Still surprised to be here (part 2, Frodo's actor)
As I wrote in the previous post, my journey to Live Journal started years ago and it included many different stages: Reading Lord of the Rings in Dutch, in English, reading more of Tolkien, resisting the films, giving in and finally watching them and seeing my hero Frodo come to life. This post is about Frodo's actor, Elijah Wood.
That face
From Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). “The money shot”.
The first moment Frodo appears on screen is a bit of a shock. That face! Those eyes!
Is it a blessing or a curse for an actor to have such a very distinctive face? I really don't know. I suppose it depends on what the actor does with that face. And Elijah does A LOT with it.
Is that the same actor?
In one of the customer reviews I read on IMDb the reviewer describes sitting in the cinema and hearing someone ask during the Crack of Doom scene:
"Is that the same actor we saw in the Shire two films ago? I don't believe it!"
I totally understand this comment and here are the screen-caps to show what I mean. Incredible indeed!
Top row: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Meeting Gandalf: “You’re late”.
Bottom row: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Frodo tries to throw the Ring into the fire.
Left: Still fighting. Middle: Paralyzed; he knows he can’t do it. Right: Frodo has lost his soul.
Learning to see the subtlety
It now seems strange to me but the first time I saw the films I didn't think Elijah Wood's performance was anything out of the ordinary. He was just one of a bunch of excellent actors. But then, why was I so deeply moved by Frodo, his sufferings, his fate. It took several more viewings and a bit of research to recognize the subtlety and the power of the performance. I owe most to T.G. Shaw's website www.frodolivesin.us. That site is no longer updated but, fortunately, it's still there. Using screen-caps and frame-by-frame analysis she shows what happens on that face, the use of micro-expressions, and how they convey emotions that a viewer picks up at a subconscious level. I'm sure that's exactly what happened to me. As micro-expressions are involuntary movements of the facial muscles, this actor must have "become" the character rather than "portraying" him. When I realized this I was very impressed!
Now I can see the subtlety and I can even try to explain what I see by posting screen-caps. I had many different scenes to choose from but I decided on this one from The Two Towers where Frodo, Sam and Gollum are resting during their passage of the Dead Marshes, It is one of the scenes I didn't GET at my first viewing but that still left me with goose bumps.
From The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). “The passage of the Marshes”.
In this scene Frodo realizes for the first time that he is possessed by the same Ring-lust that Gollum experiences. In the top pictures he is caressing the Ring, as a lover. The tiny smile on his face in the second frame and his lustful expression in the third frame are just fascinating to see. In the next frames Frodo hears Gollum say "My Precious" while Gollum caresses an imaginary Ring in his hand. And the full horror of what is happening shows in Frodo's face in the last frame.
Who is this actor?
Being now thoroughly hooked, I watched the "making of" the films. Viewing "behind the scenes" footage and listening to the cast commentary was a mixed blessing. Perhaps I might have liked some of the characters better if I had just stuck with the films. But that was not the case with Frodo. I really liked what I saw and heard of his actor. Elijah listened to what the others had to say. And, young as he was, he seemed to encourage them. He also seemed to have this great sense of fun. I really fell for his personality and that feeling only increased when I started reading not_alone 's "A Journey With Frodo" here on LJ. Every interview I've read since then has confirmed that first impression.
From “The making of” Sean Astin’s short film “The Long and Short of it”. This guy is supportive, he really listens to other people and he has a great sense of fun.
From “The Fellowship of the Ring (EE): The Fellowship of the Cast”. ”He must have been so tired”.
I hope he didn't share Frodo's fate
Although I can see that Frodo's fate was inevitable from the beginning of the story, I have never really forgiven Tolkien for taking Frodo out of the equation in the last chapters of the book and shifting the focus to Sam. I really hoped that Frodo's actor wouldn't share Frodo's fate of being "little honoured in his own country". It seemed unfair to me that an actor who had given us so much in his creation of Frodo would be held back in his career by the success of the films. So, I started to follow Elijah on the Internet. At first, I didn't quite know how it had all worked out for him. But as I read on I began to understand his priorities better. He likes to challenge himself by taking on very different types of roles, he is interested in every aspect of film making and he has this strong alternative interest in his music. In a recent interview he said (when asked what advice he had to give about life): "Fail often, fail gracefully and try again". Someone who can say that is doing fine!
As I watched more of Elijah's films, I discovered that the subtlety of his Frodo wasn't a one-off. I recognized it also in his other roles and I was just as impressed by it. Here are a few examples.
Jonathan Safran Foer in “Everything is illuminated” (2005): Saying so much without saying a word.
Aaron Feller in“Day Zero” (2007): That incredible intensity.
Ryan Newman in “Wilfred” (2011): Making me cry when I expected to laugh.
The fans
The whole phenomenon of fandom is new to me. Never before has an actor or actress interested me enough to become involved in it. I have now discovered that there are different types of fans.
The needy fans. I found them on Twitter. @woodelijah Retweet me! Follow me! Marry me!
The frustrated fans. These often turn into haters. They build up an unrealistic image of their idol and then blame him when he doesn't live up to their fantasy. I've seen them on IMDb and on Twitter. Haters also exist in many different forms but I'm sure sexual jalousie is behind it quite often.
The admirers. (Relatively) normal people who appreciate the guy and his work. I found them on Always and Forever and here on Live Journal. And I'm one of them, so I decided to join in.
So what do I admire? The character of Frodo, the performance, Elijah's personality?
Answer: All of them. It has somehow become impossible for me to separate them. Does this mean that my judgment of Elijah's future performances will be biased? Possibly, but so be it. I loved him in his two most recent roles: as Ryan in Wilfred and as Ben Gunn in Treasure Island. In a previous LJ post I wrote "An internally driven character needs a subtle actor AND a perceptive viewer". I am grateful that my "research" on Frodo and Elijah has made me a more perceptive viewer. And I discovered LJ along the way; that was a bonus. It's been great reading other people's posts. I don't know yet how I'm going to use LJ in the future; perhaps I'll just go with the inspiration of the moment. But I expect most of my posts will be Tolkien- or LOTR- or Frodo- or Elwood-related.
Elijah Wood as himself.
Behind the scenes of Max Landis’ short film
“Death and the Return of Superman” (pic from A&F; 2012)
The first part of this post is here: http://ambree40.livejournal.com/4493.html#cutid1