ER WoodIf you were concerned about this, Evan Rachel Wood, the lovely 21-year-old actress, has ended her relationship with Marilyn Manson, the goth singer/performer who is 40.

She told me this last night at the premiere party for Woody Allen‘s ‘Whatever Works.’ Of course the comedy is about Wood dating the vastly older Larry David. In real life, Manson — whom she actually calls ‘Manson,’ by the way — is a mere 19 years Wood’s senior.

This girl is a smart cookie with a big future. She’s also young, and will date a lot of guys. The tabloids can rest easy on this subject. But Wood impressed me as a girl with her head on straight.

The break with Manson, by the way, is fairly acrimonious. He’s not happy. There seems to be name-calling involved.

What’s next, I asked? She’s moving to New York in the fall to begin rehearsals for Julie Taymor’s ‘Spider-Man’ musical on Broadway. Maybe she’ll fall in love with Peter Parker, Spider-Man’s alter ego. He still hasn’t been cast.

‘Maybe,’ ERW said. ‘You never know.’

The main thing is, can she sing? In ‘Whatever,’ she has such a convincing Southern accent you’re sure she’s from Georgia. She’s not, just from North Carolina.

‘I can sing,’ she said. ‘You’ll see.’

In the meantime, the ‘Whatever’ premiere’the second for this film’took place at Brooklyn’s famed River Caf’, home of amazing food and the best views of Manhattan. Co-stars Larry David and Patricia Clarkson came over from the screening, but Woody Allen left immediately after sticking his head in.

‘It was too overwhelming for him,’ a publicist said.

He missed Clarkson’s pal, Amy Ryan, pregnant and due to give birth in October, as well as Dana Delany and her sister, Clarkson’s four sisters, comedian Caroline Rhea, Seth Meyers from ‘SNL,’ Brooke Shields, Stanley Tucci, Swoosie Kurtz, and a gaggle of good-looking young people who no one knew and had nothing to do with the movie business per se. They were like props. The New Yorker sponsored the screening.

Here’s the deal on ‘Whatever’: It’s very funny, a real Woody Allen New York movie. I loved it. It’s not politically correct. Get over it. Clarkson and ERW are likely Oscar nominees. Woody should be nominated for the screenplay. I think ‘Whatever’ will be a crowd pleaser. And if it got Evan away from Marilyn Manson, all the better!

P.S. Evan appears in the final two episodes of HBO’s “True Blood.” She plays the Vampire Queen. She has a memorable first scene, which I will leave to others to describe. It involves another woman, and, of course, blood.

Share and Enjoy !

Author
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.