Information » His Roles in His Words

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Back to the Future Part II - Video Game Boy

I remember it very well, especially because I could work on the sequel of my favorite movie at the time. It also gave me the opportunity to meet my hero Marty McFly and see Michael J. Fox for real. The excitement was almost too much for me! Just think: a kid like me in gigantic decors scattered around a large part of the Universal Studios. It was amazing! I had a futuristic costume on and I could play a video game. I remember the flying cars and all the other gadgets…I had no idea who Robert Zemeckis was besides the fact that he was the director and very kind. The first time I saw myself on the big screen wasn’t a big shock for me. On the contrary, I was very excited about it and quite proud of myself. I became more critical later.

Internal Affairs - Sean

It was just a small role. Billy Baldwin and Faye Grant played my parents in the movie and they had the idea to take me to the zoo to give me the opportunity to get to know them. That was really kind of them because they didn’t have to do that. Otherwise, I didn’t have to do much on the set. Most of the time, I occupied myself by doing my homework.

Avalon - Michael

Oh, I really enjoyed working with Aidan. I haven't seen him for eight years now, since we filmed the movie. It's hard to stay in touch. Especially at that age. We were very good friends when we made the film, but then I guess we went our separate ways. But he was so much fun to work with. It was a great experience for me.

Paradise - Willard

It’s warm, it’s kind, and you’re gonna leave the theater…you’re gonna feel good and everybody’s good in it. It’s a really good film and I hope you go see it. It was great working with Melanie and Don. They were a lot of fun, especially Melanie. They were really friendly to me, and at the time they were really friendly to each other, so it was a good experience. They had two really large buses and had their kids with them, so I would go on their bus and hang out with their kids. Melanie is a great mother and a really sweet person. She's really down to earth. I wish her all the luck.

Radio Flyer - Mikey

What do you remember about making Radio Flyer?
I remember a lot. [laughs] Richard Donner was amazing. His dogs were great. I was nine years old. I turned ten on that movie. I remember my tenth birthday. Whenever one of the kids would have a birthday on the movie, [Richard Donner] would get gifts for the kid whose birthday it was, as well as the other. So when I turned ten, I was given gifts, and so was Joseph Mazzello, who played my brother in the movie. He got gifts as well, so as not to feel excluded, which is very, very cool. I had a lot of fun on that.

On RF script changes: I was actually kind of upset. The original script had it a little bit more clearly that he [his brother] died and that it was actually intended to a certain degree. It was a lot darker, the original script. The original script was a lot more direct which I actually preferred, to be honest.

Forever Young - Nat

On advice Elijah received: The best advice however came from Mel Gibson during the shooting of “Forever Young”. He explained to me that whatever you may think, you can always do better. I think that this stayed with me. This is what has prevented me from stagnating.

On the difficulties of being a child actor: One particular time was when I was working on Forever Young. I was quite young, and we were driving home from the set one night when I felt that I didn't want to continue acting. The reason being that I had gotten pretty nervous during the day because I was made to ad-lib all of lines for a particular scene. It was a lot of pressure. And acting at times can be a lot of pressure, so the few times I considered not acting any longer was because of that pressure. But I can't stress enough that I'm doing this because I really love to do it. I'm not being forced by anyone. That's a very important thing.

The Good Son - Mark

On his co-star Macaulay Culkin: I mainly played in movies for grown-ups. Macaulay on the contrary, starred in kid's movies. That's the only thing he did: kid's movies. It's hard to outgrow the status of kid star. He had the disadvantage of becoming famous real fast. With me, it was going gradual, with every film a little bit more. And I guess he had a lot of family problems at that time. You do need a lot of luck anyway. Because no-one knows if a movie works, or how it works.

Huck Finn - Huckleberry

I actually got a crush on Anne Heche when I worked with her on Huckleberry Finn. It didn't work out.

