Elijah Wood (WENN.COM)

In Hollywood, going there and back again is just good for business.

Few know this better than Elijah Wood who, in Beverly Hills to discuss the sequel Happy Feet Two, has come from the New Zealand set of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson's two-part prequel to his Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"It suddenly got busy," the 30-year-old acknowledges with a laugh.

Back in 2009, prior to the animated thriller, 9, Wood -- who's been acting since his debut in 1989's Back to the Future II -- seemed content to take a break and reflect. Obviously, it didn't last.

"It's funny. When it rains, it pours. I was quite happy just figuring out how things were going. Suddenly it got busy in the last year," says Wood, who stars in the FX comedy series Wilfred and appeared in the Beastie Boys video Make Some Noise with Seth Rogen. "A lot of things have been going on."

Among them: Happy Feet Two, which opens Friday. In the follow-up to the smash 2006 CG-animated comedy, tap-dancing Mumble (Wood) is adjusting to fatherhood while also dealing with an environment that's melting and crumbling around him.

"I think the movie wouldn't have existed if it wasn't a new genuine story that had it's own integrity. I don't think (director George Miller) would invest himself in something that takes this much time and work and energy just simply to fill a slot for a sequel. So when he called, he called to tell me the idea I had, I was immediately thrilled. It carried themes of the original but also introduced new themes and characters. It expounded on the environmental message."

New characters include a pair of krill -- Bill and Will, voiced by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

"I think my two favourite characters are the krill -- Bill and Will -- who somehow manage to have the most broad, profound thought processes. It's like they're in the middle of the cosmos talking about the meaning of life. It's amazing. I was never concerned it would be anything but a worthwhile story to tell. And it was an absolute joy to come back.

"I didn't even realize it had been five years. Somebody said five years the other day and I said, 'S---!' That's mad. Time flies ... And a lot has changed. Films are really markers of time. When you film something and then it comes out, that's what marks an actor's life -- these little flags of a film and the time it took."

Sort of like a war map? "Yeah, that's it. That's a good way to put it."

Which brings us back to The Hobbit and the fact it's been almost a decade since Wood filmed Lord of the Rings. The trilogy -- The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and The Return of the King -- went on to gross nearly $3 billion worldwide and claim 17 Academy Awards. Although Wood's character, Frodo, isn't in the novel, Jackson has created "a small role" for him in the prequel.

"It's been eight years since we did anything. 2003 was the last film and we did pick-up (shots) that year. Going back, it was amazing. It was a gift to get a chance to revisit that time of my life. So many people who worked on Rings are working on The Hobbit. It felt like a giant family reunion or a time warp or something."

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is currently scheduled for December 2012, with The Hobbit: There and Back Again, due in multiplexes in December 2013.

Wood leaves dancing up to the pros

Some shoes -- or flippers -- Elijah Wood would rather not step into.

So while he expresses a desire to one day perform a motion-capture role, he doesn't necessarily want it to be in a prospective Happy Feet Three.

"I'll leave that to Savion Glover and those amazing dancers," he says, referring to the performers who give his penguin, Mumble, his signature moves.

Which isn't to say he feels entirely disconnected from the film, which he voiced along with his fellow cast members in Australia. "We are mostly locked behind our microphone and we can't really move beyond it because it has to pick up our voice. But it is physical and we are all there, looking at each other, interacting with each other."

Wood's own experience with motion capture dates back to when the technology was nascent.

After all, he acted opposite Andy Serkis' groundbreaking performance as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films.

"I've been in the proximity of a lot of it," Wood notes.

"I've seen (The Adventures of) Tintin -- it's incredible. I think the work Andy Serkis does in regards to doing motion capture within live-action films is amazing. It is the next step."

kevin.williamson@sunmedia.ca

 

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