The Actor Within: Intimate Conversations with Great Actors

Elijah Wood

161 i Elijah Wood The first thing I noticed about Elijah was his brilliant blue eyes. And when we sat down together to talk about acting, they seemed to become even more vibrant. The child actor who played Michael in Avalon (1990) and Mike in Radio Flyer (1992) has successfully transitioned to young adult roles including his most well-known and beloved, Frodo Baggins, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy; Jonathan Safran Foer in Everything Is Illuminated (2005); and Matt Buckner in Green Street Hooligans (2005). Wood’s impressive film resume for someone still in his twenties was the subject of our conversation. ‘‘You began acting at a very young age.’’ ‘‘Yes, I was a child actor, but that’s not me now. I’ve grown up. It’s almost like two separate careers.’’ ‘‘How did you learn how to act?’’ ‘‘I was around so many di√erent actors and directors from a very early age, and I was greatly informed by all of them. I feel as if I’ve been going to film school for the last twenty years. I never formally studied acting, so this has been my education with regard to craft.’’ ‘‘Did you receive any special guidance for your first film, Avalon (1990), in which you play Michael?’’ ‘‘I was a relatively observant child and very aware of what was happening around me. I knew what I had to do inside the context of a movie set. The director gave me direction, and my mother told me that I had to be real, so I understood that I had to become Michael in a believable way.’’ ‘‘In Avalon, Michael plays with matches and thinks that he’s responsible for a fire that burns down his father’s appliance store. Feeling guilty, he turns to his grandfather for help. Was playing that scene upsetting for you?’’ ‘‘No. I understood that Michael was feeling responsible and guilty, but I didn’t internalize the emotions of it. I couldn’t, because nothing like that had ever really happened to me. I knew what I needed to do. Once we shot the scene, it was over for me. I still don’t internalize that much. I realize that it can be di≈cult to shed some of the deeper emotional places that we 162 The Actor Within go to as actors, but I’ve always existed in the moment, and when the moment’s done, it’s done.’’ ‘‘Are there things that you learned as a child actor that still inform or inspire you today?’’ ‘‘I’ve never been good at talking about acting, probably because I’ve never given it any kind of real analysis. I know that my process as a child has definitely informed my process now, which I would describe as naturalistic . I would read a script, understand what the character’s experience was, and portray him as realistically as I could within the context of the story. I learned an important lesson at the age of ten when I had an audition with director Ivan Reitman. After saying my lines, he said, ‘You have to do it again. I think you’re acting.’ This was a devastating critique for me to hear. It meant that I wasn’t being the character. My portrayal was false. He taught me that there is a big di√erence between acting the character and being the character. Being the character is the thing. I also understood early on that listening is a vital part of making something come to life in an honest way. It’s not about saying your lines, waiting for someone to say theirs, and then responding. It’s about really hearing the other person and engaging with him. When that happens the interaction is much more genuine.’’ ‘‘Elijah, as you approach the next phase of your career, what compels the actor within you?’’ ‘‘What has always excited me about acting and still does is being engaged with other people in a collaborative and creative process. I love being on set and getting to work with other actors.’’ ‘‘Were you aware of a shift in your commitment to acting once you stopped being cast as a child?’’ ‘‘Yes, in my early teens, acting became my life. The older I got, the more passionate I became. I wanted to be part of di√erent film genres and experience things I hadn’t done before. By my early twenties, I started to get excited about...