Between takes
The Allure and Westworld star talks granola and going dark…
Evan Rachel Wood shares her set secrets.
What’s the first thing you do on set?
I make a playlist to get me into the right headspace and shut myself off from the world. For Allure I was a recluse. I barely left my apartment because I wanted to be tormented by my thoughts. I was playing the abuser, so I felt I had to bring a lot of things that I’ve experienced.
What do you take on set?
Usually a book. I like a sense of humour on set. Even when I’m doing something really dark, I’ll try to laugh. You have to at some point, or you’re just going to cry forever, or make yourself sick. I did get sick doing this movie, actually. I collapsed on the last day of shooting and couldn’t get up.
Have you got any on-set superstitions that you always stick to?
I grew up in the theatre, so I have all the theatre superstitions, like not being able to say Macbeth, and saying “break a leg”. I also have little rituals that I do, like lifting your feet up over the railroad tracks when you drive over them, and holding your breath in a tunnel.
Hot or cold lunch?
It depends. When I did Into The Forest with Ellen Page we were supposed to be starving, so I would have one little bit of chocolate, and the rest of the day I’d eat vegetables. I have a very specific diet, because I have crazy pale skin, and it’s really sensitive. If I eat the wrong thing, I pay for it later. So most of the time I live off granola bars. Granola bars and green tea.
What’s been your best on-set experience so far?
I loved doing Across The Universe. That was life-changing and fun. I turned 18. I got to go live in New York for a year and sing Beatles songs. It helped shape who I am as a person. And Westworld was so epic to do. We were in the desert together, we were falling in love, we were being ripped apart, and people were dying. It’s all fake, but there’s still part of you that’s like, “It’s real!”
Longest day on set?
I’ve almost gone 24 hours straight. When you’re sleep-deprived in that way, you get kind of loopy and a bit delirious and giggly, so the jokes are always 10 times funnier when we’re doing night shoots and you have to be twice as careful not to laugh. You’re in this zombie state of living. If someone sneezes it’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard, then you can’t do the scene.
Have you ever stolen anything from a film set?
Yes! But I was usually given the green light, so it wasn’t like Grand Theft Auto or anything. I try to take at least one thing, or one article of clothing. I took Laura’s brown jacket from Allure, not because I really wanted to stay close to her, but because I felt like me and that jacket had been through so much together. My only comfort when
I was doing the movie was this fricking warm, brown, tweed jacket. So I was just like, “OK, I’m taking this with me. It’s part of me now.” JF
ETA | 18 may / allure opens next month. westworld season 2 airs on sky atlantic from 23 april.
‘when you’re doing something really dark, you have to laugh, or you’ll just cry forever’