Elijah Wood, Everything Is Illuminated

Acclaimed as the finest child actor of his generation, Elijah Wood, here 24, survived the 80s and Rob Reiner's awful North pretty much intact. A veteran of showbiz, not rehab, Wood discusses how he consciously sought to counter the global phenomenon of starring as Frodo, the Ring bearer, in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with offbeat, challenging roles. He plays a faux version of author Jonathan Safran Foer in Liev Schreiber's adaptation of Foer's bestseller in Everything Is Illuminated. Wood can also currently be seen in the complete opposite of this rueful comedy: the violent, sociopolitical English-made actioner Green Street Hooligans.

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