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Cast Archive: Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Birthday: January 28, 1981
Birth Place: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
Resides: United States
Professions: actor, model
Companions Bijou Phillips, Pamela Racine, Franka Potente
One of the most gifted child stars to emerge in the 1990s, Elijah Wood's gentle demeanor and expressive eyes made him eminently likable with audiences, but it was his innate talent which allowed him to make the successful transformation from cute kid to respected adult actor. Wood began modeling at a young age and was soon auditioning for film, television and commercial roles. With small appearances in films like "Back to the Future II" (1989), as well as landing various parts on television, Wood was well on his way in Hollywood when director Barry Levinson gave him a prominent role in Avalon (1990). From there it was a steady, if uneven, string of films for the young actor, including turns in projects like The Good Son (1993), the Rob Reiner flop North (1994), the Ang Lee-directed drama The Ice Storm (1997), and the teen horror romp, The Faculty (1998). It was, however, the announcement in 1999 that Wood had been cast in the leading role of Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's massive "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy that would forever mark his still young career. Filmed over the course of an entire year in New Zealand, the "Rings" films were huge successes, both critically and commercially, propelling Wood into the strata of full-fledged movie star. After the final entry in the fantasy series had premiered, Wood kept up the momentum with roles in high profile films like Robert Rodriguez's noir comic book adaptation Sin City (2005), as well as starring in more intimate projects like The Romantics (2010). The opportunities would continue to be vast and varied for Wood, a talented performer who, while proving his versatility as an actor, would always be fondly remembered for his moving portrayal of the brave hobbit, Frodo.

Born Elijah Jordan Wood on Jan. 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, IA to parents Debbie and Warren, Wood began modeling as a youngster, and after being spotted by a Los Angeles-based talent agent, entered film with small parts in "Back to the Future II" (1989) and "Internal Affairs" (1990), in addition to several made-for-TV movies. Impressed by the child actor's ability, director Barry Levinson cast Wood as the grandson of Russian-Jewish immigrants growing up in mid-century Baltimore in his autobiographical family drama, Avalon (1990). The following year, he gave a heartwarming performance as a young boy who becomes the impetus for bringing an estranged married couple (Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith) back together after the death of their child in Paradise (1991). Wood continued to hone his craft in the Richard Donner directed Radio Flyer (1992), the nostalgic story of two young boys who take refuge in a rich fantasy life as a means of escaping the physical and emotional abuse of their stepfather. The same year, the busy young thespian starred opposite Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis in the romantic drama Forever Young (1992), about a man revived after being cryogenically frozen for 50 years. Wood held his own against child star Macauley Culkin as an orphan sent to live with his Svengali-like cousin after the death of his parents in The Good Son (1993). On cable, he appeared as a child ghost haunting a Nazi concentration camp soldier (Gary Sinise) in the mini-movie, "The Witness" (Showtime, 1993), and landed the title role in the Disneyfied big screen adaptation of Twain's The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993).

More prominent roles continued to come Wood's way, with films like North (1994), directed by Rob Reiner and boasting an all-star cast. The tale of a precocious boy who feels so unappreciated by his parents, that he deems himself a "free agent" and travels the world in search of the perfect mom and dad, "North" was a rare misfire for Reiner and was savaged by the critics. Receiving a slightly warmer welcome was the family drama The War (1994), starring Kevin Costner as a father recently returned from Vietnam. After a brief hiatus, Wood returned with the movie adaptation of the aquatic family adventure series Flipper (1996), opposite Paul Hogan. In The Ice Storm (1997), the critically lauded Ang Lee film that examined the interconnected lives of several people in an upper-class suburb in 1970s Connecticut, he played the troubled son of Sigourney Weaver. Wood followed up the next year with two more commercially friendly features. The Faculty (1998), directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Kevin Williamson, was a teen horror movie about a group of high school students who discover their teachers' bodies are being taken over by malicious aliens. Also that year, Wood appeared in the big-budget, apocalyptic blockbuster Deep Impact (1998), which recounted the days leading up to an asteroid's collision with earth. Two years later, he made an appearance in James Toback's flawed experimental drama Black and White (2000), a largely improvised examination of race relations in urban America.

The high point of the young actor's career came when Wood was given the coveted role of the gentle hobbit, Frodo Baggins, in director Peter Jackson's epic film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings." Wood's character was the lynchpin of an adventure that began when Frodo inherited the "One Ring" from his elderly uncle, Bilbo. The magical ring would enable the evil wizard Sauron to hold sway over all of Middle Earth, and so brave little Frodo and a mismatched group of hobbits, dwarves, elves, and humans set out on a quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom. A truly massive undertaking - one that would have bankrupt New Line Cinema, had it failed at the box office - Jackson filmed all three installments at once over the course of a year in his homeland of New Zealand. The gamble paid off, as the first film in the series, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), was a smashing success with both fans and critics, launching Wood and his co-stars into the realm of international stars. The second chapter, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), was an even bigger success. That same year, Wood was also seen in the direct-to-video Life Without Dick (), in addition to starring opposite Edward Burns in Ash Wednesday (2002), playing the younger brother of the director-actor in this look at the Irish vs. Italian gang wars of the 1980s. Frodo and company's quest at last came to an end in the rousing conclusion, "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (2003), bringing one of the greatest adventure fantasies ever filmed to a close and garnering a Best Picture Academy Award.

Fresh off the monumental trilogy, Wood soon appeared in his first significant post-Frodo role in the off-kilter but visually enthralling Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), playing opposite stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as an ethically challenged lab tech, specializing in erasing unwanted painful memories. Next, Wood went far against type as the silent, razor-nailed, cannibalistic killer, Kevin, in the hyper-stylized adaptation of Frank Miller's violent comic book series, Sin City (2005), marking his second collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez. Busier than ever, Wood also appeared in two small films that same year. Green Street Hooligans (2005) found him playing an expelled American undergrad who befriends a football thug after he begins living with his sister in England. Wood rounded out the year with Everything Is Illuminated (2005), playing a young man on a humorous and bizarre journey to the Ukraine in search of a woman who saved his grandfather's life during World War II. For George Miller's animated Happy Feet (2006), Wood provided the voice for Mumble, a vocally-challenged penguin who discovers his only chance at wooing a mate is through his slick dance moves. Then in Bobby (2006), director Emilio Estevez's ensemble piece chronicling the hours leading up to the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel, Wood portrayed a young man about leave for Vietnam who wants to marry a young girl (Lindsay Lohan) he barely knows before he is shipped out.

Wood's next project, Paris, I Love You (2007), was another ensemble film, comprised of several separate vignettes, each with its own internationally renowned director, all dealing with romance in the city of love. In the independent drama Day Zero (2008), Wood played a novelist with a terrible case of writer's block, brought on when he is drafted into military service within 30 days. He also took on more voice work with the visually stunning, albeit plot- light, animated sci-fi adventure 9 (2009). After this came the feeble The Romantics (2010), a romantic comedy with aspirations of being the next "The Big Chill" (1983), in which Wood and a group of former college chums gather for a wedding, only to air their collective dirty laundry after a night of heavy drinking. The academic murder mystery The Oxford Murders (2010), co-starring John Hurt, also saw a very limited release that same year, before being banished to DVD.

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