﻿“You can always do better,” — those words stayed with Elijah Wood from his
childhood career till now. With the help of his loving mother, the actor was able
to survive Hollywood as a teen, stay grounded and build a career that continues to flourish.
It was also while focusing on his work that Elijah met his love and the mother of his son.
Elijah Wood knew from a young age that he wanted to entertain. Being the second
of three children born to Debbie and Warren Wood, Elijah grew up in a loving family that
encouraged his interests in music and acting. At the tender age of seven, Wood started modeling
and taking piano lessons. In elementary school, he landed roles in productions such as ‘The Sound
of Music’ and ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.’ His professional career also started at a young age.
In 1988, Elijah appeared in the music video for Paula Abdul's ‘Forever Your
Girl.’ Earlier in his career, the actor appeared in works such as ‘Back to the
Future Part II,’ ‘Paradise,’ and ‘The Good Son.’ His role in ‘Child In the Night’ put the young
actor on directors' radars, so the Iowa native was doing pretty well for himself at the time.
Unfortunately, when he was 15 years old, Wood had to take a break from acting because of some
issues in his personal life. When he took his acting hiatus,
it was because the actor’s parents were getting divorced. It was difficult for Elijah,
but it didn’t affect him as severely as other teenagers going through similar things. The
actor never had a conventional relationship with his father and always felt closer to his mother.
“It didn’t seem like a shock, it didn’t leave any emotional scarring – it was
something that I was able to emotionally and intellectually understand,” he shared.
After he took some time off to focus on himself and his family, Wood returned to Hollywood with
his role in ‘Flipper,’ a family adventure about a teenage boy who looks after a wounded dolphin.
The buzz around this film promoted the actor from an adorable adolescent to a
teenage icon! Wood became a favorite subject for magazines like Teen Beat, BOP, and Tiger Beat.
The actor was such a heartthrob for teenagers that fans would camp out at his
family’s home, sometimes knocking on the door to make daring requests!
“Oh! I can tell you about that,” Elijah said with some exasperation in a 1996 interview.
“Everybody knew where I lived. Some parents came to my door and said, ‘Can you make an appearance
at my daughter’s birthday party?’ … . They just hound you,” he added.
Teenage stardom can be a slippery slope. As we’ve seen with many young actors, there are
pitfalls to Hollywood. Due to certain degrees of trauma, impressionable young actors can take
the path of poor money management, an inflamed ego, and substance abuse, thus spiraling out
of control — but Wood was far from this fate. Through the devoted upbringing from his mother and
her persistent guidance on how to stay grounded and not be affected by others, Elijah remained
unscathed. “I’ve got a wonderful mother. I could never see myself getting ruined by Hollywood as so
many child actors have,” the actor said in 1997. Another side of young stardom is parents who
propel their children to fame in hopes of benefitting from their success. This wasn’t
the case for Wood either — instead, his mom’s main concern was to educate him. And the actor
is beyond grateful that she let him go at his own pace. “I was really lucky,” Wood confessed.
Aside from being a teen heartthrob, throughout the 90s, Elijah continued
to wow the film industry with his acting. Then in 1999, came the role that would mark
a significant milestone in his career: Frodo Baggins in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.
The actor had heard about the first film and, having read ‘The Hobbit’, was very familiar
with writer J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world — filled with wizards, elves, and magic. He
also knew that Peter Jackson was directing the film, and Wood is a big fan of Jackson’s work.
The Kiwi filmmaker is the mind behind ‘Heavenly Creatures,’ the 2005 remake of ‘King Kong,’ and
‘Mortal Engines,’ to name a few. Elijah was very eager to be part of
this film. So, after a friend convinced him he’d make a perfect Frodo Baggins,
the two began making the actor’s first VHS audition tape, a memory he recalled fondly.
Wood didn’t just read the lines in front of a camera and turn in a tape of that. No. Instead,
the ambitious young actor went the extra mile. On making the tape, he said, “I went to a vocal coach
for the dialect and enlisted some friends, including George Wang, who is a writer and
filmmaker. We went out to the woods in Griffith Park and shot two of the audition sequences there
and one at my house.” Each scene represented Frodo at a different stage of his journey.
Then, Elijah and George cut the scenes together at Miramax, and the actor submitted his
tape to the casting office. Obviously, the director felt impressed with what he
saw because Elijah was the first actor to be cast in the film! And the rest is history.
The actor would spend the next 16 months of his life in New Zealand, as the entire
trilogy was filmed there back-to-back. And then he returned several times to do
pick-up scenes for the subsequent sequels. The ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy was a massive
success, earning the young actor critical acclaim for his portrayal of Frodo. The
role also cemented his status as one of Hollywood's most talented actors.
After the significant success of the film franchise, Elijah’s next mission was to
avoid being type-cast and went for roles that were the opposite of Frodo Baggins.
“My immediate feeling after the first Rings movie came out was that I couldn't conceive of
doing anything massive again,” the actor said. So, the first thing he worked on afterward was
a movie that very few know about called ‘Ash Wednesday.’ “One of my reasons for doing it
was because it was really tiny. I was only in makeup for four minutes a day!" Wood joked.
He has since played various characters, including a lab technician in ‘Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind,’ a serial killer in ‘Sin City,’ and the voice of the lovable Mumble in ‘Happy Feet.’
The actor also featured in the 2017 crime drama ‘I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.’ The
film won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance film festival, but there’s
also another very special thing about it. While on set, Wood stumbled across Mette Marie
Kongsved, a Danish film producer. It is speculated that the two started dating in 2016, but they only
publicly confirmed their romance two years later when they were seen holding hands in Pasadena.
The lovebirds are very private about their personal lives, so you don’t hear much about
them. However, in 2020, reports confirmed that the ‘Lord of The Rings’ star and his partner
had welcomed their first child together — a son. Aside from his glorious acting career, Elijah has
plenty of other endeavors to keep us entertained! In 2005, the music lover launched his own label,
Simian Records. The company was dissolved in 2015, but while it was around, the actor directed a
music video for one of the bands he’d signed! He doesn't just play in Middle-earth, Wood’s
also made his mark on the dance music scene. The actor is also a DJ and a successful one at that.
He founded the duo ‘Wooden Wisdom’ with his friend Zach Cowie,
and the two have spun at events worldwide. The 42-year-old also founded the production
company SpectreVision with Daniel Noah and Josh Waller. This star is no one-trick pony!
While he does all these other projects, Wood continues to act and develop iconic roles. We
may hear very little about his personal life, but his acting career is always on our minds. Those
piercing blue eyes are hard to forget. There must be a secret to being so
majorly successful, right? Well, it’s not really a secret,
rather an advice that helped Elijah in his younger years. “I think it might have even
been Mel Gibson that told me this, he said that you can always do better,” the actor revealed.
As Elijah explained it: the subtext of this advice is that there is always something to strive for,
always something to learn, and always a way to grow. “I think that’s incredibly true and
an incredibly valuable piece of advice. You should never stop striving to do better work.
It’s the fire in our engine,” he said. As he got older and transitioned between
different phases of his career, Wood learned to value the integrity of his work. “What has
always driven me is just having a kind of heart-response to material, and not
let there be any outside forces that determine why I’m doing something,” the actor said. That
is a very Frodo Baggins kind of philosophy — he really was perfect for that role!
Much like how his iconic character escaped the temptation of The One Ring’s power, so
did Elijah Wood side-step the curse of Hollywood’s detriments. From a young age, the actor focused on
what he loved and has since built a beautiful life and outstanding career. We’re excited to see what
else he does as he continues to evolve his art! Thank you for taking the time to watch our video!
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