Evan Rachel Wood testified about her sexual assault in Congress in 2018. She named her alleged abuser last year. Now, she has even more to share – and in her own words.
A new documentary “Phoenix Rising – Part I: Don’t Fall,”which premiered Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival (and will arrive on HBO later this year), the actress and activist describes her toxic and turbulent relationship with ex-fiancé Brian Warner (aka Marilyn Manson) and how she’s taking back the narrative through activism.
Wood withheld Manson’s name for years after first discussing abuse she faced, but named Manson in an Instagram postIn February 2021, the person who denied the allegations was claims.Since then, several women have accused Manson. Physical and sexual abuseand he has been hit with Several lawsuitsBy accusers.
“It’s always really hard for me to look at photos of myself from before” meeting Manson, Wood, 34, says at the start of the Amy Berg-directed documentary, glancing at old pictures on her computer and thinking about her youthful innocence. The couple were together for 4.5years, beginning in 2006 when she was 18. He was 37.
Filmmakers contacted Manson but he did not respond to specific allegations. Instead, the film includes a statement from Manson’s lawyers, saying the musician “vehemently denies any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse of anyone. These lurid claims against my client have three things in common – they are all false, alleged to have taken place more than a decade ago and part of a coordinated attack by former partners and associates of Mr. Warner who have weaponized the otherwise mundane details of his personal life and their consensual relationships into fabricated horror stories.”
The documentary tells Wood’s side of the story – and that of other survivors.
“I went to (Berg) very desperate to be heard and for this story to be told and for people to finally pay attention to what we’ve been saying and how serious it is,” Wood said in a Q&A following the film’s premiere. “My story is not unique.”
Important:Evan Rachel Wood, and the healing power that naming names has
Evan Rachel Wood’s Hollywood debut
Wood grew up in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, and says she was raised with the mentality to persevere even when she felt uncomfortable. In 2003’s film, Wood saw this in action. “Thirteen.” She had to make out with a 23-year-old man on camera when she was only 14 in front of a room full of people.
“I remember not wanting to do it, but I knew that the character needed to and so it didn’t matter what Evan wanted,”She says it in the film. “It just had to be done.”
The performance gained her critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination but pigeonholed her as a “troubled teen,”She was cast in mature roles in movies like 2006 “Running with Scissors”2005 “Down in the Valley.”She had practically no real life. Sex educationAnd was keeping a dark secret about her Sexual orientation.
“I knew that I was bisexual, but I had no idea how to handle that or deal with it and I didn’t feel safe coming out to either of my parents,”She saidIn the documentary.
Let’s discuss (queer) sex.Schools need to be inclusive of LGBTQ sex education
Marilyn Manson said to Marilyn when she met her: “Don’t fall.”
Wood, still an insecure teenager, met Manson at a Chateau Marmont party in 2006. Clad in a sparkly gold jacket with rings on his fingers, Wood says he walked past her sitting on a balcony and warned her, “Don’t fall.”The couple struck up an alliance Friendship – he was married at the time and she had a boyfriend – and he said he wanted to work with her on a film about author Lewis Carroll and his subconscious.
Wood speaks for one nightShe went to his homeHe gave the impression that they were working on their film and she was merely trying to get him to stop.
She says Manson began to “immerse” herself in the world.Lovebomb“She” can be used with phrases like: “I’m your vampire,” “You are the blood in my heart” “I want to stay with you forever.” Also: “You’re so important to me I want to kick you.”
The most recent:Marilyn Manson’s home was searched by authorities after it was alleged that there had been physical and sexual abuse.
“I was coerced”
Then came the branding on their bodies – in the film, Wood describes how Manson carved an “E”She carved an “M”To show loyalty. She carved it “M” next to her pelvic area to show that she belonged to him. She says Manson tried to keep her away from any other person, despite growing concern from her family.
At 19 she was featured in a music clip for Manson’s song “Heart-Shaped Glasses.”Wood claims he penetrated her on film, even though a scene of simulated sex was being discussed.
“I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses,”She says it in the documentary. “That’s when the first crime was committed against me, and I was essentially raped on camera.”
At the time, out of fear, she said publicly filming the video was romantic.
In “Phoenix Rising,” Wood also details Manson’s affinity for Adolf Hitler, saying he filled his original paintings with swastikas and Nazi imagery.
Wood was ridiculed for being Jewish. She claims that he also wrote one of their letters. “kill all the Jews”On their bedroom wall.
Wood testified to the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights in 2018.Front of CongressSince then, he has worked with Systemic changes are needed to ensure the survival of future survivors. Through her advocacy work, she was able to help push through the Phoenix Act in California that extended the Statute of limitationsCalifornia has the following: Domestic felonies.
Yet some in power are still shielding Manson, said Berg at Sunday’s Q&A.
“The industry needs to take inventory of themselves now because we ran into a lot of stumbling blocks even in just trying to clear music in this film, because people are still protecting (Manson), and they don’t want to participate in anything that might upset him,”Berg.
Wood took on media as well. “The way the press handled this story for many, many years is shameful,” she added in the Q&A. “And it’s time we finally tell the whole story.”
RAINN offers support to survivors of sexual assault via the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE&).amp;online.rainn.org).