18 Times Evan Rachel Wood Was Open About Pitching For Both Teams

Evan Rachel Wood is one of the most in-demand stars working in Hollywood today. The starlet has grown up in front of the camera, appearing in her first made-for-TV movie way back in 1994 at the age of 7. From Across The Universe to Mildred Pierce, Evan Rachel has thrilled us with her leading lady roles.

But there’s something about those roles – while a lot of the time her romantic leads were chasing after men, a surprising number of them were involved romantically in some way or another with other women. It turns out that Evan Rachel was enjoying playing for both fields off-screen as well. Long known for being the starlet on Marilyn Manson’s arm, in recent years Evan Rachel has explored the dating scene and shown the world that maybe men aren’t what she’s all about.

For years, Evan Rachel has dropped little hints that she might be batting from both sides of the plate. From sharing onscreen roles with female costars to wearing pantsuits in public, there have been lots of signs throughout Evan Rachel’s career that she was a switch-hitter. Here are just a few examples of times Evan Rachel Wood let it be known where she stands.

Movie With Mischa Barton Called "Once And Again"

It was rumoured that their scene was actually the reason that this teen show was cancelled – audiences way back in 2002 weren’t ready for a lesbian storyline on a network show. On the show, Evan Rachel plays a teenage girl named Jessie who’s just trying to figure her way through high school.

By season Three, Jessie’s life gets complicated when it turns out another girl named Katie (played by Mischa Barton) has developed a crush on her. The two are friends, but when Jessie gets a letter from Katie professing her love, she has to search deep in her soul to figure out if she has the same kind of feelings. She eventually accepts Katie’s advances and the two young starlets ultimately share a memorable kiss onscreen.

Evan Rachel was still just 15 when the episode showing the kiss went to air, so it certainly seems that she may have had an inkling from a young age as to where her romantic loyalties lay. While the show didn’t last very long, many people credit Once and Again for bringing these types of storylines to the small screen. Nowadays, network shows are much more open to exploring diverse characters.

When She Wore A Tux to The Golden Globes

As a queer woman in the public eye, it’s no surprise that Evan Rachel Wood holds the legendary David Bowie in high esteem. Bowie was the original cross-dresser, known for androgynous outfits and a bone structure that could allow him to pass for either a man or a woman depending on how he felt that day. (Hey, things were different in the 70s!)

While Evan Rachel is definitely a little too gorgeous to pass for a man, she wore an outfit to the 2017 Golden Globes to match her gender-bending name. This tux with a fluffy white collar isn’t exactly a showy dress, and we have to wonder what the red carpet reporters had to say about her unusual fashion choice.

If there was any doubt that Evan Rachel wanted to let the world know that she identifies as queer, this homage to Bowie should put those thoughts to bed. Evan Rachel has identified herself as a tomboy in the past, and nothing screams tomboy more than short hair and a tux.

It’s clear that Evan Rachel Wood feels no pressure to conform to the norms of what a girl in Hollywood is supposed to look like.

Her Role With Nikki Reed in "Thirteen"

Sure seems like young Evan Rachel was trying to tell us something. In 2003, just one year after her memorable role with Mischa Barton, Evan Rachel starred in the movie Thirteen. The movie's about a goody-two-shoes named Tracy who goes bad as soon as she hits her teenage years. Evan Rachel wasn’t actually thirteen when she filmed the movie, but the then-sixteen-year-old shared an onscreen smooch with Nikki Reed. Ironically, Nikki was the girl whose story Evan Rachel was supposed to be playing.

Yeah, I know it’s confusing. Nikki Reed was a girl who got dragged into a rock n roll lifestyle at the age of thirteen. After she straightened up she wrote a movie about her wild experiences - and starred in it.

Over the course of the flick, Nikki’s character Evie takes Evan Rachel’s character Tracy on a tour of the seedy underbelly of teenage party life. Still confused? Just watch the movie. It’s worth it.

When She Dated Marilyn Manson

There were early signs that Evan Rachel’s romantic tendencies were a little, well, unusual. Back in 2005, when the starlet was still just 18 and in the process of breaking out in the industry, she started a long on-again, off-again relationship with goth rocker Marilyn Manson. Not only was Manson exactly twice her age (36 at the time), he was also a counter-culture figure – in other words, not exactly the type of guy you’d want to bring home to mama. And what better type of man for a budding young woman to date than one who parades around in makeup most of the time and goes by the name “Marilyn”? I mean, if you heard that a Marilyn and an Evan were dating, who would you think was the man and who would you think was the woman?

