Evan Rachel Wood recalls being under influence with co-star Jim Sturgess while shooting a scene in Across the Universe

Evan Rachel Wood shared a "funny story" about her musical romance movie, Across the Universe (2007), where she and her co-star Jim Sturgess were "actually tripping" while filming one of the scenes.

On June 15, 2024, the Emmy-nominated actress presented a special virtual Cinespia screening of the 2007 movie at Hollywood Center Cemetery. During the event, she admitted on the video message that she and Sturgess had taken real hallucinogenic drugs during the shoot.

She said in the video:

"They told me to share a funny story or moment from when we were on set. I'll just say this, during the 'I Am the Walrus' scene, any moment you see myself and Jim Sturgess, we are actually tripping."

The 36-year-old actress also recalled that their director, Julie Taymor, had no idea that they took said substances while filming the scene. It was only later that she admitted to Taymor, who wasn't as surprised about it as the actress might have thought.

"When I told her that later on, she said, 'Oh. That makes sense!'"

The scene in question was one of the film's more psychedelic moments where Evan Rachel Wood's character Lucy and Jim Sturgess' Jude went to a nightclub. In this sequence, singer Bono appeared as Dr. Robert and performed the famous The Beatles song titled I Am the Walrus.

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Evan Rachel Wood said Across the Universe "almost didn't happen"

While Evan Rachel Wood was sharing bits and pieces about the fun memories from when they were filming, she noted that the fate of the movie was, at some point, uncertain.

Talking about Across the Universe, she addressed the fans:

"[It] almost didn't happen. The heads of the studio wanted to change quite a bit. They wanted to remove anything political, anything queer, and anything psychedelic."

However, the film director had rallied with the rest of the cast. Evan Rachel Wood noted that the project coming out for the viewers to enjoy was, in large part, because of the hard work their director did in standing her ground.

The actress praised the director and added:

"So pretty much every cool part of this film would have ended up on the cutting-room floor if it wasn't for our amazing director Julie Taymor. She stood her ground and got the entire cast to back her up and say we would remove our names from this film if they were to gut it in that way."

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Across the Universe follows the budding romance between Evan Rachel Wood's character as an upper-class American girl and Sturgess' role as a poor Liverpudlian artist. The film featured music from The Beatles and was a commercial success. It received multiple award nominations, including the 2008 Golden Globe's Best Motion Picture and the Oscar's Best Achievement in Costume Design.