Born January 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Elijah Jordan Wood had flown largely under the radar amongst moviegoers until a huge opportunity to play the lead character in a trilogy likely to rival Star Wars in box office infamy. Elijah got himself into acting at an early age, prompting his mother to take him to Los Angeles for an Annual International Modeling and Talent Association Convention. He found success quickly landing several jobs doing commercials and got his first on-screen break in a video with the then popular Paula Abdul in her top hit 'Straight Up'. From there, he got an appearance in the film 'Avalon' the next year. Several other films followed for Wood, though none were very successful. It was a television job in the short lived remake series Flipper that landed him in a public spotlight in 1996. Movies like 'Deep Impact' and 'The Faculty' helped raise Wood's name recognition. Elijah then followed with some films that didn't enjoy much success but landed gold with the J.R.R. Tolkien penned trilogy. Now one of the most popular young male actors in Hollywood, Elijah may be able to pick and choose the hits from this point forward. His latest post LOTR pick is 'Try Seventeen' with Mandy Moore. Perverted fans looking for a film with Elijah shirtless are in luck, as he is filmed swimming in his underwear in the flick 'Paradise.'

Elijah's personal life is one of some mystery. During his filming of 'Lord of the Rings' in New Zealand, the actor did manage to find the girl of his dreams, but he explained, "In New Zealand there was this really cool girl Madeleine Sami - if this ends up in the magazine I hope her name goes in because I lost her phone number - we all went and saw this play she was in and I thought she was really attractive and lovely and a brilliant actress. I was blown away. One Saturday I decided to drive for four hours to spend some time with her. She was essentially a stranger." When asked if he got nude with the woman for a sex romp, he insisted, "I can't say!" Word has it that Wood is devastated for losing her number during their naked romp, as the Globe reports an insider saying, "Elijah was blown away by Madenleine and would do anything to see her again." Still, others wonder if this mystery girl is a move to cover up something else. In fact, gay E! Online gossip writer Ted Casablanca recently wrote, "Tongues are waggin' about the cozy gang from the Oscar-nom-anointed Lord of the Rings. It seems Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin are quite chummy with one another." Whatever the case, he does believe in true love, revealing in an online chat, "Of course I do! I wouldn't be a hopeless romantic if I didn't. I'm a sucker for romantic films, I cry like a child! For people who are hopeless romantics, Love Jones is a wonderful film. Of course, so is 'When Harry Met Sally'. Everyone sheds a tear."

Another subject that has people talking is Elijah's love for alcohol. The actor admitted to not being able to get into a club and peeing at a urban landmark water fountain. Wood explained, "We were out in Wellington, Liv (Tyler), Orlando (Bloom), Dom (Monaghan) and I, we couldn't get into this club - we were underage - and Dom says: 'I've got to pee,' and I had to piss too. So we climbed this . . . I don't want to say what it was as people from Wellington would know." Meanwhile, during the actor's 21st birthday recently, the actor got so intoxicated at a bar in West Hollywood, he puked all over in the Sloan's Bar bathroom. An insider revealed, "He was a real mess." Wood shares another vice of smoking, which he reportedly took up when hanging out with Josh Hartnett during filming of 'The Faculty.'