Information » Quotes on Elijah

Quotes compiled by Admin.
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Revised: April 2008.

Sean Astin: We lived and worked so closely together that he became more like a brother than a fellow actor. I came to feel as protective of Elijah as Sam does of Frodo … In turn, Elijah helped me discover a lot about myself and, I literally might not have survived the journey had this young prince of an actor not taken me under his wing!
Sean Astin: Allie says that Elijah swears all the time, but we don't mind.
Sean Astin: Richard Taylor heard people nervously complaining that fingernails were chewed and dirty. So he explained that for special effects makeup artist they're real. [on Elijah's fingernails]

But I had been a huge fan of Elijah Wood even though he was only 18 when we started filming.

Sean Astin: No, I hadn't worked with any of them. But I had been a huge fan of Elijah Wood even though he was only 18 when we started filming. I had seen almost all his movies, and I really like his work. I admired him because I was a child actor too and he was such an exquisite example of someone's ability to carve out a career as a child performer with integrity and class.
Liev Schreiber: If the eyes are the windows to the soul, Elijah Wood has garage doors.
Liev Schreiber: I really don't think there is anybody in the business with better eyes than Elijah Wood.
Richard Donner: Elijah was so pure. He was so pure, so naive- you look through his eyes and you see no harm, no pain, nothing but happiness.
Richard Donner: When we got Elijah and Joey together, I just looked at Lauren and said 'Stop right now', because we'd found what we were looking for. The chemistry was simply phenomenal. It grew and developed throughout the picture. They became like real brothers -- the teasing,
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, Elijah Wood has garage doors.
the loving, the pain, the happiness. They would antagonize each other like brothers do, but let something try to come between them and you would see the incredibly strong bond there. They're two of the most amazing actors I've ever worked with. I spoke with Barry Levinson, who had just finished 'Avalon' and could not stop raving about this child. He showed me some footage on Elijah and, when I met him, I knew he would be wonderful in the role.
Courtney B. Vance, Huck Finn: People had a tendency to treat Jah Jah [his nickname for Elijah] as an adult because he was always so professional. But Deborah [Elijah's mom] was there for Elijah, keeping him balanced and making sure no one forgot he was an eleven-year-old.
Courteny B. Vance, The Adventures of Huck Finn: Elijah's feet are firmly on the ground. And he is just so professional. If anyone had problems remembering lines, it wasn't Elijah.
Mandy Moore: He's very passionate about music. I think we had one band in common, The Strokes. I went shopping with him and he helped me pick out some Nirvana and The Avalanches that I'd never heard before.
Mandy Moore: Elijah Wood is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. His eyes tell such a story.
Gary Scalzo (talent manager): It was only a few days before his eighth birthday when I saw him perform his monologue. It was evident that Elijah was talented and enjoyed what he was doing,which is important. After the competition, I talked to his mother and asked if Elijah would like to come to my office with her the next day and talk about possibilites of an acting career. Elijah and I read some scenes together, and he was wonderful. He read brillianly. He's also very directable.
Gary Scalzo (talent manager): Elijah's personality is just right for the screen. When he walks in, the whol room lights up.
Jeff Giles: I got the sense Elijah Wood had great fun but worked like nuts.
John Rhys Davies: He's a different lad. He's always going to be a rather quirky character actor with a golden soul.

He's got the biggest eyes you've ever seen, but they don't work.

Debbie Wood: I just felt like Elijah had something to give. He's real outgoing, and he loves people, and he loves new expiriences, and he has no fear.
Warren Wood: We're laid-back about it. We don't really talk [about the movie business] in the house. We want to keep familiy-oriented and low profile. It really keeps things in perspective.
Billy Boyd: That's the thing about Elijah. He's got the biggest eyes you've ever seen, but they don't work.
Miranda Otto: Elijah has the innocence of a child, the wisdom of a ninety-year old man, and the grace of an angel.
Actress Melanie Griffith, Paradise: Elijah is an amazing actor, and a true sweetheart.

He'll probably own Hollywood!