North - North

I was 12 years old back then and for the first time, I was the star. Nevertheless, I didn’t feel any pressure. What pleased me a lot was being able to meet all the actors who appeared in the movie Kathy Bates, Dan Akroyd…Bruce Willis was also really adorable to me; he gave me my first electric guitar. That touched me. Rob Reiner helped me a lot and was very forthcoming to me. I went to his trailer to eat eskimo’s [pies].

Richard Donner and Rob Reiner were magical to work with. They were such fun and so caring and filled with love. Richard Donner loves kids and is like a big bear. Rob is similar as a person but different in his directing style. They both have youthful qualities that made it easier to relate to them.

The War - Stu

On acting: You have to put a lot of yourself into it, and conjure up emotions. Some actors try to think unhappy thoughts and make themselves sad. I don't really do that, but I try to make my whole body sad. I just completely put myself into the role while the camera is rolling.

I remember that there were a lot of kids on the set and because we all stayed at the same place, it was like being on a holiday camp. We had a great time together. For the first time as an actor, I had to take a more emotional viewpoint and that was a new experience for me, a challenge that enabled me to grow as an actor. Kevin Costner was my dad. I knew he was my dad.

I had such long hair when I started that movie and the second day I was on the set, they said, "Okay Elijah. Today we're going to cut your hair." and I was excited because I've basically had long hair all my life. So they shaved it all off and I loved it.

Flipper - Sandy

I think that Sandy is a negative person. A real brat. But because he changes in the movie, I thought it would be a real challenge to play the role. His uncle and Flipper make him less selfish. But fortunately I don't look like him.

I loved working with the dolphins. There were three of them, and I miss them very much. They really became friends of mine. You have to let them trust you. I've fed them for a while, talked to them and finally I could swim with them. After a while I had their confidence. It's really amazing if you're that far, that they are happy when they recognize you.

The Ice Storm - Mikey

My most recent character, in a film called The Ice Storm, was one of the most difficult; this guy, Mikey, was really spacey and more complicated than the outside view. Being hard to figure out, it was hard to play him. Q: How was he spacey? A: He thinks a lot, and he's always somewhere else besides reality. But he sees things better than other people see them.

On kissing Christina Ricci: During the first, in which he and Ricci kiss experimentally at the deep end of a dry swimming pool, his mom was right there. "That was awkward," he reflects. "At the time I wasn't exactly comfortable with any kind of sexuality around my mom. It wasn't just a kissing scene, it was highly clinical. You know, tongues and mouths."

Deep Impact - Leo

Initially, the script was really good and I signed on because of it. There were changes in the script.....it wasn't the same thing I agreed to. What I think is so cool is originally the idea of a comet hitting the earth, but the movie being about the people and what they went through. I thought that was really cool. It wasn't just a special effects film and I really, really like that. That's why I joined on. It was a unique idea. A question that I think we all deal with at a certain time in our lives which is, like, What would we do if, you know, our lives were going to end in a certain amount of time? I think it's an important question. That's what made the script so interesting, and what I think made the movie so interesting as well.

I think Leo is a really sweet kid…he’s sort of weak and sort of insecure at the beginning. He’s sort of different from everybody else and I like that.

The Faculty - Casey

I think it's gonna be awesome. Awesome is used too often, but I think it's gonna kick-ass. I mean for a movie like this, you can only really describe it in like really funny terms, like kick-ass. It's gonna kick-ass. It's going to be a really cool movie, just like all of his movies. They're all really cool. I think we've got some really good actors in the movie. The cast is really cool. I've seen some of the scenes cut together and the visuals are amazing. The cinematography looks so beautiful. It's really dark, a lot of shadows. I'm really excited. I think it's going to be great.

He is weakly, definitely weakly. Which is good, because I didn't really play anything like him before. I was very excited to mix it up and do something different. I had to play the insecure without the cliches, which all those all type characters have connected to them. That was the challenge I and everyone else had as well…

He's so weak - he's insecure, he's in his own world... I suppose I am a little like him in that I'm into my own things, like photography, but I'm not really like him.

