Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood , Wood at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2011 Born Elijah Jordan Wood, (1981-01-28) January 28, 1981 (age 32), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. Occupation Actor Years active 1989-present Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II (1989), then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9, being nominated for several Young Artist Awards. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's critically acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its prequel The Hobbit. Since then, he has resisted typecasting by choosing varied roles in critically acclaimed films such as Bobby, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City, Green Street and Everything Is Illuminated. Wood starred in the film Day Zero (2007) and provided the voice of the main character in the award-winning animated musical films Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two. Wood also voiced the lead as 9 in the Tim Burton-produced action/science fiction film 9. He played an American tourist turned vampire in Paris, je t'aime. In 2005, he started his own record label, Simian Records. He did the voice acting for Spyro in the Legend of Spyro trilogy. Since 2011, Wood has been playing the role of Ryan in FX's dark comedy Wilfred. In 2012, he began voicing Beck in the animated series Tron: Uprising, and Sigma in the tenth season of the Rooster Teeth series Red vs. Blue. Early life and education edit: Wood, the second of three children, was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, son of Warren and Debra (Krause) Wood, delicatessen operators. He is of English, German, Austrian, and Danish ancestry. He was raised Roman Catholic. He has a brother, Zachariah Wood, and a sister, Hannah Wood. At age seven, Wood began modeling in his hometown and took piano lessons. He appeared in elementary school in The Sound of Music, followed by the title character in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He also served as choir boy during the production of See How They Run, produced by the Marion Creative Council. Career edit: 1988-1998: Beginnings edit: Wood modeled and did local commercials before moving with his family to Los Angeles in 1988, where he got his first break, a small role in a video by Paula Abdul - "Forever Your Girl", directed by David Fincher. More work followed, including a pivotal role in the television movie Child in the Night (1990) with JoBeth Williams and Tom Skerritt and a minor role in Back to the Future Part II (1989). It was Wood's role as Aidan Quinn's son in Barry Levinson's 1990 film Avalon (the third film in the Baltimore trilogy containing 1982's Diner and 1987's Tin Men) that first gave Wood attention, as the film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for four Academy Awards. After a small part in the Richard Gere movie Internal Affairs (1990), he secured his first starring role in Paradise (1991), playing a young boy who brings estranged couple Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson back together. From there, he went on to co-star with Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis in Forever Young and with Joseph Mazzello in Radio Flyer (both were released in 1992). In 1993, he had the lead role in The Adventures of Huck Finn and also appeared with Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son. In 1994 he starred in The War (1994), with Kevin Costner. His performance in this movie gained him a nomination for a 'Young Star Award' (for which he was nominated four times, and won twice), and Roger Ebert said in his review of the film: "Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor, in his age group, in Hollywood history". Also in 1994, he had the title role in North, and was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Wavy Lay's potato chips that had him repeatedly exchanging seats with spectators at a football game (including Dan Quayle) using its famous slogan. In 1995, he appeared in the music video for The Cranberries "Ridiculous Thoughts". The following year, Wood got the lead role in Flipper (1996), which was not very successful, but the subsequent critical and financial success of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (1997) provided a positive development in the young actor's career. In 1997, he portrayed the pick-pocketing thief Jack "The Artful Dodger" Dawkins in Tony Bill's Oliver Twist. 1998's Deep Impact and The Faculty did not allow Wood the same degree of character development, but were great financial successes and further stepping stones in Wood's evolution from child star to young actor. Wood's next role was as the boyfriend of a wannabe hip-hop groupie in James Toback's Black and White (1999). He followed this with a role as a junior hitman in Chain of Fools. 