Evan Rachel Wood sued for $30 million. Why?

Evan Rachel Wood was sued by producers of '10 Things I Hate about Life' for breach of contract. But a rep for Evan Rachel Wood has a different version of events.

Evan Rachel Wood didn't show up for work.

That's the claim being made by producers of the now unmade movie, "10 Things I Hate About Life."  So, they're suing the actress for $30 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.

In a lawsuit filled in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the producers claim that Evan Rachel Wood was paid an initial $300,000 to star in the film. But "seemingly changed her mind about appearing in the film during principle photography, ultimately refusing without any legal justification to fulfill her contractual obligations and instead opting to walk out on the project," the lawsuit claims.

But the Hollywood Reporter says that a lawyer for Wood offered a different version of events.

 "The lawsuit is preposterous and simply a bullying tactic from financially troubled producers. The production shut down in February 2013, when the producers ran out of money.

"Even after that, Evan agreed to resume production in Nov. 2013, by which time the producers said they would have cleared up their issues. However, the producers still could not get their act together, nor did they pay Evan money that was owed," the statement goes on to claim.

The film was to be a sequel to the 1999 romantic comedy, "10 Things I Hate About You," which was a modern take on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. That successful film boosted the careers of Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Evan Rachel Wood won several awards for her performance in the film Thirteen in 2003. She was nominated for a 2012 Golden Globe and an Emmy for her performance in Mildred Pierce (2011).

While such lawsuits are relatively rare, Wood is not the first actress to be sued for an alleged breach of contract.

Last year, True Crime LLC sued an actress for refusing to appear in sex scenes, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The suit alleged that she broke the terms of the nudity rider "by, among other things, refusing (a) 'to appear and perform in nude scenes and/or simulated lovemaking scenes' ... 'as may be determined by the Producer' and (b) to 'appear and perform nude in the Program as required by Producer.' "

But actors have also gone after producers. Last year, Daniel Curry sued the producers, engineers, and theater owners involved in the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” He filed a lawsuit claiming negligence after his foot was injured during a performance that used a mechanical lift to simulate him flying across the set.

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