Manson is best known for his hits including “The Beautiful People” and a cover of the Eurythmics classic “Sweet Dreams,” but he’s also known for partaking in a wild rock star lifestyle offstage. Some thought that maybe his relationship with Evan Rachel was Manson settling down with a nice normal girl, but looking back it may have been more like the intersection of two powerful and rebellious personalities coming together at just the right time.

Manson and Wood were engaged for a while, but like many of her other engagements, the expected marriage never took place. Maybe Evan Rachel was looking for something a little bit…different.

When She Played A Vampire Queen in "True Blood"

Fans of True Blood will know that the show was created by showrunner Alan Ball who created a team of characters who were very experimental when it came to choosing their mates. Evan Rachel came aboard the show in its second season as the lesbian vampire queen of Louisiana. Her character Sophie-Anne Leclerc ultimately appeared in eight episodes as a guest star, lasting until season four.

This creepy character is totally in control, but also transparent about her desires. She’s dangerous and powerful – a type of character Evan Rachel frequently seems to take on as her career continues to develop. Does Evan Rachel's desire to play dominant women maybe offer some insight into her real-life personality?

While Evan Rachel hadn’t yet publicly come out when she joined the cast in 2009, she certainly sent a strong message to the world by taking part in the show and portraying an obviously "out" character. As transparent as everything about True Blood is – especially if you understand its underlying message – perhaps Evan Rachel was trying to broadcast her personal preferences through her character in the show.

When She Told Esquire She Dates Women

When a profile of Evan Rachel appeared in Esquire in May 2011, complete with a sizzling series of photos, Evan Rachel made no bones about the fact that she was interested in walking down both sides of the aisle. The profile marks the moment that Evan Rachel made in unequivocally clear that she wasn’t as straight an arrow as some people might have assumed. To that point, she had been in the news for dating Marilyn Manson and kissed a few girls onscreen, but as far as the world knew she was a still an all-American girl at heart.

The interview that accompanied the photo shoot changed all of that. In the interview, Evan Rachel said that she’d love to marry Kate Winslet, her Mildred Pierce costar, before proudly announcing that she dates women as well as men. The writer of the article even went so far as to point out that Evan Rachel was expecting the question, and didn’t think it was any big thing.

Evan Rachel was 23 at the time the interview came out, so it might have been easy to brush such talk off as just a phase – her so-called “college years,” so to speak – but in truth it was just a sign of things to come.

When She Divorced Husband Jamie Bell...

Evan Rachel went a step further with ex-husband Jamie Bell than she has with most of her beaus. By our count, she’s been engaged at least three times but to this point Jamie Bell’s the only man she’s actually married. The two had originally met on the set of Green Day’s "Wake Me Up When September Ends," but it seemed like September eventually ended for the couple in May of 2014, when they filed for divorce. They actually had a kid together, but after less than two years of marital bliss Evan Rachel decided that she loved the kid more than the man she made it with, and the two went their separate ways.

One thing we will say about Evan Rachel – as much as she may have interest in both genders, it seems like she being single. Two years is a lifetime for this girl’s relationships! Of course, breaking up a marriage with a kid is a little more involved than simply walking away from a boyfriend or girlfriend, and Evan Rachel admitted as much, confessing that her separation from Jamie was more difficult than the ending of some of her other relationships.

Of course, while the official reason Evan Rachel gave was because of her commitment to the child, it seems there might have been another reason for her divorce…

...To Date Katherine Moenning

After years of claiming that she liked both types but mostly sticking to men in serious relationships, in 2014 it was reported that Evan Rachel had a real, honest-to-goodness girlfriend. She started dating The L-Word star Katherine Moenning. Moenning had played a lesbian character on The L-Word and it soon became pretty clear that that wasn’t simply an act. After some friendly ”flirting” on Twitter while Evan Rachel was still busy being a married mom, the couple started to make public appearances together and made it clear that they were an item.

Though the couple lasted less than a year, their relationship certainly proved that Evan Rachel wasn’t afraid to put her money where her mouth was. They’re reportedly still friends, which makes you wonder if after a few months of exclusively seeing another woman, Evan Rachel was more interested in swinging back the other way. It doesn’t seem like it took long for Evan Rachel to get involved with and then engaged to another man – her current bandmate Zach Villa.

It seems like whether she’s going male or female, Evan Rachel has a tendency to be attracted to older partners. Just like Marilyn Manson, Katherine was 36 when the romance started.