1999-2003: The Lord of the Rings edit: Wood was cast as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of director Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel. His most hotly anticipated project, the 2001 film gave Wood top billing as Baggins, alongside a cast that included Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, and John Rhys-Davies. The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand over more than a year, and before the cast left the country, Jackson gave Wood two gifts: one of the One Ring props used on the set and Sting, Frodo's sword. He was also given a pair of prosthetic "hobbit feet" which were worn during filming. In 2002, Wood lent his voice to the direct-to-video release of The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. The second part of Peter Jackson's trilogy was also released, titled The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In 2003, he starred in the direct-to-video movie All I Want (also titled Try Seventeen), with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King unveiled that December, sweeping the 76th Academy Awards in early 2004. Wood has filmed brief reprisals as Frodo, to bookend Jackson's new prequel trilogy based on The Hobbit. The first entry, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was released December 14, 2012. 2004-present edit: Hot on the heels of the trilogy, Wood quickly appeared in his first post-Frodo role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), playing a lab technician who helps erase heartbreaking memories but then uses his knowledge of the past relationship of an unknowing former patient (Kate Winslet) to woo her. He then played bespectacled serial killer Kevin in director Robert Rodriguez and writer-artist Frank Miller's adaptation of Miller's crime noir comic book series Sin City (2005), appearing opposite Mickey Rourke in the segment "The Hard Goodbye". On May 12, 2005, Wood hosted a program called "MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed", when the new Xbox 360 games console was launched. Also in 2005, Wood starred in Everything Is Illuminated, in which he plays a young American Jewish man on a quest to find the woman who once saved his grandfather during World War II, and Green Street, as an American college student who falls in with a violent English football firm. Both had limited release, but were critically acclaimed. Wood shot a small part in Paris, je t'aime, which consists of 18 five-minute sections. Each section is directed by a different director. Wood's section, called "Quartier de la Madeleine", was directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film opened on May 18 at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was shown at 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. First Look Pictures acquired the North American rights, and the film opened in the US in early 2007. In 2005, he was part of the ensemble cast in Emilio Estevez's Bobby, in which his character gets married to change his draft classification. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was released on November 17, 2006, in New York and Los Angeles. Wide release followed on November 23. In Happy Feet, Wood provided the voice of Mumble, a penguin who can tap dance, but not sing. Happy Feet was released on November 17, 2006, and has grossed over $380 million worldwide. The movie also received a Golden Globe Award nomination and won an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Animated Feature. Day Zero, a drama about the draft, had its debut at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Wood portrays draftee Aaron Feller. In 2006, Wood hosted the special "Saving a Species: The Great Penguin Rescue" for Discovery Kids Channel, for which he has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the category of acting in a children/youth/family special. On January 4, 2007, Wood joined Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg to announce the nominees for the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. In The Oxford Murders, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Guillermo Martínez, Wood plays a graduate student who investigates a series of bizarre, mathematically-based murders in Oxford. It was released in Spain on January 18, 2008. Wood also voiced the lead in the animated feature film version of the short film 9. A project in which Wood was set to star in, a biopic about singer Iggy Pop, putatively named The Passenger, has not come to fruition after years in development. Wood's first starring TV role is on the FX series Wilfred in which he plays Ryan. The pilot was shot in the summer of 2010. In January 2011, it was confirmed that Wood would reprise the role of Frodo Baggins in the The Hobbit parts one and two films to be released in 2012 and 2013. At PAX East in April 2012, it was confirmed that Wood will give the voice to Agent Maine's AI, Sigma, in Season 10 of the machinima series Red vs. Blue. Wood also starred in The Beastie Boys music video for Make Some Noise, along with Seth Rogen and Danny McBride. Other work edit: In 2005, Wood started his own record label called Simian Records. On September 19, 2006, Wood announced that Simian had signed The Apples in Stereo as their first band, with their new album New Magnetic Wonder released in February 2007. In addition he also directed the music video for "Energy". The other band signed to Simian thus far is Heloise and the Savoir Faire. Wood has also provided voiceovers for videogames, providing the voice for Spyro the Dragon in the Legend of Spyro game trilogy, as well as reprising Mumble in the game version of Happy Feet. He also contributed his talents to fellow Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen's album Pandemoniumfromamerica, singing and playing various instruments on the album. On April 11, 2008, Wood was the guest host of Channel 4's Friday Night Project. On April 25, 2009, Wood was honored with the Midnight Award by the San Francisco International Film Festival as a dynamic young American actor who "has made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema, and