Full Name: Elijah Jordan Wood
Elijah was born on January 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Warren and Debbie Wood. Elijah has an older (7 years) brother Zack and a younger sister Hannah (born 7th November 1983). Elijah owns two dogs: Rascal and Levonne. His nicknames are/were Elwood, Lij and Monkey. At an early age of seven, Elijah showed a knack for entertaining and wowing audiences, and his mother decided to take him to Los Angeles for an Annual International Modeling and Talent Association Convention. He quickly landed himself a job in the fabulous world of acting. Soon he began popping up in commercials and then in small parts on television, but he got his first major part appearing in Avalon (1990) in 1990. Elijah's acting career shot off from there. Although North (1994) was deemed a flop at the box office, Elijah was praised as the only good thing to come out of that movie. In 1996, Elijah starred in a movie remake of the old TV show Flipper (1996), and immediately regained his old strength. He appeared in countless movies after that, and increased his power on the silver screen. Many critics wondered if his childlike ability to capture an audience was wearing thin, like many child actors, but Elijah has proved that it has only made him stronger. Elijah manage to keep his popularity and success, by changing his roles to match the times. Deep Impact (1998) and Faculty (1998) were produced after that, and with immense support. Elijah next went to work on what has been called the biggest project ever to hit the movies, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Elijah Wood heard about the Lord of the Rings trilogy while filming Faculty, The (1998). Immediately, he sensed that this was the chance of a lifetime. Director George Huang, a personal friend of Wood's, filmed his audition tape for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He shot the scene from different angles which were cut together for the video. They sent the video off to New Zealand for director Peter Jackson and a few months later, he got the part.
More about Elijah Wood:
**He was the first recipient of the NATO/ShoWest Young Star of the Year Award
**He became a child model when his mother wanted him to burn off excessive energy.
**Studies singing professionally and owns thousands of CDs in many musical genres, because he loves music so much..
**Aspires to start a record a company.
**Plays the piano.
**Favourite band: the Smashing Pumpkins
**Favourite books: "The Hobbit" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
**Owns the prop ring used in "Lord of the Rings."
**Considers Frodo Baggins to be his best role.
**Is the first member of the official "Lord of the Rings" fanclub.
Personal quotes:
[on celebrity:] "I won't change and my perspective won't change. I want to continue my life the way I live it, and I'm not going to let anything stop me from doing that. It isn't all about acting. There's a lot more to life than Hollywood."
[on worrying about the high expectations of Lord of the Rings fans when he was cast as Frodo:] "I definitely felt the pressure. I wanted to live up to all of the expectations. But when I got into costume and worked with the others, I just didn't think about it anymore."