Actor John Ritter, North: He doesn't sacrifice his heart or his being a kid. He's got a long career in front of him.
Actress Faith Ford, North: He's like a little man inside a boy's body. One minute he can be playing and the next minute he's doing his close-up and he's just as believable as anything.
Ian Holm: Those remarkable, God-given, eyes! That glorious, good-natured personality! Elijah’s Frodo is a dazzling light in the doom and gloom of war and despair.
Director Joseph Ruben, Entertainment Weekly, November 25, 1994: He's just really quick. Elijah can give you the same reading or different readings with a lot of facility.
Executive Producer Daniel Rogosin, The Good Son, USA Today, April 2, 1993: [Elijah has] an innate understanding of the characters he plays.
Christopher Lee: Elijah Wood will never grow old! With that almost Elfin face, he was Frodo. In his gentleness and sincerity – and in his enormous enthusiasm as an actor – he was simply perfect for the part.
Director Stephen Sommers, The Adventures of Huck Finn: He IS Huck. Elijah has previously played shy and introverted kids. But when I met him, his energy knocked me out...
Actor Paul Hogan, USA Today, August 21, 1995: He's more experienced than some adults I've worked with. The good news is he's a normal kid.
Director Jon Avnet, The War: His professionalism, his intelligence and his talent are singular. There's no one like him, period.
Director Jon Avnet, on Prodigy: He's incredibly professional and very responsive to direction. He's more than a great kid, he's a great person.
Director Jon Avnet, Entertainment Weekly, November 25, 1994: He's the first child actor I've worked with that I think is really an ACTOR. He's not tied to his cuteness.
Producer Lauren Schuler-Donner, Radio Flyer Elijah has a sense of assuredness without taking himself overly seriously. He has a wonderful sense of humor.
Actress Delta Burke, Dayo: He is an extraordinary kid and a great little actor. I really want to watch how he grows and where he goes. He'll probably own Hollywood!
Director Alan Shapiro, Flipper: We were blessed with this cast. Elijah is one of today's finest actors and Paul Hogan as crusty Uncle Porter brings a level of humor and warmth to the story which is sure to delight audiences. If not for these two, I wouldn't have been able to see the script realized. I wrote stuff in there which I never thought we could accomplish.

Elijah seems to have knowledge beyond his years for executing his job.

Producer Perry Katz: Elijah Wood is the perfect Sandy. We needed a seasoned young actor who could portray a complicated character. Sandy has tremendous movement in his character. He goes from spoiled urban city kid with a chip on his shoulder to a kid who, through his contact with a dolphin, learns about life and begins to bridge into adulthood.
Ian McKellen: In creating Frodo, Tolkien may well have been thinking back to the First World War and the lads who went on a terrible journey from which many never returned. Elijah reminds me of those statues of idealised young men on war-memorials throughout the world: more sublime than human and with a complexion of molten marble. He is simply terrific.
Director Jon Avnet, Boston Globe, October 30, 1994: He took the challenge to really act. This is a tough role. Elijah's a pretty happy kid, and he had to go out there and experience emotions that are pretty ugly. He wanted to be pushed, and I pushed him like crazy. The difficulty he had trying to find all of that pain Stu feels, I think, translates onto the screen and to the way you react to him.

He really is a star of the future.

Director Rob Reiner, North: It's amazing. I do believe that Elijah has an extraordinary talent that will, in fact, carry him through 30, 40 years. He really is a star of the future. And he's a nice guy. He's like a prodigy in a way. You know, I've worked with a lot of other young actors, and it's difficult to get a good performance at times. You have to be very careful...and help them along and spoon-feed them. But with Elijah, that's not the case. I mean, he really comes to the part full-blown. You give him a little tiny adjustment in a scene, and he takes it as if he's been acting 30 or 40 years.
Director Joseph Ruben, The Good Son: Elijah has such a wonderful face and such a winning way about him. You look at him and you just like the kid. I thought this movie was going to be a kind of nightmare, directing two twelve-year-olds, but both Mack and Elijah are ACTORS. They concentrate, they stay focused, they're not like kids in that respect.
Director Stephen Sommers, USA Today April 2,1993: Elijah's just a natural. You never get him going over the top.... He gets up, takes a deep breath and there's 100% energy...When the camera starts rolling, he's LIVING that scene. I'm talking like he's Marlon Brando, but he blew my socks off.
Laurence Mark, The Adventures of Huck Finn: It is a very infectious enthusiasm that Elijah exudes, and it contributed a great deal to his performance. Elijah is a high-energy boy who cares a great deal about other people.
Steve Miner, Forever Young: Every once in a while a kid comes along who 'gets it'--who really understands about doing a scene and can act even though he doesn't appear to be acting.
Mel Gibson, Forever Young: Elijah seems to have knowledge beyond his years for executing his job. He's professional and extremely talented. He offers his own thing and before you know it he's kind of borrowing bits and pieces. He's a bright and unspoiled kid.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Forever Young: I was very surprised how drawn to Elijah and Robert [Gorman] I became and how, out of everybody here, the person I'm closest too is Elijah. That's been a really terrific feeling.
Don Johnson, Paradise: Working with Elijah was quite amazing. He's a very intelligent 10-year-old. He instantly grasps what is being demanded of him, and contributed enormously to each scene.