who brings striking intelligence, exemplary talent and extraordinary depth of character to his roles". Wood also starred in an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba! entitled "Eat" where he danced and "went crazy" alongside the rest of the Yo Gabba Gabba! crew. Wood can be seen in a short film on stepthroughtheportal.com. The site is an interactive website created by Simian Records artist' The Apples in Stereo, promoting their upcoming album, Travelers in Space and Time. Among producing and acting, Wood has also become a well-known DJ and, along with his friend Zach Cowie, takes to the stage under the name Wooden Wisdom a.k.a. DJ Frodo. The duo has spun at events such as the Bushmills Live 2012 festival at the Old Bushmills Distillery and at the pre-Emmy party at The London West Hollywood hotel. Wood has signed up to co-produce and also star in the film Black Wings Has My Angel, based on the noir novel of the same name, with Anthony Moody and Rob Malkani of Indalo Productions. Wood, alongside Tom Hiddleston and Anna Paquin, started shooting in late 2012. Wood was reported in 2012 to have created, with Cinespia and Cinefamily, a company which promotes horror films, Woodshed Entertainment, and to have co-presented the October 2012 film festival Nightmare City in Los Angeles. Personal life edit: Elijah Wood is an older brother of actress Hannah Wood. In an interview about Everything Is Illuminated, director Liev Schreiber commented that Wood has a "generosity of spirit" and a "sincere goodness as a human being." He supported campaigns for charity as Keep a Child Alive or ALDO/YouthAIDS. Wood is a music lover, owning 4,000 CDs and at one time citing his favorite band as The Smashing Pumpkins. Wood has a tattoo of the word "nine" written in Tengwar script, but in the English language (rather than Quenya or Sindarin as is widely believed) below his waist on the right side, a reference to his character as one of the Fellowship of the Ring. It is simply a coincidence that he later starred in 9. The other actors of "The Fellowship" got the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies. Rhys-Davies's stunt double from the film got the tattoo instead, thus the cast can still assert that "all" the members of the Fellowship acquired a tattoo. In May 2006, Autograph Collector Magazine published its list of 10 Best & 10 Worst Hollywood Autograph Signers, Wood was ranked #7 of Best Signers. On April 23, 2010, in a charitable gesture, Wood visited the town of Curepto, Chile, one of the hardest hit by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on February 27, 2010. He made personal visits to many of the victims and was accompanied by the first lady of Chile, Ms. Cecilia Morel. In 2008, during an appearance on Jack Osbourne's show Adrenaline Junkie, he became the first person to cross Victoria Falls on ropes. He is also a West Ham United fan. Filmography edit: Film edit: Year Film Character Notes 1989 Back to the Future Part II Video-Game Boy #2 Debut role 1990 Internal Affairs Sean Stretch Avalon Michael Kaye Nominated--Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film 1991 Paradise Willard Young Nominated--Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film 1992 Forever Young Nat Cooper Radio Flyer Mike Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film 1993 The Witness Little Boy short Adventures of Huck Finn, TheThe Adventures of Huck Finn Huckleberry Finn Good Son, TheThe Good Son Mark Evans Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor 1994 North North Nominated--Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, Nominated--Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film War, TheThe War Stuart "Stu" Simmons Nominated--YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film 1996 Flipper Sandy Ricks Nominated--YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film 1997 Ice Storm, TheThe Ice Storm Mikey Carver Nominated--Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor 1998 Deep Impact Leo Biederman YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film, Nominated--Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor - Sci-Fi Faculty, TheThe Faculty Casey Connor Nominated--Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Horror 1999 Bumblebee Flies Anyway, TheThe Bumblebee Flies Anyway Barney Snow Black and White Wren 2000 Chain of Fools Mikey 2001 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, TheThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Frodo Baggins Empire Award for Best Actor, Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast, Nominated--Kid's Choice Award/Blimp Award for Favorite Male Action Hero, Nominated--MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance, Nominated--Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Nominated--Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure 2002 Ash Wednesday Sean Sullivan Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, TheThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Frodo Baggins MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Sean Astin and Gollum/Andy Serkis), Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast, Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast, Visual Effects Society Award for Best Performance by an Actor in an Effects Film (shared with Sean Astin and Andy Serkis), Nominated--DVD Premiere Award for Best Audio Commentary, New Release, Nominated--Kid's Choice Award/Blimp