Elijah Wood 'Illuminated' By New Film

The nice thing about Elijah Wood's new film, "Everything is Illuminated" is that the storyline didn't have, well, a familiar ring to the actor.

Since he became an international superstar as the heroic Hobbit Frodo Baggins in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Wood has no doubt taken his career far from the idyllic world of the Shire.

First, in 2004, there was his memorable supporting turn in "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Now, on the heels of haunting performance earlier this year as the silent serial killer, Kevin, in "Sin City," Wood is currently starring in two independent films "Green Street Hooligans" and "Everything is Illuminated."

But don't go thinking that Wood's 180-degree spin away from his past as Mr. Frodo and epic-scale films is deliberate decision. In fact, as the diverse actor told me in a recent @ The Movies interview to talk about "Everything is Illuminated," the size of the project doesn't matter -- it simply comes down to if the film has great characters and an engaging story.

"It's not at all about size," Wood told me. "It just happens to be that the scripts that I've fallen in love with happen to be small films and not the other way around. My work is so dependent on finding a script that I'm passionate about and believe in, and that I want to fight to be a part of.

"It just so happens that my movies of late happen to be small movies, mainly because those are the kinds of movies where you can find interesting characters," Wood added. "They tend to be a little more artistically free and unique in their storytelling."

Based on the acclaimed book by Jonathan Safran Foer, "Everything is Illuminated" now playing in limited release and expanding to more theaters Friday, opens nationwide Oct. 7.

The directorial and screenwriting debut of actor Liev Schreiber, the film is a poignant tale about Foer, a young Jewish American who embarks on a search for answers about his ancestry in Eastern Europe after he comes into possession of a photo of his grandfather with an unidentified woman. His curiosity and penchant for collecting physical remnants of his family's past leads him on a "rigid search" to the Ukraine to find the woman, who saved his grandfather from persecution by the Nazis.

But finding her won't be easy: she lives in a town that was wiped off the map by the Nazis in World War II.

As serious as the film's storyline sounds, "Everything is Illuminated" could best be classified as a dramedy piece that's quite funny at times. Aiding Jonathan's search are two Romanian locals, Alex (Eugene Hutz) and his grandfather (Boris Leskin), who turn from raucous tour escorts into men who are about to find illumination as well.

"I've been talking with people about that and I find it interesting that largely the synopsis that's going out to the press is that it's a young Jewish man looking for his roots in Eastern Europe -- but that's not really what it's about," Wood said. "That's the essence and the drive of the film, and that's ultimately what starts the story, but I think it's incredibly misleading.

"People assume that it's going to be an incredibly somber film and that's not the case at all. Half of it is like this mad, Ukrainian road movie," Wood continued with a laugh. "There's incredible comedy in it. I saw the movie again recently and it felt like the first time I saw it. I laughed so hard. It doesn't feel forced at all, it just feels like these natural situations that are genuinely hilarious."

Apart from laughing at the film, Wood well knows that the film can work on two levels. It can be entertaining as well as informative -- not only for audience members, but also for the people who work on it.

In Wood's case, it made the performer want more than ever to continue the search into his own heritage.

"I had given it some thought before hand, but the film inspired more thought on that concept," Wood explained. "I do, interestingly enough, have heritage from Eastern Europe -- I believe it's Poland and Germany -- and it's one of those things I haven't gotten around to do and haven't figured out how to track down the information. But it is something I'd love to explore."

But the key to the search for the past, no matter who you are, Wood said, is to start that search right here.

"It is interesting, living in America, because there seems to be less and less of a connection to the past and where we come from," Wood observed. "I think it's not only incredibly important not only to find out to where we come from, but to connect to a world outside of our own, which is largely what this movie is about."

The interesting thing is, not only is "Everything is Illuminated" a movie that connects us to our pasts in the literal sense, the film itself is connect to the glorious cinematic concept of good old-fashioned storytelling: a vital film component, especially in the age of computer generated imagery, that's far too often left in the past.

"It's an interesting time for studio-based movies. This summer was very illuminating in that some of the movies that should have done massively well by all industry standards, didn't," Wood said. "In some ways, I hope that's an indication of somewhat an air of discontent amongst the public. I think they're growing tired of the same types of films -- films that are lacking substance and lacking stories and lacking great characters."

Fortunately for Wood, he's not only been able to enjoy his work in small films where characters and story matters most, he's been able to work in the best of both worlds in films like the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which found a perfect marriage of story and visual effects.

In a strange bit of coincidence, "Everything is Illuminated" contains a pivotal scene that involves a ring, a symbol connecting Wood once again to Middle Earth-shattering film saga from 2001-2003.

And while his performances in films like "Everything is Illuminated" clearly affirms that the 24-year-old actor has more great work ahead of him, Wood well realizes that throughout his career, Frodo Baggins will follow him around everywhere he goes.

But unlike other actors who resent being associated with a certain role, Wood clearly wears his "Rings" role with pride.

"There's no way for me to ever deny the experience or to feel that it follows me around," Wood said. "It was an incredible experience and it shaped me as a human being. By far it was most profound experience making a movie that I ever had. They're incredible films that I'm so unbelievably proud to be a part of. The fact that they're mentioned and referenced as much as they are, and as much as I know they will be there for the rest of my life, I don't find it that to be a negative thing by any means."

At that point of the interview, I relayed the end of my recent conservation with "Columbo" legend Peter Falk, who said that actors in such positions are blessed -- and really have no good reason to complain about it. Wood heartily agreed.

"It's what we do," Wood enthused. "As long as we can continue to work beyond a role that we're overly referenced to, that's all I care about."