Black and White - Wren

And as interesting as the project seemed, I was really scared because it was so far away from anything I'd done. Then I came to the conclusion that if you're ever fearful of taking a step forward to a place that could be better for you, you should always take it, because that's the only way you'll ever grow. So despite how afraid I was, I made the decision to continue.

Interview with Brooke Shields BS: OK, now you can talk about kissing me. [laughs]
EW: That was an absolutely lovely day! I came to the set thinking I was filming one thing, and one of the assistant directors came to my trailer and said, "You've got to kiss Brooke Shields in the park today." I was like, "I'm sorry. Run that by me again?" [BS laughs] What a great experience! I already felt very close to you, and that brought us a bit closer.
BS: The feeling was mutual. Still, I was thinking, I should be arrested for this! And you kept saying that it was legal in some states! [laughs] So I didn't fell so bad.

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway - Barney

I play a patient who's there because he thinks he lost his memory. He wants to regain his memory. So basically, he's a blank slate and he builds relationships with all the children, all the dying children, he meets and that becomes his life. The hospital becomes his life. He falls in love with this one girl and, you know, he creates this life for himself. That's basically what it's about. That's pretty much the gist of the story.

Chain of Fools - Mikey

Speaking to Steve Zahn, his CoF costar Think of it this way --you and me, our experience together on Chain of Fools, working on that for three months, we became incredible friends.

Lord Of The Rings - Frodo

Because Lord of the Rings is SO huge I have quotes for the trilogy overall, then for each of the films.

This is the first time I've played a fifty-year-old!

The whole thing was real-life emotional roller coaster. I did feel fatigue and stress, being away from home and working such long hours very day. But, mostly, I felt exhilaration. It was a part I wanted, chased, fought for, and finally got. As a result, I've made some of the best friends I'll ever have in my life.

I think he has a sense of strength, that he's able to take on this quest and take it to the end, which is very interesting to me. And what happens to him on the way interests me as an actor--you know, the fact the Ring starts to take hold and he starts to go mad and loses himself. It's an incredible arc, to watch that happen over time.

The Fellowship of the Ring

I think he has a sense of strength, that he's able to take on this quest and take it to the end, which is very interesting to me. And what happens to him on the way interests me as an actor--you know, the fact the Ring starts to take hold and he starts to go mad and loses himself. It's an incredible arc, to watch that happen over time.

I admire the fact he's inquisitive and curious and wants to experience the outside world. He learns so much from Gandalf, he's learning Elvish, and he tries to be a worldly person. I also admire that by the time he makes the decision to take the Ring, it's selfless--it's for the better of Middle Earth and the Shire. And he wants to take this journey whether he may die or not. That's an incredibly courageous and honorable decision.

The Two Towers

Q: Do you think this film has more resonance as a parable to our modern-day travails than The Fellowship of the Ring did?
Oddly enough, I think this movie resonates even more than the first one did—particularly the speech that Sam gives in the end. There's always some good in this world, and that's worth fighting for—people will take that home with them. I think that's a beautiful message, and it's what this movie is about. This movie is about there being so much darkness descending on the world, and these characters feeling like they're at the end of their rope and ready to give up when there seems to be no hope—and it's that realization that no matter how dark things are, there's always good, there's always something worth fighting for; you're never at a complete loss. And that's beautiful; it should be applied to life in any kind of way. I'd rather not draw those comparisons to what's going on, because it takes away from the message.

Q: What was the most difficult scene for you?
I always think that those moments where the Ring is starting to take hold have to manifest themselves physically and, more challenging, how is that done time and time again, and how does that progress, because it can't be the same thing every time. You have to see a progression. That's the real challenge in playing a character like this: You have to see Frodo's progression through the course of these movies, and how he descends.