Award for Favorite Male Butt Kicker, Nominated--Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, Nominated--Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Nominated--SFX Award for Best SF or Fantasy Film Actor, Nominated--Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina, TheThe Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina Tom Thumb Voice, Nominated--DVD Premiere Award for Best Animated Character Performance (shared with Chaka and Glenn) All I Want Jones Dillion (also known as "Try Seventeen") 2003 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, TheThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Frodo Baggins Interactive Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Male, Critics Choice Award for Best Cast, National Board of Review Award for Best Cast, Saturn Award for Best Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Nominated--DVDX Award for Best Audio Commentary (New for DVD), Nominated--Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast, Nominated--Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over The Guy cameo 2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Patrick Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble 2005 Sin City Kevin Nominated--Critics Choice Award for Best Cast, Nominated--Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Bad Guy Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer Green Street Hooligans Matt Buckner 2006 Bobby William Avary Hollywood Film Award for Ensemble of the Year, Nominated--Critics Choice Award for Best Cast, Nominated--Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Happy Feet Mumble Voice Paris, je t'aime Le garçon 2007 Day Zero Aaron Feller 2008 Oxford Murders, TheThe Oxford Murders Martin 2009 9 9 Voice Beyond All Boundaries Corp. Wilfred Hanson/Capt. John C. Chapin Voice, short 2010 Romantics, TheThe Romantics Chip Hayes Full of Regret Mouse short 2011 Fight For Your Right: Revisited Ad-Rock short Happy Feet Two Mumble Voice I Think Bad Thoughts Mouse short The Death and Return of Superman Hank Henshaw (Cyborg Superman) short 2012 Celeste and Jesse Forever Scott Revenge for Jolly! Thomas The Narrative of Victor Karloch William Merriwether Voice, short All in for the 99% Himself short Maniac Frank Jason Alexander Joins the 99% Himself short Setup, Punch Reuben Stein short The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Frodo Baggins Cameo appearance 2013 Pawn Shop Chronicles Grand Piano Tom post-production Open Windows post-production Black Wings Has My Angel Eddie pre-production Late Bloomer pre-production Cooties Clint pre-production Television edit: Year Film Character Notes 1990 Child in the Night Luke TV Movie, Nominated--Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in a TV Movie, Pilot or Special 1992 Day-O Dayo TV Movie 1994 Frasier Ethan Voice, Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast" 1996 Adventures from the Book of Virtues Icarus Voice, Episode: Responsibility Homicide: Life on the Street McPhee Broadman Episode: The True Test" 1997 Oliver Twist Jack "The Artful Dodger" Dawkins TV Film, YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Miniseries/Made-for-TV Movie 2004 King of the Hill Jason Voice, Episode: "Girl, You'll Be a Giant Soon" 2005 I'm Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust Klaus Langer/Dawid Rubinowicz Voice, TV documentary 2006 American Dad! Ethan Voice, Episode: "Iced, Iced Babies" Freak Show (TV series) Freak Mart Squirrel Voice, Episode: "Mohel-Me-Not: Part 1" Robot Chicken William David Reynolds, Bailiff Voice, Episode: "Sausage Fest" 2010 Glenn Martin, DDS Chester Chislehurst Voice, Episode: "Camp" 2011 Funny or Die Presents James Episode: "208" Robot Chicken Frodo Baggins, Frankenberry, Scarecrow Voice, Episode: "The Departy Monster" 2011-present Wilfred Ryan Newman Main Role, Nominated--Satellite Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy 2012 Treasure Island Ben Gunn TV movie Red vs. Blue Sigma Voice, Web series 2012-present Tron: Uprising Beck Voice 2013 Peter Panzerfaust Peter Voice Video games edit: Year Title Role Notes 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Frodo Baggins Voice 2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 2006 Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, TheThe Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning Spyro 2007 Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, TheThe Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night 2008 Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, TheThe Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon 2010 God of War III Deimos 2012 Lego Lord of the Rings: The Video Game Frodo Baggins Music videos edit: Paula Abdul: "Forever Your Girl" (1989), The Cranberries: "Ridiculous Thoughts" (1995), The Apples in Stereo: "Energy" (as director) (2006), Greg Laswell: "How the Day Sounds" (2008), The Lonely Island: "Threw It On the Ground" (2009), Danko Jones: "Full of Regret" (2010), The Apples in Stereo: "Dance Floor" (2010), Danko Jones: "I Think Bad Thoughts" (2011), Beastie Boys: "Make Some Noise" (2011), Flying Lotus: "Tiny Tortures" (2012), Audiobooks edit: 1999 The Most Beautiful Gift: A Christmas Story, 2009 Witch and Wizard, 2010 Witch & Wizard: The Gift, 2010 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Nominated-- Audie Award for Best Audiobook Performance, 2011 Witch & Wizard: The Fire

Source: Wikipedia

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