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Partner Site  Elijah Central Projects
Site Info ElijahFan.com is a unnoficial fansite.
It's run by fans, for fans. We're not affiliated with Elijah Wood
himself or anyone connected with him. We're fans ONLY!
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"The movie business is really no place for children," says Elijah Wood. "I was lucky. I'm sort of an anomaly that I made it through unscathed." Wood has been making movies since he was 8. After first gaining attention in Avalon, he has grown up onscreen, playing children in The Good Son, Forever Young, and North before maturing into a precocious teen in The Ice Storm. He is now best known as Frodo, the young hobbit at the center of the fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings. The second installment of this $300 million trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, opens this week. Once again, Wood confronts a succession of monstrous foes in his quest to save his world. Privately, Wood has faced his own perilous journey. Most child actors flame out after short-lived careers, falling into depression, drugs or problems with the law. I wondered how Wood, now 21 and by all accounts well adjusted, had eluded the traps Hollywood sets for its young. "I've been lucky that I didn't become successful very quickly," he said. "My growth as an actor has been gradual, almost parallel to my growth as a human being. But what helped me most is that I have an amazing family." Wood has an older brother, Jeremiah, and a younger sister, Hannah. The family lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where his parent ran a deli. His mother thought doing commercials might be an enjoyable outlet for his energy. A talent manager saw acting potential in the 6 year old and persuaded the family to move to L.A. "My father stayed in Iowa in case things didn't work out," said Wood. But opportunities came quickly, from a Paula Abdul video to Avalon to a role beside Mel Gibson in Forever Young (1992). Wood credits his mother, who became his unofficial manager and accompanied him on location, with keeping his own stardom from going to his head. "From the start, my Mother was diligent about making sure I was a grounded human being with the right values," he said. "It was more important who I was as a person than what I was doing. My mom really tried to achieve for me as normal a childhood as possible. When I got home, I didn't get special privileges. I wasn't better than anyone else". When Wood was 15, his parents divorced. It changed his relationship with his mother. "When my father left, I started providing for the family," he explained "my mother reacted by starting to defer me. We went through a difficult time, when our roles got kind of messed up. I finally had to say, 'Just because this help is coming from me, doesn't mean I'm the head of the family. You're my mom and you will always be my mom. All the discipline, advise and wisdom should come from you and not me.'" Though obviously mature there's nothing jaded about Wood. He still lives at home, collects action figures and admits he can be shy around young women, especially "if I see someone as being far too beautiful or out of my league" -- an extraordinary confession for someone who since Rings, has become one of the most famous young actors in the world. That film, Wood said, "is, without a doubt, one of most important things in my life,". The three episodes were shot in New Zealand over 16 months, his longest time away from his home. "I was 18 when I started," he added, "and there were certain life experiences I didn't have, like being on my own, being responsible for myself and not having my mom or anybody else there to fall back on. In that sense, I felt much like my character, Frodo. I was off on my own journey, carrying my own kind of ring." So far, it seems to served him well.
Thanks very much to Emily for typing this up for us!
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HAPPY FEET
BOBBY