When She Promised "Westworld" Fans A Queer Storyline

Westworld is a cool show about an adventure video game where players feel like they’re actually living in a Western. Evan Rachel plays a cyborg character – a robotic host named Dolores who starts to feel real emotions and has to come to terms with the flaws built into her by the people who created the gam e. That’s already a whole heck of a whole lot for one character to deal with – so you’d think that such a character’s orientation would be the last thing on anybody’s mind. But before season 2 started, Evan Rachel made a promise to queer fans of the show that Dolores would explore her orientation in the season. It’s an interesting notion, and one that begs the question: are robots attracted to either gender?

Five episodes into season two, it doesn’t appear as if the show runners have delivered on Evan Rachel’s promise yet – but there’s still time left in the season for Dolores to have her moment of realization. But as much as she might like to think she is in charge, we’re not sure if the lead actress can really control the direction of the show – then again, maybe Evan Rachel knows something that we don’t.

When Her Parents Named Her "Evan"

Let’s be real here: there were signs that Evan Rachel Wood might not be the girliest girly-girl right there in the name her parents gave her. Evan’s parents were both actors/directors in North Carolina , so we can only imagine that she had somewhat of a bohemian upbringing. Her parents certainly weren’t too concerned about giving their daughter an effeminate name! Her given name is a masculine name that actually means “Young Warrior” or “Rock.”

Evan Rachel has said that she grew up a tomboy, chasing her older brothers around Raleigh, the city where she was raised. It seems like her parents encouraged this behaviour and with a name like Evan, how could she not think that she was just one of the guys? In some ways, it’s refreshing to see someone who wasn’t raised to follow the status quo.

It turns out that Evan Rachel has been gender-bending since birth. The proof is right there in her signature – first name for a boy, second name for a girl. It’s no wonder that Evan Rachel sees the world through the eyes of both genders.

When She Singlehandedly Tried to Bring Pantsuits In

There’s something about pantsuits that’s a little jarring. As a culture, we’re more open to seeing women wearing pants and other historically masculine clothing than we have ever been, but the pantsuit just takes things to the next level. It’s an outfit a woman wears to let you know she’s not afraid to appear masculine. In this photo, Evan Rachel’s still wearing nail polish and lipstick, but she’s certainly making a point of gender-bending with this photo. This is a subtle way that Evan Rachel can let people know that she’s comfortable on different spots on the spectrum without rubbing that fact in our face. She's just casually being herself.

Evan Rachel’s been transparent about her tomboyishness and attraction to members of the same gender in the past, but her commitment to pantsuits really shows that she’s not interested in being just another Hollywood "It Girl" – she’s interested in blazing a path and letting her fashion choices speak for themselves. No red carpet dresses here! Evan Rachel manages to look snazzy while letting her inner tomboy out. Looking like that, you get the sense that she could take home anyone at all – male or female – at the afterparty.

(And who knows – maybe she did!)

Her Role In "Pretty Persuasion"

Pretty Persuasion was a little teen comedy that came out in 2005. It starred Evan Rachel as a Queen Bee high schooler named Kimberly Joyce. Kimberly is willing to do anything to get the world around her to bend to her will. In the movie, this includes accusing teachers of wrongdoing, lying to family and friends. Though all the action happens offscreen, we get a pretty good idea what Kimberly is up to.

While it might be easy to write the movie off as a second-rate Mean Girls ripoff, it certainly showed a side of teenage Evan Rachel that many hadn't seen before. In her younger days, her character's onscreen encounters with girls had mostly been comprised of adolescent flirting and butterfly kisses, but Pretty Persuasion showed us a different Evan Rachel.

When She Got Engaged To Bandmate Zach Villa

There’s one thing about playing both the flute and banjo – if Evan Rachel Wood only swung towards women, then we wouldn’t be talking about how she likes to play both sides. She’s not a one-way pony – she likes both men and women. And despite her occasional relationships with women, it does seem that most of Evan Rachel’s long-term relationships have been with members of the male gender.

Little do most people know that in addition to being a world-famous actress, Evan Rachel has a side project - an indie band called Rebel And A Basketcase, for which she sings lead vocals. Evan Rachel had become a wife and a mother by the time she started working on the project in 2015 – but she was also newly single and looking for love. Soon, it turned out that her bandmate, Zach Villa, was playing more than just Evan Rachel’s music; the two became engaged to be married in January of 2017. Like many of her whirlwind romances, however, this one didn’t last very long – they reportedly broke up in September of that year.

No word on how the split affected the band, though.

The Situation With Michelle Rodriguez

Evan Rachel has made no bones about her open-mindedness, be it interviews or twitter. But open-minded or not, that doesn’t mean she’s about to let just any rumour fly. In 2014, a rumour started that Evan Rachel had gotten especially close to Lost star Michelle Rodriguez at a Hollywood event. Rodriguez, who played brazen cop Ana Lucia on Lost and boxer Diana Guzman in 2000’s Girlfight.

