Evan Rachel Wood was terrified of telling her mother she was dating shock rocker Marilyn Manson - because she had always been warned to stay away from older men.

Wood was 20 when she started romancing 40-year-old Manson and her mother was among the last people to find out - because the actress couldn't bring herself to tell her.

She tells Black Book magazine, "My whole life I had been brought up with the idea that an older guy dating a younger girl is sick, disgusting and everything is wrong about it. (But) I've never dated a guy who didn't have mommy issues."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)