Elijah Wood

Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer.

Wood was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on January 28, 1981, to Debbie (née Krause) and Warren Wood, who operated a delicatessen together.

He is of English, Danish, Irish, and German ancestry, and was raised Catholic.

He has an older brother named Zachariah and a younger sister named Hannah.

At age seven, Wood began modeling and taking piano lessons in his hometown.

In elementary school, he appeared in The Sound of Music and played the title character in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

He served as a choirboy in a production of See How They Run.

Wood made his film debut with a small part in Back to the Future Part II (1989).

Wood's parents sold their delicatessen in 1989 and the family, without his father, moved to Los Angeles to allow him to pursue an acting career; they divorced when he was 15.

Wood modeled and appeared in local commercials; his first appearance was in the music video for Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl," directed by David Fincher.

He went on to achieve recognition as a child actor with multiple roles such as Avalon (1990) and The Good Son (1993).

A small part in Richard Gere's Internal Affairs was followed by the role of a boy who brings estranged couple Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson back together in Paradise (1991).

In 1992, Wood co-starred with Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis in Forever Young, and with Joseph Mazzello in Radio Flyer.

In 1993, Wood played the title character in Disney's adaptation of Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huck Finn, and co-starred with Macaulay Culkin in the psychological thriller The Good Son.

The following year, he starred in The War, alongside Kevin Costner.

Although the film received mostly negative reviews, Wood’s performance earned praise.

Roger Ebert's review of the film praised Wood highly, stating that Wood "has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor, in his age group, in Hollywood history."

As a teenager, he starred in several films including North (1994), Flipper (1996), and The Ice Storm (1997).

Wood's title role–opposite Bruce Willis–in the Robert Reiner film North (1994) was followed by a Super Bowl commercial for Lay's "Wavy" potato chips (with Dan Quayle).

In 1995, Wood appeared in the music video for The Cranberries' "Ridiculous Thoughts," played the lead role in Flipper, and co-starred in Ang Lee's critically acclaimed The Ice Storm.

In 1996, he guest starred in the episode entitled "The True Test" in Homicide: Life on the Street.

In 1997, Wood played Jack "The Artful Dodger" Dawkins in a made-for-TV adaptation of Oliver Twist, alongside Richard Dreyfuss.

The following year, he had a leading role in the sci-fi disaster film Deep Impact, and a starring role in The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez.

In 1999, Wood played a suburban white teenager who affects hip-hop lingo in James Toback's Black and White, and a junior hitman in Chain of Fools.

He rose to international fame for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).

Wood played Frodo Baggins in the 2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's multi-volume novel.

Wood was a fan of the book series, and he sent in an audition tape of himself dressed as Frodo, reading lines from the novel.

He was selected from 150 actors who auditioned.

Wood was the first actor to be cast.

This gave Wood top billing, alongside a cast full of stars.

Following the success of The Lord of the Rings, Wood has appeared in a wide range of films, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Paris, je t'aime (2006), and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017).

Wood founded the record label Simian Records in 2005, which was dissolved in 2015.

Wood's voice roles include Mumble in the Happy Feet film franchise (2006–2011), the title protagonist in 9 (2009), Spyro the Dragon in the Legend of Spyro video game trilogy (2006–2008), Beck on Disney XD's Tron: Uprising (2012–2013), and Wirt in the Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall (2014).

He directed the 2007 music video "Energy" for The Apples in Stereo.

In 2010, Wood co-founded a film production company for horror films, The Woodshed, renamed SpectreVision in 2013.

Wood is a disc jockey, and has toured globally with his friend Zach Cowie as the duo Wooden Wisdom.

He played Ryan Newman on the FX dark comedy series Wilfred (2011–2014), for which he received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor, and Todd Brotzman in the BBC America series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016–2017).

This was followed by a pivotal role in the made-for-TV film, Child in the Night, and a minor role in Back to the Future Part II, as a boy from a futuristic 2015 who teases Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) for playing an arcade game because "you have to use your hands".

Nine-year-old Wood auditioned for a role in Kindergarten Cop, but was told by director Ivan Reitman that his performance was not believable, which Wood later said was "a harsh thing to say to a nine-year-old."

Playing Aidan Quinn's son in Avalon garnered professional attention for Wood; the film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for four Academy Awards.