A Quote by Elijah Wood

My philosophy has always been to try to put myself into roles and films that are different. That intensified after 'Lord of the Rings' because it was so massive, but it's something I've always believed in - wanting to change people's perceptions and challenge myself as an actor.
I've always looked for roles that are different. I've tried to continue to challenge myself as an actor and work in varying styles of films.
My dream as an actor growing up was always to challenge myself to different genres, different roles, and it's actually rare that an actor's given that opportunity to do that.
I see myself as a character actor, and I've always been drawn to playing characters that are different from myself because acting is escapism for me. I've never been that comfortable playing people that are like me.
I don't want to build any image for myself. I don't want people to say, 'He does only a certain type of role.' I don't want only to be the hero of the story. An actor's weakness is the different roles that he can't do. But I am keen to grab only those roles as I am here to challenge myself.
People ask me often, 'Why did you leave Green Bay? You had the best quarterback, you were going good and all that.' But I've always been one for challenges. Try to build something up, try something new, challenge myself.
I've always told the truth. I think that's been part of the foundation of my career. I don't put myself above people. I don't put myself different than people. And I, for one, know that none of us is immune.
I'm always trying to find that role that will allow me to stretch and play a lot of different sides, but it's hard. To be frank, as an actor, I read maybe a hundred scripts a year and I really strongly respond to probably two, but every other actor in town responds to those two scripts, as well. It's hard to land those roles that are really good because they're coveted. That's why I try to create for myself, and that's why I've been doing things outside of acting, like writing and producing. I try to not have to depend on other people so much.
I'm someone who is quite uncomfortable if something is different. I like doing things I'm used to in everyday life. So, I always try to push myself outside of that when looking for roles, otherwise I would never do anything different.
I need to learn how to stop destroying myself, stop being hard on myself and be nice to myself. I need to keep telling myself that I need to keep wanting something, something nice, something warm[so] I can make other people happy. I can understand other people's pain because I can love even after all that is left of me is gone because I have that strength.
I always try to get games of different genres. This is the reason Postal is a comedy, and Far Cry is a real, pure action movie - like Die Hard on an island - and In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale was my opportunity to do my epic, Braveheart, Lord Of The Rings, Gladiator movie. I try not to repeat myself in genres too much.
It's funny, because I've never thought of myself as a Hispanic actor, like in 'American Gangster,' I'm playing an Italian. I've always been fortunate enough to have been allowed to play all these diverse roles.
After 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' the films that followed it, instead of having their own unique aesthetic, they all wanted to be 'Lord of the Rings' as opposed to learning from 'Lord of the Rings.'
I always considered myself as a character actor. I always try to be versatile to show different sides of human experience.
I like to do new things, so I always take on roles that I feel will keep me on my toes. I never want to pigeon myself, so I always like to surprise myself. I believe in versatility and so I would play anything as long as it was a challenge.
I always keep myself open to different roles because I believe by taking up a variety of roles, one's true potential is unearthed.
My dad was an actor, and my older sister is an actress, and so I very much remember thinking, "Well, of course I'll do that as well." But I never imagined myself as an actor who would be in films. I always only thought of myself being in a play or a musical and maybe the odd episode of [U.K. '80s TV drama] Casualty. My backup plan was to do something with children, to start a nursery school or work with underprivileged kids. And I still dream of maybe doing that in some way. I've always got children in my house, always.
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