In TTT it's really Sam who becomes the hero, who finds the challenges on his way. Frodo really starts to get lost - figuratively of course. He starts to lose himself and the qualities that make him who he is. In the end he's not capable of taking the Ring to Mount Doom alone. Sam picks up where Frodo drops the stitches.

The Return of the King

The third film] is more emotional and is the saddest and darkest of the three. Everything is at stake and everyone loses a little bit. The great thing about Tolkien is, that even when there’s great triumph, there’s also great loss and everybody loses to a certain degree ... which I love. I also loved working on it and taking Frodo to that extreme.

You know, Frodo at that point is so far away from the Frodo that you are introduced to in the first film and he’s merely a shadow of himself as a result of the effects of the Ring, and for me as an actor those were definitely the most challenging scenes: just to take Frodo to that very dark place.

The thing I love about Frodo is that he gives up his life for the destruction of this ring. He never gains those qualities that he had back, that innocence and that purity of soul and heart. They fade away. They go away and he never gets them back. And there's something very attractive about that. So the third story, the third script was always my favorite. It's the most dark. It's very sad. It's very tragic. It was always my favorite, and it was always Peter's favorite as.

That smile had to encompass a lot. It’s essentially supposed to be peace. Frodo finally has [found] the Frodo we remember from the Shire, shed of that loss of innocence that he had. The innocence has returned. It’s all of those things. That’s all I was thinking of, trying to be as pure and peaceful as possible.

Ash Wednesday - Sean

It was quite strange. It was very refreshing. It was something that I was actually very nervous about doing, because I’d kind of lulled myself into this sense of security in the world of Middle-earth and ‘Lord of the Rings’ because I’d been there for so long. I went to New York for about two weeks in the springtime to do an Ed Burns movie called Ash Wednesday.

I've got a lot of respect for his method of filmmaking. It's all about no frills and a little crew getting together and working at a fast pace. It's fantastic.

Try Seventeen (All I Want) - Jones

Try Seventeen is... Oh my God, it's sort of a coming of age story about this kid named Jones, who moves to a house which is basically sublet into various apartments. And the story is basically about the relationship he has with the tenants of this house, and what that does to his life and how that changes his life and, you know, the journey that that takes him on, basically.

It's about the relationships that he forges with the people that live in the building, and how those relationships affect his life, and how that makes him grow as a person.

What really drew me to the film was the quirkiness and humour in the script. Also, the director, Jeffrey Porter, really knows how to articulate himself. He is a bit of a perfectionist, which is fantastic and makes us fight for those specific moments that he wants.

Spy Kids III - Game Over - The Guy

The guy is sort of a play on “The One”, like “The Chosen One”. It only took like 45 minutes to an hour, something like that, to shoot.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Patrick

I loved the character of Patrick, who is, you know, on the one side incredibly creepy and manipulative, but also at the same time kind of endearing and sweet and sad. Pathetic in the sense that he doesn’t really have any confidence and doesn’t know how to be cool, and doesn’t know how to get the girl. Ultimately I loved it.

He’s kind of this pathetic guy … desperately trying to be cool, desperately wants a relationship, but not because he wants to be in love so much, I think, as he just wants a girlfriend, he just wants to be good with the ladies. It’s more about what that means, and the symbolism of that then simply being in love, and so he’s kind of going through these motions, believing it, but more wanting to believe it.

Sin City - Kevin

I would have done anything. I mean, it didn’t’ really matter what character I played. And it just so happens Kevin is an incredible character and so completely twisted; and to come in and do something that fun was incredibly exciting.

Green Street Hooligans - Matt

He’s sort of looking for his identity again and he ends up meeting these guys at a pub who happen to be in relation to his sister’s husband and he kind of falls in with this group of hooligans and sort of becomes one himself as sort of a way to create an identity for himself. The subject matter was totally different, as was Matt and what he required. The character starts out relatively familiar; then he goes through a large arc within a short time. He gets to evolve, essentially becoming the opposite of what he was initially.

