Evan Rachel Wood on how child stardom prepared her for 'Kajillionaire,' why her son is 'sick' of 'Frozen 2'

Evan Rachel Wood knows the importance of a good side hustle.

"I was a magician's assistant for a little bit when I was 20, just for fun and to have a break (from acting)," she says. "No one ever saw my face. It was fun! I love the excitement of the illusion and doing it right so nobody can tell it's a trick."

Wood's emotionally stunted character in "Kajillionaire" finds similarly unusual ways to make a buck. The offbeat, sneakily heartbreaking comedy (now in theaters) follows the introverted Old Dolio Dyne, named for a homeless man that her grifter parents (Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins) hoped would include her in his will. Together, the family makes a living on small-time thefts: stealing mail to find checks to cash, or scamming airlines for money by filing "lost" luggage claims. It's during one such con they meet Melanie (Gina Rodriguez), who gets roped into their schemes and helps Old Dolio break free from her neglectful parents.

Wood, 33, was introduced to writer/director Miranda July through a mutual friend and met for dinner to discuss the movie, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. "I said, 'You know who this character reminds me of? Edward Scissorhands,'" the actress recalls. "She said that's when she knew I was the right fit."

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The "Westworld" star, who broke out in 2003's "Thirteen" and 2007's "Across the Universe," talks to USA TODAY about "Kajillionaire," getting "recognized" for "Frozen 2" and more.

Question: You made your big-screen debut in 1998's "Digging to China," which was filmed when you were just 9. How did your experience as a child actress inform how you played Old Dolio?

Evan Rachel Wood: I related to the fact that we both had very unconventional upbringings, and lived in a bubble away from societal norms and children our own age. For a lot of my childhood, I was seen as a peer and not a child, just because I was working from a very young age. Old Dolio has a similar struggle. She's always known something has been missing and hasn't been able to put her finger on it until she meets Melanie, who really sees her and it's terrifying. We get used to unhealthy situations, and that's the journey she has to go on: Can she open herself up to loving and being loved?

Q: Old Dolio's parents struggle to communicate and show her love. Did making this film affect how you approach parenting? (Wood has a 7-year-old son, Jack, with ex-husband Jamie Bell.)

Wood: Because of the way I was brought up, I've tried to be very conscious of that. This generation now that's raising kids is slightly more aware of emotions, cycles of trauma and how what we do affects our children. Miranda describes every family as mini-cults in their own way because everyone's got their own set of rules and morals and standards. Part of our life's work is figuring out who we are separate from that, and sometimes those realizations can be quite painful.

Q: It’s been almost a year since "Frozen 2" was released. Have you ever gotten recognized as your character Queen Iduna?

Wood: You don't get recognized, but if you ask kids to close their eyes and you start singing, their jaws drop and eyes light up. Because they usually don't believe you until you do that. My favorite thing is just to watch people covering ("All Is Found," her character's song) on the internet – you get a lot of really sweet videos of children singing the lullaby or listening to it with their families. It reminds me of when I grew up and was obsessed with buying every Disney album and memorizing it and acting it out in my living room.

Q: Is your son a fan of the "Frozen" movies or music?

Wood: He loves them. He always cries when he listens to "Show Yourself" (a mother-daughter duet between Wood's Iduna and Idina Menzel's Elsa). He goes, "It's so good! It always makes me cry!" I practiced on him first before the film came out, so he's been hearing ("All Is Found") for a while now. So when he finally saw it in the film, I think it was like somebody has animated our bedtime routine. He might be a little sick of it now, because sometimes when I sing it to him, he's like, "OK, that's enough now, Mom."

Q: Spoiler alert! Given the fate of your character, Dolores, in "Westworld" Season 3, have you heard from the show's creators about how they might bring you back?

Wood: I saw an interview that (co-creator) Jonathan Nolan did where somebody asked if I was coming back and he said, "I hope so." That was a good sign to me, but he also made it very clear that Dolores was dead. So presumably I'm coming back, but I have no idea in what form or incarnation. I'm just as curious as everyone else.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Evan Rachel Wood brought 'unconventional' past to 'Kajillionaire'