HOLLYWOOD -- Elijah Wood has enjoyed his fair share of eccentric roles -- from a sword-wielding hobbit in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy to a kung-fu cannibal in Frank Miller's "Sin City." But nothing quite prepared the young actor for his current gig as a tone-deaf, tap-dancing penguin.

The 24-year-old has been hard at work on "Happy Feet." The animated musical comedy concerns a group of emperor penguins in Antarctica who sing a unique "heart song" in order to attract their penguin paramours.

"Emperor penguins kind of connect to each other vocally," Wood said. "That's how they recognize each other and find their mates. In this film, though, my character, Mumble, is born without the ability to sing -- but he can tap dance. He's sort of excised from his community, and it's about his journey and individuality."

Wood, who has done smaller voice-work projects in the past, says he's excited to voice his first major role. "Doing voice work is an enjoyable process because you end up bouncing off the other actors and improvising and throwing ideas around. It's a lot of fun, and a lot can come out of that process," he said. "There's something freeing about not having to worry about acting visually. It all just comes through the voice."

Out next year, "Happy Feet" also features the vocal talents of an all-star ensemble cast including Brittany Murphy, Robin Williams and Hugo Weaving. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman play Mumble's mom and dad. George Miller ("Mad Max," "Babe") directed the project.

In the meantime, you can catch the young actor in the upcoming flick "Everything Is Illuminated," hitting screens September 16. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's 2002 novel, the film follows a young American Jew as he travels to the Ukraine in search of the woman who saved his grandfather's life during World War II.

"It's sort of a Ukrainian road-trip film," Wood joked. "There's a lot of comedy, but ultimately it's very poignant and kind of emotional.

It's quite beautiful."

The movie also marks the directorial debut of actor Liev Schreiber, who also helped adapt the screenplay. "Liev was just amazing," Wood said. "I'd never really worked with an actor-director before, so it was a first for me and such a pleasure. He had a clear vision of what he wanted to film and the story he wanted to tell."

The actor noted that he'd "eventually" like to move behind the lens as well.

"I love making movies," Wood explained, "and I've been making movies for a long time. I've been really lucky to work for so long. In some sense I feel like I've been going to film school for the past 20 years."

Check out everything we've got on Elijah Wood.

Visit [article id="1488131"]Movies on MTV.com[/article] for more from Hollywood, including news, interviews, trailers and more.