Evan Rachel was unequivocal on Twitter, however, saying that she had never even said “hello” to Michelle and admonishing fans for dreaming it up. She also hinted that it was a little ridiculous for people to jump to conclusions based on a single photo or appearance at an event. And she makes a good point.

It seems that while Evan Rachel is happy to explore all sides of the romantic coin, she’s not okay with her fans just projecting any type of relationship onto her. And we can’t blame her. People whispering behind your back about your relationship is going to happen - especially if your preferences run a little alternative – but it’s a lot easier to handle the gossip if it’s actually true.

It seems like some of Evan Rachel's fans let their imaginations get the best of them on this one…

Her Character In "The Wrestler"

It’s never explicitly stated in the movie The Wrestler that Evan Rachel’s character Stephanie is into other girls, but it is hinted that she might be really close to her roommate. Stephanie isn’t a major part of the plot – she only appears in a couple of scenes as the estranged daughter of the titular Wrestler Randy the Ram, played by Mickey Rourke – but in the scenes she does have she plays coy about her personal life, letting her father and the viewer wonder what she’s up to.

In some ways, this subtle nod to her character’s preference and the ambiguity around it was Evan Rachel foreshadowing her own personal preferences. The audience never knows who Stephanie really prefers, and back in 2008 when the movie came out the real Evan Rachel hadn’t yet announced anything publicly. It seems like Evan Rachel’s whole career has been a big buildup to the reveal, and the tease in this flick was the final warning sign before her Esquire interview a couple of years later spilled the beans for good.

When She Accepted An Award From the Human Rights Campaign

If nothing else, it’s clear that Evan Rachel is willing to take a stand for her position as someone who likes…well, different positions. Not only has she casually mentioned it in interviews and publicly dated women, she’s also appeared at some events to voice her support for the cause. In 2017 Evan Rachel was presented with a visibility award for being open about being bi. In her speech, Evan Rachel spoke of being visible for those who can’t be, for those who are forced to hide their personal preferences out of fear or shame. She also talked about realizing how she was different at the age of just 12 – suggesting that maybe, just maybe, she was trying to tell us something with all those roles in her early teens.

If there was ever any question that Evan Rachel wasn’t ashamed to let her freak flag fly high, accepting this award for literally being out and proud about it should put those doubts to bed. Evan Rachel wants you to know that she is going to live her life like she is going to live her life – whether or not you or anybody else likes it.

When She Casually Came Out On Twitter

In 2012 Evan Rachel posted a cryptic tweet about Miley Cyrus’ preferences. In the tweet, Evan Rachel seemed to say that it was okay for other people to comment on Miley’s preferences because she’d done it herself. That’s all well and good – but should anyone really be gossiping about this at all?

But the most surprising thing about this tweet has nothing to do with Miley Cyrus at all. It’s how casual Evan Rachel seems to be about broadcasting her own personal preferences to the world. Of course, this tweet was written a few months after the Esquire interview where she admitted to dating women, so it wasn’t exactly a huge secret at that point, but it still seems like something many of her fans and followers might not have known about her.

It seems like by 2012, Evan Rachel was willing to let people know exactly where she stood. Where once she had only hinted at it through the scripts she’d chosen and roles she’d taken, it seems like now she has no fear about telling the world where she really stands. She just shrugs and tells it like it is.

The crazy thing is that this tweet is six years old and seems like it could have been written yesterday. Because, really, does anyone know what’s going on with Miley?

When She Appeared in a Tribute Video After Pulse Nightclub

The Pulse nightclub incident was a horrible tragedy. In the aftermath, there was an outpouring of support for the gay community, and one thing the Human Rights Commission did was produce a tribute video where celebrities spoke about the victims to bring the tragedy home. The concept behind the video was to honour the victims and understand the cost of the incident, rather than simply focusing on sensationalized media coverage. Each celebrity spoke of one victim in particular, discussing that person’s hopes, dreams and real life in an effort to humanize them.

Lots of celebrities appeared in this video, but it surely was no accident that Evan Rachel was one of those who took part in the moving tribute. Evan Rachel tells us about a 24-year-old named Jonathon Antonio Camuy Vega, who was the producer of a singing competition TV show and died protecting a young mother from the shooter.

Evan Rachel makes no mention of her own personal attachment to the subject matter – the video isn’t the time or place for that – but it’s clear from her highly emotional reading that she feels personally affected by the tragedy.

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