Fast-rising actress Evan Rachel Wood was worried when she took up the role of Southern dimwit Melodie in the comedy Whatever Works.

Her anxiety was caused by the choice of her co-star: Larry David, whose short fuse and acid wit on the hit HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm have become closely identified with his own off-screen character. After all, his character in the TV show is a comedian also named Larry David.

Indeed, Whatever Works director Woody Allen cast David because he does in the movie what seems to come naturally to him on TV - insult everyone. �

Wood, 22, tells Life! in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she lives: 'He is famously grumpy. But he is not quite like that in real life. He has manners.'

In the film, which opens tomorrow, she plays the most Allen of female characters, the gorgeous, unintellectual and earthy muse opposite an older, neurotic Jewish New York egghead.

It is a role taken on by actresses Diane Keaton and Mariel Hemingway respectively in the classic Allen films Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979).

'It's intimidating to fill those big shoes,' she admits. 'But I have respect for Allen's women. Being in that little club is good.'

The actress has been basking in good roles of late. She won praise for her singing and acting in the Beatles-inspired musical Across The Universe (2007). She was the estranged daughter of Mickey Rourke's down-and-out wrestler in the Bafta-winning, Oscar-nominated The Wrestler (2008).

This year, she plays vampire queen Sophie-Ann Leclerq in the hit HBO gothic drama True Blood.

Wood had been a fan of the TV show and so made a 'long shot' phone call to its producers, she says. Series creator Alan Ball called back. 'He said that they wanted to meet to discuss the role of the vampire queen and he wanted to know if I was interested. I said, 'Hell, yeah!'' she says.

So smitten with the part was she that for the two days of the shoot, she refused to take her prosthetic fangs off between takes, uncomfortable as they were. The actress has a well-publicised fascination with all things dark. She dated goth-rocker Marilyn Manson for a period.

'I'm fascinated with the dark side and I want to understand it. I think everyone does too, but I see nothing there to shy away from,' she says.

There is nothing gothic about Whatever Works, but it had its share of odd moments. For example, she learnt that David hated learning lines, which is why dialogue on Curb Your Enthusiasm is improvised. For the movie, David had to struggle memorising a script. They rehearsed intensely, often without Allen present.

This is the young actress' first comedy and she wants it to showcase a side of her that has never been seen.

'I had wanted to do comedy for some time and I hope this opens a door for me.'

One area where she does not need an introduction is musicals, after her star turn in Across The Universe. Its director, Julie Taymor, is now working on a Broadway musical adaptation of Spider-man and has invited Wood and her co-star in Universe, Jim Sturgess, on board.

Wood is playing the webslinger's love interest Mary Jane, while the actor playing Spider-man has not yet been announced. The production is set to open next year.

The actress says: 'I would do anything Julie asked me. Bono and Edge from U2 are doing the music and her vision is just out of this world.'

She is hoping to have a career in music, too, and admires singer-actresses such as Zooey Deschanel who can juggle both careers. Wood declares that her passion for music could even be greater than that for acting.

'I love acting and I always will, but rock 'n' roll will always get me,' she says.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.