The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Evan Rachel Wood - "Phoenix Rising"

Episode Date: March 20, 2022

Actor Evan Rachel Wood discusses "Phoenix Rising," her two-part documentary about surviving domestic violence, and why she chose to revisit her traumatic relationship with Marilyn Manson. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free at Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruits smart technology identifies top talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, zip recruiter's powerful matching technology

starts showing you qualified people for it, and you can use zip recruiter's pre-written invite to apply message to personally reach out to your favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner. Ditch the other hiring sites, and let zip recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter Get a Quality Candidate Within the First Day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address. Zip Recruiter.com slash zip. Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire. Evan Rachel Wood. Welcome to the Daily Show. Thanks, thanks for having to. th. the the th. to the to to the to to the to the to to the the to the the to to the the to the the the th the th the the the the tha the tha thaqqqqetacetackease tha. tha. thakeasea. Zipreter. Zipreter. Zipreter. Zipreter. Zipreter. Zipre. Zipre. Zipre. Zipeeaseeaseknenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenene. the the the the the the the the the the the tapease. tapeaseeaseeasea. tape. tape. Zip rea. Zip rea. Zip rea. Zip rea. Zipeasea. Zip to hire. Evan Rachel Wood. Welcome to the Daily Show. Thanks, thanks for having me. It's good to have you here, especially to talk about a topic that I think is one of the more

sensitive topics that we're discussing in society today, but also one of the more pertinent topics that we're discussing in society today. issue of abuse. Sexual abuse, which, as we learn from the Me Too movement, is far more rampant than people would have wanted to admit, or even some people realized. And you've created a documentary here. Let's start with the why, maybe. And not why the documentary, but the timing of the documentary. So many people want to let go of pain in their life.

So many people want to move on. It feels like you've done the exact opposite. You've gone back into the pain, you've gone back into the story. Why and why now? Well, it is 16 years later. So I do get a lot of people commenting on how I'm able to speak about things and put on a brave face and how strong I am. But it took 16 years to get here here here here here here here here here the th th to get here th th to get here to get here to get here th th to get heretook 16 years to get here. And the first thing that I did when I got out was try to get as far away from it as possible.

Try to forget it ever happened. You're running. You're trying to forget that it ever happened. And then, of course, it catches up with you, and I couldn't run from it. The trauma started to seep into into th in in in th and their thin in their thine their thiiiia thia, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, their, the, their, the, their, and, thoes, and, the, the, and, and, thi, thi, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th. And, th. And, th. And, the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thea, thean, thean, thean, tooooooooooooooomooomoooomorrow, and, thaea, thauu. And, thau. And, the started, the trauma started to seep into other areas of my life. So I threw myself in a therapy, which I highly recommend if you have the resources, unfortunately, in this country, you know, mental health is not always at the top of the list. And really, I was planning on taking this to my grave.

I really was not planning on saying anything ever. And that afraid of retaliation, I just did not feel safe and I felt very alone. I thought it was the only one. You'll hear that a lot from abuse of Irish. When I first was asked to testify for the sexual assault of Irish Bill of Rights in front of Congress about my story, I really thought that was going to be it. I thought, okay, I'm going to tell my story, and that's it, I'm going to be done. And then women started popping up, and men, online, that had eerily similar stories. But new details that I knew they weren't lying. There were very, very specific details that I, there's just no way you could know those things unless, unless you were toe toe with that person. So I knew it was real th. T was thi. T was thiii. That's thi. That's thi. That's thi. That's thi. That's thi. That's thi. That's thi. That's thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I thi. I thi. I th. I th. I th. th. I th. th. th. I th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I'm the. And the. I'm the. And theee. And the. I'm thee. And the. And thee. And the. And the. And the. And you were toe toe with that person. So I knew it was real and that's when it changed.

That's when I knew I couldn't stay quiet. You know when you say that person, I guess one of the reasons the story is as big as it is not just because of what happened, but it's because of who it involves. You know, you named Marilyn Manson. In cases of abuse, oftentimes we think it as th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, I th, I th, I th, th, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi., thi.e, thiiiiiiiiiiiii. thiiii.e, thi. thi, thi, th as being black or white, good and bad. Yes. You know, there are layers to people which make it complicated. And you've talked about, you've talked about his history, you've talked about his history, you've talked about his history with, you know, the issues that he deals with mentally, etc. I found that particularly interesting because it cloudies a subject that is already quite complicated and yet because of that it deserves to be part of the conversation. Why did you feel it necessary to say,

hey, this is the person who abused me, and this person also suffered abuse, and this person is also going through things? Why do that knowing that it would then, you know, almost cloud some people's judgment in like who's guilty or who's not or even even who's accountable sometimes. Of course and and that's it can definitely get complicated in in that way because I I do believe an accountability and healing and reform and I think there is a time and a space for that and I think we need to leave more space for accountability otherwise nobody's gonna be

accountable. But I I just knew we're never going to get to the root of this problem if we don't go in to the background and the root and the cause. Because violence in the home is the root of so many issues in this country, in the world. It bleeds into almost every area of society, and we don't even realize it. And violence begets violence. It is a cycle.

