Wood: 'Manson did not control my image'

Evan Rachel Wood has slammed critics who suggested that ex-boyfriend Marilyn Manson controlled her image during their romance.

The actress, who split from Manson in 2008, told The Daily Beast that her decision to adopt a "darker" dress style was not influenced by the rock star.

"I would want to do something really dark or vintage or over-the-top... but my people would be like, 'It makes you look old, let’s keep you young and fresh and light and fluffy'," she said.

"I hadn’t gotten my voice yet so I was just like, ‘Okay, you’re right, I suck, I’ll wear what you say'.

"But then I met [Marilyn], and I found somebody who appreciated all those things about me that I thought were wrong. He liked the music I liked, the way I dressed, the people I hung out with."

Wood, 21, added that people who criticised her romance with the 40-year-old had not understood it, explaining: "I can’t choose who I fall in love with... It seemed natural to us and that was all that mattered."

She is currently rumoured to be dating former ER star Shane West.