figured she was probably plopped down in front of the TV most of the time which is where I think a lot of her personality comes from. That’s why she’s so over-the-top and socially awkward — almost like a cartoon character.
Was it hard getting to that place?
I didn’t really talk to anyone between takes. I hope they didn’t think I was being a jerk — it was because I didn’t want to get out of that frame of mind and go smoke cigarettes and joke around with everyone. I think Daisy is a true innocent. She’s like a child in the way that she’s experiencing everything for the first time. I tried to tap into what it felt like to be a kid again.
It’s interesting to see her blossom during the course of the film even though at first it seems like she’s just emotionally unbalanced and suffering from mental illness. It made me wonder how many other people in such facilities are there for the wrong reasons.
Oh, absolutely, I think people at places like that are misdiagnosed all the time but that’s a whole other discussion!
I know this story was based on a German film by Til Schweiger called Barfuss. Were you already familiar with that film?
No, I didn’t watch it until after we shot the movie because I didn’t want to have that in my head. I think what we made was completely different. It’s funny though, because right after I finished this film, I worked with Til Schweiger on Charlie Countryman!
I loved seeing Treat Williams and Kate Burton as Scott Speedman’s parents. I thought you were so great in Across the Universe and every time I see that film, I think of Hair, especially Treat Williams’ character. Were you a fan of his in Hair?
Oh my God, yes! When we were filming that dinner scene at that big long table I kept looking at Treat waiting for him to step up on the table and dance across it like he does when he’s singing “I Got Life” in Hair! (Laughs.) I kept bringing that YouTube clip up on my phone and showing it to Scott, we were laughing so hard!
You were also phenomenal in Mildred Pierce — my wife and I actually got HBO just to watch that mini-series!
Oh, wow, that’s so sweet!
Do you feel much of a distinction these days between working in movies and on TV? I know in the old days there was a bit of a stigma for movie actors to work on television.
I think it’s changed so much — there’s a lot of amazing stuff on television right now and lots of gutsier stuff. I feel like people are turning to TV because the quality is incredibly high. To be honest, I see a lot of stuff on TV these days that I don’t think could get made as movies because it’s so hard to get a movie off the ground now. People are afraid, they don’t want to take chances, they don’t want anything too weird. I think TV can push the boundaries more and people are really responding to that.
How do you feel about the press? Do you try to stay away from articles about yourself or your movies?
Yes, I try to avoid it as much as possible. It’s just too easy to only listen to the bad stuff so I try to block it out. As far as reviews of movies, I get why they’re there, but it’s always a little weird to me because everyone responds to art so differently. You can have a movie that doesn’t resonate at all with one person but then it completely changes the life of somebody else. You can’t take the negative stuff to heart, I try to just focus on the positive.
What other films do you have coming up?
My next project is another independent movie. Back to drama, now that I’ve had a little break with comedy! It’s called Into the Forest and Ellen Page and I play sisters, trying to survive after the collapse of society in the not-so-distant future. It’s a really intense, powerful script, I’m so excited about it.
Would you prefer to avoid big studio movies?
I don’t have any coming up but I am completely open to them, I swear! I would LOVE to be a superhero or something. Please, Marvel, are you listening? CALL ME!!