And there are people that can stop the cycle. And there are some people, I feel, like Brian, that don't want help. And he's had every opportunity. He's had so many people try and he has he has refused it every time and Once I mean, I don't know how much I can say but there you know there have been allegations and stories that have come out on the internet that involved minors and you got to draw the line somewhere and and with children I have to draw the line there and I don't believe that he will stop until he has stopped and

sometimes the greatest act of love is stopping that person from hurting themselves or hurting anybody else. We in society often say we go, well why didn't you do it sooner? Why didn't you come forward sooner? And so I would love to know from you how time, how you think time affects the mental state, the relationship and the entire world of somebody who's experienced sexual abuse. People underestimate the power of that kind of trauma and what it does to your body and to your brain. And there's so many studies to back this up.

And this is what the laws do not reflect, is the effects of trauma on the brain. And a lot of people, when they're think they know how they're going to respond to a situation like that. But until you're in a life-threatening situation and you're doing risk assessment and you're in survival mode and you're going to have that fight, flight, or freeze response, sometimes all three, you're just trying to survive that moment and get the least amount of damage, you know, and then once you're out, again, like I said, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you're, you're, you're, their their their, their, their, their, their, th. think, think, think, think, think, think, think, thin, think, thin, thin, thin, think, think, think, think, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th...... And, th. And, th... And, th.. And, th.. And, th. And, th., th., th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. I, th. I, th. th. thin, th. thin, th. th. thin, th. th. th. thin, th. thin, th. thin, and, and, and, and, and, th said, you, your body and your brain do backflips to protect you from the pain. And that's how denial comes into play.

That's how, you know, addiction comes into play, bad coping mechanisms because you're just trying to bury, because to face it, to face the reality is almost unbearable. I think on average it takes people seven to ten years to be able to process, understand, heal, and be able to put things in chronological order. The laws, I mean, you know, in California, the statute of limitations was one to three years when we started advocating for the Phoenix Act. And you know, one to three years is nothing to a survivor or just somebody that is experienced not just one incidence of trauma which is you know any act of trauma is is terrible but you know imagine

24-7 for four years the damage that would do on somebody's psyche and self-esteem and was somebody like him who is very calculated in brainwashing, in isolation, it very much operates like a cult in that when you're in it, you can't see the force through the trees. Up is down, down is up, it's you too against the world, and it is a secret that nobody will ever be able to understand and you feel like you're a part of something, you know. And you got to break free free th th th to, to to to to to to to break to break to break to break to break to break free to break free th to break free to break free th the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, the, that the, that that that that that that that that that the. that that that that that that that that thi. that that thi. thi. that, thi. thi. that, thi. that, that, thi, that, that, thi, thi, that, that, that, that, that that that that that that that that that that that that that the, the, the, the.a, the.a.a. that's that's that's that's that's the.a. that's that, the, the, the, that against the world and it is a secret that nobody will ever be able to understand and you feel like you're a part of something, you know? And you gotta break free of that illusion. And it takes time, it takes time and work and therapy. I cannot stress that enough.

But you know, again, I have those resources. I have a platform. I have privilege, so it really breaks my heart to think of the their, their, and, and, and, and, and, th, and, and, and, and, th, th, and, and, th, and, th, and, th, and, thi, thi, and, thi, thi, and, and, platform, I have privilege, so it really breaks my heart to think of people that don't have access to the things that I have had access to and how alone they must feel. And that really is what drives me. Well, as I said at the beginning of the conversation, it's one of the hardest conversations to have, I think because it makes us question a lot of society, of course. Of course. Of course, the th is is is is is is th, th and who we are th and th and th and th and th and thi is thi is thi is thi, the thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, thoen, thoen, thi, thooen, thoen, thoen, thoan, thoan, thoan, thoan, thoan, thoan, thoan, tho, tho, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thr. And, thr. And, throan. And, throan. And, tooan. throan. thoan. thoan. thoanananananananananananananananananananto be. And yeah, thank you for joining us on the show. And I encourage everybody to watch the documentary and hear your side of the story.

Thank you so much. The two-part HBO documentary Phoenix Rising is March 15th and 16th on HBO and can be streamed on HBo Max. Watch the Daily Show, Week nights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.