Evan Rachel Wood is still relatively young (depending on whom one asks), but she has just reached the maturity necessary to realize that dating a man that could easily be her father was a mistake. The actress tells WENN that she and rocker Marilyn Manson were a doomed relationship from the start because of the huge age gap that separated them.

Ever since the two officially became a couple in the aftermath of Manson’s divorce from burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese, industry watchers said they had nothing to work in their favor, save for a common interest in the obscure and everything weird. All this time, the two were insisting that theirs was more than just a rebound romance and that what they had was not only common interests but also a true love story, which made it impossible for the relationship to fail.

Eventually, it did happen, and the two stopped seeing each other. Months later, they gave it another try, only to realize that there was nothing to be salvaged of their once presumably wonderful romance. Now, Rachel Wood is telling the media that she will never make the same mistake again since an age gap is not an obstacle that can be easily overcome, no matter how hard both partners try.

“I don’t think it works. I think it’s a bad idea. I think as long as you learn from it – good or bad experience – it’s an experience, and you should take something away from it.” the actress tells WENN. As a side note, these were also her almost exact words the first time she broke up from the shock rocker only to be reconciled months later. Dita Von Teese, on the other hand, has played the mum card for all these years since the divorce, speaking of what went wrong in their short-lived marriage only once – and even then with a remarkable scarcity of details.

Marilyn Manson, for one, is now focusing on promoting his seventh music album, “The High End of Low,” released on May 26. All his recent interviews seem to make a point of avoiding questions related to his personal life – but one topic that the rocker is still bitter about is the guilt trip he was literally forced to take after the Columbine massacre, which admittedly ruined his entire career.