Evan Rachel Wood covers the new issue of Elle Canada. ERW is one of those women – much like Kristen Stewart – who can really pull off some odd/strong styling choices. Elle Canada really pushed it with this clown makeup makeup though. She looks gorgeous, of course, but she looks gorgeous in spite of the makeup. Anyway, the full Elle Canada piece is worth a read – go here for the full piece – because ERW is really coming into her own these days. She’s 29 years old, star of a prestige obsession-watch (Westworld), a single mom to a 3-year-old son, and she’s more politically active and woke in general. Some highlights:

Why she wore tuxedos to awards shows this year: “When you’re nominated for best actress, usually every-one is like, ‘What dress is she going to wear?’ and I just kind of wanted to surprise people and completely go the other route.”

Her son is starting to understand his parents’ life: “Bless him. He’s a gypsy by proxy because his parents are. He’s only three now, but he’s starting to understand. He hears one of my songs and he knows that that’s me, and he has seen me on TV and he’s starting to put the pieces together. His parents are very different. My ex-husband [actor Jamie Bell] is lovely and very British and straightedge, and then he’s got this glam-rock weirdo for a mom…. He said something to me that was so profound I wanted to put it on a T-shirt. I was just poking fun at him lovingly one day and I said, ‘You’re weird,’ and he said, ‘I’m not weird. I’m playing.’ And I was like, that’s the most brilliant thing I’ve ever heard. I’m not weird, I’m just playing. That’s my motto for life from now on.”

She moved to Nashville: “L.A. is wonderful, and it has given me so many amazing things, but I’ve also got a lot of demons here. I was ready to break it up a little bit. I wanted to give my kid some grass to run around on. Again, he’s got two actor parents. I was like, ‘You don’t need to live in L.A. full-time. Let’s go somewhere a little “normal” for a bit.’”

Moving back to the South: “There was one incident where I think somebody showed me a picture and he was comparing Hillary Clinton and Chelsea to Melania and Ivanka. He was like, ‘God, dodged a bullet, right?’ and laughing. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He was like, ‘Which ones would you rather have? The hot ones or the ugly ones?’ and I was like, ‘I think I would rather be valued for what’s in my mind, especially if I were in that position, but it’s cool if what is important to you is that you want to have sex with them in your mind. That’s all on you, man, and that’s super-messed-up, but I’m just going to leave this conversation now.’ I had to walk away.”

What she would do if she could change everyone in the world: “Honestly, I don’t even really want to change people that much. I want to make sure everyone’s got access to affordable health care and things that help people stay alive and sane and taken care of on a base level. And then, seriously, I don’t care what you believe. Just let everyone live the way that they choose to live and let’s not try to force our ideals on everybody else…. I also don’t want to be a hypocrite. If that’s what you believe, I so strongly disagree, but I’m not going to hate you for it. I’m not getting mad at you unless you’re harming somebody against their will or taking away rights or meddling in people’s lives.”

On feminism: “Some think that feminism is about hating men, and they hate you for that. I love men. I have a son—I actually want a world where we can all be equal and I’m not held back because of my gender. It’s not a movement against men! It sucks that the word ‘feminism’ is so tainted. Also, I’m in the LGBT community [Wood identifies as bisexual], and you’re told a lot that you’re going to hell and you’re a terrible person. People think that it’s a movement and we’re trying to destroy society. It’s intense.”

[From Elle Canada]

I was surprised to learn that she moved to Nashville. She grew up in North Carolina, so it’s interesting to me that she chose to “go back” to a Southern town, however progressive. And even in the most progressive cities in the South, you’re still going to come across those same a–holes who think Melania is a better FLOTUS because she’s “hot” (and Hillary wanted to protect health care, ew, gross!). As for what she says about feminism… I would expect that from an 18-year-old who just started learning about feminism. It sucks that a 29-year-old mother has to sit there in an interview and talk about how some people believe feminism is about hating men. But she’s right – a lot of people think that way. She’s representing the bare minimum of feminist thought though – “No, really, feminists don’t hate men.” Move past that!

Photos courtesy of Max Abadian/Elle Canada.