It depicted a lifestyle and a world that I was really unfamiliar with, and I found really fascinating. Particularly the element of the fact that these are people who have families, have jobs, they're not the typical kind of criminal thug that I think most people would have seen them to be, and I find that kind of duality really fascinating.

As an actor, the opportunity to play a character that sort of starts out very innocent and ends up sort of becoming a hooligan by the end was very interesting.

Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan

Jonathan’s weird. Very neurotic, and practical, and awkward. It was Liev’s and my own interpretations of the character, based on conversations that we had: the visual concept of the character with the suit, and the glasses, trying to make him somewhat awkward. It was kind of a mix of both of our concepts.

There’s a lot going on in Jonathan’s mind. There’s a whole, wide world and I think he just doesn’t fit in the world. So that gives you the indication. In terms of actually portraying that you assume that he’s not very social. He doesn’t understand human interaction very well. He’s a bit neurotic and has weird phobias. So all of those things are interesting concepts to play with in terms of portraying the character.

This is a serious subject but the film is very entertaining and fun, which is sort of a neat trick to pull off with such poignant material that touches a severe wound in world history.

Paris je t'aime - American Tourist

The whole idea of the project fascinated me, working in the context of Paris ... one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I immediately called up my agent and said yes, when can I go and be a part of this ... Then I found out I would be working with Vincenzo who I'm a fan of, and also we'd be filming a vampire love story - quite exciting.

It was only later I realized it would be this sort of fantastical story. But it's so nice to have it in the film because there are so many different visions and so many different ideas of love. And for this to pop up in the middle is sort of extraordinary and sort of a nice respite from some of the other stories.

Legend of Spyro - Spyro (voice of) [Video Game]

Spyro is very happy. I wouldn't say he's grumpy. He's incredibly positive and courageous. At times, he can be, let's not say arrogant, but too self-assured in his abilities, especially when he's a dragonfly. I think he comes to realize his abilities have not even begun to be realized eventually.

I don't know that there was any particular inspiration for Spyro beyond the character himself and what he discovers. A lot of the discoveries he makes, I discovered as he made them. I followed them in sequence, so as he makes his discoveries in the game I was there right along with him all the way. I think the comparisons are certainly there between his personality and Frodo's, the similarities aren't lost on me. I don't know that I necessarily put any of Frodo in the character, but the parallels are definitely there.

Happy Feet - Mumble (voice of)

I love animated films and getting the chance to do a voice for an animated film was very exciting ... He's (Mumble) sort of this outcast who ends up going on this journey of self discovery. Mumble Who is born without the ability to sing but he can dance and for that he's kind of kicked out of the community because he's seen as different so he goes on this long journey of self-discovery but it's got a lot of music and dancing it's a lot of fun. But he's very very strong, he's got a great sense of

Day Zero - Aaron

He kind of loses control; it's a character with a great descent, and I was very attracted to that. It gave me an opportunity to work with material that I've not worked with before.
I think when each of these characters is ultimately faced with this decision in their lives it actually makes them have another look at themselves which is a wonderful position for an actor to be in to be essentailly given a character that is looking inward and dealing with who he is and whether he's capable and whatever the situation he's in his life it's ultimately looking inward which is an interesting postion for an actor and gave us plenty to work.

Oxford Murders - Martin

John [Hurt] plays a mathematician professor, and the two of us discover a dead body, which sets us off on a journey to try to figure out who the killer is in a series of deaths. We try to deduce who it is by using mathematical logic. It’s interesting: lots of twists and turns. A really classic mystery - my character is a student who tries to deduce who the killer is using mathematical equations.

9 Voice of ...

I have actually just finished another one. It is a movie produced by Tim Burton called 9: a fascinating story about a post-apocalyptic world that should be coming out in 2008. I have just recorded the voice for.