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April 8, 2023,
It is how she makes you feel.
Even though you probably never met her.
It is her work that does the talking.
And affecting. You. Emotionally.
Often, in an entertaining, mesmerizing, hypnotic, captivating and disturbing manner.
The sensational Evan Rachel Wood can do it all.
Evan Rachel Wood is an A-list American actress, singer, and activist.
She is the recipient of a Critics’ Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work in film and television.
She began acting in the 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic (1995–96) and Once and Again (1999–2002). She made her debut as a leading film actress at the age of nine in Digging to China (1997) and garnered acclaim for her Golden Globe-nominated role as the troubled teenager Tracy Freeland in the teen drama film Thirteen (2003).
Let’s take a look at this gem for a second. When we first watched it, almost twenty years ago, it had such a profound effect on us.
Thirteen is a 2003 teen drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, and starring Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood and Reed.
Loosely based on Ms. Reed’s life from ages 12 to 13, the film’s plot follows Tracy, a seventh grade student in Los Angeles who begins dabbling in substance abuse, sex and crime after being befriended by a troubled classmate.
This is incredible. Eye opening.
The screenplay for Thirteen was written over a period of six days by Hardwicke and the then-14-year-old Reed. Ms. Hardwicke, a former production designer, independently raised funds herself for the production.
Filming took place on location in Los Angeles in 2002, largely shot with hand-held cameras.
That had to be extremely satisfying.
You take a risk, use your own funds to make your movie, don’t listen to naysayers, secure two, then little known actresses, who go on to become huge stars and your film is a critical and eventual financial success.
An absolute cult classic that people will be talking about for years.
This is a risk taker’s dream come true. What more could you ask for?
The film also earned legend Holly Hunter an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and Golden Globe nominations for Hunter and Wood for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress in a Drama, respectively.
Spectacular.
Here is how the plot begins.
13-year-old Tracy Freeland begins her school year as a smart and mild-mannered honors student at a middle school in Los Angeles. Her divorced mother, Melanie, is a recovering alcoholic, who struggles to support Tracy and her older brother, Mason, by working as a hairdresser. Tracy feels ignored by her mother, who is too busy with her fellow ex-addict boyfriend Brady to address Tracy’s increasing issues with her body image. Tracy also occasionally cuts herself in order to relieve stress.
You can guess where it goes from there.
What we liked about the film was how uncomfortable it made us feel because, in our circle, many remember what it was like to be back in junior high school and knew girls who fit this profile.
Maybe even dated them.
It was sad, disturbing and unforgettable.
Evan continued acting mostly in independent films, including Pretty Persuasion (2005), Down in the Valley (2005), Running with Scissors (2006), and Across the Universe (2007).
Which brings us to another Evan Rachel Wood gem in the film, Allure.
Brace yourself. It is disturbing and mesmerizing.
Allure is a 2017 Canadian psychological thriller film written and directed by Carlos and Jason Sanchez in their feature film debut.
It stars Evan Rachel Wood, Julia Sarah Stone, and Denis O’Hare.
It originally premiered under the title A Worthy Companion at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
In December, TIFF included the film on its annual Canada’s Top Ten list of the ten best Canadian films.
Here is the story line.
Laura Drake (Evan Rachel Wood) is an emotionally disturbed young woman who works as a house-cleaner for her father’s company in an urban environment.
One day, Laura meets an unhappy teenager named Eva (Julia Sarah Stone) while on the job.
The pair form an unexpected connection, and Laura eventually convinces Eva to leave her oppressive mother and move in with her. Though the relationship initially works, Laura’s anxiety soon makes her abusive and controlling, creating an unstable bond between the two women.
It was very unusual seeing Evan, often portrayed as beautiful and glamorous, play this emotionally damaged adult fixed on a teenager. It falls into the realm, like Law and Order Special Victims Unit, of how smooth predators operate.
Evan’s passions go far beyond film. She is a respected Activist as well.
In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting; in the video, Wood and others told the stories of the people killed there.
In February 2018, she testified before the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations in support of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act.
In April 2019, she testified before the California State Senate to help pass the Phoenix Act, which extended the statute of limitations in domestic-violence cases from three to five years and requires police to have additional training.
In her testimony, Wood said the abuse she experienced by singer Marilyn Manson had been physical, sexual and emotional, including antisemitism, and that she had subsequently been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
It is one thing to be a victim and remain there.
It is another thing to become an Activist, help other victims and heal yourself along the way.
There is so much to Evan Rachel Wood in what she brings to the screen and to the issues of the world.
What is consistent in all of her endeavors, is that if you decided to watch, listen and learn, it will be captivating and sometimes disturbing. Something else too.
Always unforgettable.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Rachel_Wood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_(2003_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allure_(2017_film)
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https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
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