Elijah Wood: Moving On

He's shed those furry Hobbit feet and Elijah "Frodo" Wood is determined to make us all view him as a different character. He plays a techno-geek who can't get a girlfriend by conventional means in the new warped romantic comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind co-starring Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo. Elijah then goes on to play an American kid caught up in the rough world of the soccer hooligan as his next project.

We talked with the blue-eyed actor about the pride he has in his "Rings" films, leaving Frodo behind, directors he'd like to work with and taking a small role in a big ensemble film like "Eternal". When we spoke in L.A., Elijah looked much like the child actor he once was in jeans and stripe shirt. We note that he has enormously-long eyelashes. He flaps them subconsciously and we get started.

TeenHollywood: : How do you go from being in an International phenomenon like "Rings" to doing other projects?

Elijah: There really isn't a strategy to it, other than looking to continue to work and coming across something like this role which is so amazing. This film is certainly a step in the right direction and it's always been my philosophy to continue to take roles that are different from what I just did and different from what I've ever done before. Also to grow and to not stagnate. I guess it becomes even more important after something like LOTR since everyone knows that one so well. I guess it's just as simple as looking for good scripts that are different and that move me in a different direction. I was really lucky this one came along because I'm a huge Charlie Kaufman (the writer) fan.

TeenHollywood: So you have no fear of ending up identified with just one role all your life like Mark Hamel in Star Wars? You had a long career as a child actor.

Elijah: His name came up a lot during the LOTR junkets, poor guy, especially to have your name used in reference to a syndrome that an actor can fall into, that's a bummer. Yes, I think that is the difference, since I was somewhat recognizable before, it's not as if I am wholly and completely defined by that one role.

TeenHollywood: Have you talked to Peter Jackson about doing anything in his King Kong film?

Elijah: Yeah, I just said I wanted to come down and visit and hopefully be allowed to be stomped on by a foot. I was talking to Fran and Phillip at their Oscars after-party and I mentioned that I wanted to come down in September to watch them film and they said that they hoped to get me in there somehow.

TeenHollywood: Has there been any talk of doing more LOTR movies?

Elijah: Nah, I think The Hobbit is the only thing that's possible at this point. Even that is tricky. They have the rights to make the film, but not to distribute it, so it's a bit wonky. LOTR fans want there to be more and more and more. I think the Hobbit will get made for sure though. I had a cool idea. I'd like them to do a TV mini-series about the history of the elves, but have Tolkein historians chime in about the history as if it were fact. So you'd have the narration, then a dramatization with actors recreating those stories. I've mentioned it to a few people, but not yet to the people who really matter. I haven't talked to Peter Jackson about it yet, or Richard Taylor, he'd be someone who could get behind it.

TeenHollywood: What are you doing next?

Elijah: I'm getting ready to leave for London. I'm starting a movie called Hooligan about football hooligans in England. I play an American who gets caught up in the scene.

TeenHollywood: Could you tell us more about the Hooligan movie? Do you know much about the football hooligans over there?

Elijah: I do know a bit actually. It's not based on the book or play, it's its own story. It's about an American who is kicked out of college and he goes to visit his sister in London. Her husband's brother is now the leader of that group. They are all my age so I hang out with them and discover what their lives are about and ultimately become a hooligan myself.

TeenHollywood: Are you doing more research for Hooligan?

Elijah: Not much, I'm doing some fight training, but research might not be good for my character because he is supposed to come into this completely innocent. He comes in naïve and isn't supposed to know about that world. I know something about it already, but more isn't necessarily better this time. I've been to a Manchester United game, but it was here in Los Angeles, unfortunately.

TeenHollywood: In "Eternal", you play someone who gets ahead socially by using some else's lines, have you ever done that in real life?

Elijah: No, I try not to use "lines". I'm too honest [big grin and an eyelash flap].

TeenHollywood: What was your relationship with Mark Ruffalo like while you were shooting this?

Elijah: I think it was a bit of a big brother/little brother situation. Mark is awesome and he's great fun to be around. Certainly you can draw that comparison because he's older than I am. In the story, my character looks up to him, so we played off of that. There is a lot of ad-libbing that went on. Kaufman's stuff is amazing. He is such a brilliant writer, but sometimes we would just play around with the text. The scene where we are having a conversation and then Kirstin [Dunst's] character arrives, we did SO many variations of that. One time Mark had this idea that he and I would just laugh when she enters the room, for no apparent reason. So we did and I think there is a moment of that that ended up in the movie.

TeenHollywood: This is a much smaller part than that of Frodo. Did you take this role because you wanted to do something entirely different?

Elijah: It's a great character so I was pleased and had a lot of fun with it, but it was as much about being part of their vision and working on that script. I knew it was going to be a very special project and I'm really a fan of films. Sometimes you just want to be part of something that you'd want to go see, a piece of art, in a way. It was very different from anything I've done. It was very free, incredibly unpredictable and we never knew what was going to happen next. We were constantly inspired to try new things and play around with moments. That was incredibly liberating and freeing. It was just so much fun and so creative, on that level I would love to work with them (director and writer) again as well.

TeenHollywood: Are there any other filmmakers that you'd love to work with?

Elijah: Yeah, Wes Anderson, Darren Aranofsky. I've met him briefly, he's awesome. I'd love to work with Spike Jonze. I think that would be similar, but different in terms of the creativity. If Chris Cunningham ever gets around to doing a movie I would love to work with him.

TeenHollywood: Your character, Patrick, steals Clementine's underwear because he's in love with her. Have you done anything off the wall like that yourself in real life and is it true that you received biodegradable underwear in your Oscar gift bag?

Elijah: I didn't get a gift bag because I wasn't a presenter or even nominated myself. (everyone goes 'awwwwww'). I was part of a movie that won. Apparently it was worth $100,000 this year. Woo hoo! But I've never done anything off the wall like that for love. I'm a bit simpler.

TeenHollywood: Patrick has a very unusual job in this movie. What did you decide were his reasons for taking a job helping to erase people's memories?

Elijah: I don't know if there was a great motivation for it. I think he applied for it because he might be able to do it and not for some grand purpose. I think it's pretty clear that his interest is pretty minimal. He's interested in Clementine.

TeenHollywood: Speaking of Clementine, what was it like working with Kate Winslet? Did you talk a lot beforehand?

Elijah: We spent a lot of time talking to each other on set. I've been a fan of hers for years, she's incredible so to work with her was wonderful. We got along really well.

TeenHollywood: Since LOTR cleaned up at the awards, did any of the actors feel that they had been overlooked?

Elijah: I didn't feel that way. I don't think anyone else feels that way either. There were a lot of great performances in the movie. What you saw was a family celebrating together the achievements that we've made in the last four years. It was a very special night because everyone was there to support the film and Peter. It was a great family affair and a great way to put an end to the whole journey.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.