| Elijah Jordan Wood was born on January 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. For the first few years of his life, he was just a normal -- although very energetic -- boy. In fact, one day when Elijah was two, he accidentally locked his mother out of their house. No wonder she called her middle child her little "monkey"!
When Elijah started school, it wasn't long before his talents surfaced. His musical abilities were the first to shine. In 1987 he was in the chorus for "The Sound of Music", his elementary school's annual festival. The following year Elijah played the Wizard of Oz in the festival "Hooray for Hollywood". Elijah was also a choir boy in the Marion Creative Council's production of "See How They Run".
One day Mrs Wood was watching a commercial and thought, "Elijah could do that." So in the summer of 1988, she enrolled her younger son in modeling school at Avant Studios in Cedar Rapids. Six months later, she traveled with Elijah to the International Modeling and Talent Association annual convention in Los Angeles. It was the first time he had been outside of Iowa.
"I reluctantly agreed to be a judge at the convention," said talent manager Gary Scalzo in 1990. "There were about 200 kids from all over the world for this event along with another 300 hopefuls up to the age of 30. A lot of my friends asked if I'd seen Elijah, so I watched him for two whole days without opening my mouth. He was packed with personality and nervous energy. The big question I asked myself was whether I could control his energy."
Two of those friends were fellow talent managers David Guillod and Al Onorato, who have handled the careers of "My Father the Hero"'s Dalton James and "Earth 2"'s J. Madison Wright, among others.
"'Oh! He was such a cutie," Mr Guillod recalls. "I think what struck us was the simple fact that... when he walked out on stage, The room was silent. Elijah had this stage presence, and he commanded the stage with his smile. He did it with a natural charm and charisma, and he won the hearts of the people. It was just a quality."
Mr Scalzo recalled, "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 the possibilities of an acting career. Elijah and I read some scenes together and he was wonderful. He read brilliantly. He's also very directable."
Elijah recalls, "When my mom brought me to Hollywood for the convention, I didn't think of acting because I was just a model. But when Gary asked me if I wanted to be an actor, I said, 'Yeah, sure. I'll be an actor.' Gary was one of the judges in the talent auditions and my mom said it was OK with her. He said, 'I believe in you' and asked my mom if we could move out."
Within a month, the Wood family had relocated to Los Angeles. Under the guidance of Mr Scalzo, who would represent him for the next three years, Elijah's career had begun. After six weeks of auditioning, Elijah landed his first job -- the part of a young executive in Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" music video. That was followed by small roles in "Internal Affairs" and "Back to The Future II". But Elijah's big break came in 1990 with the release of "Avalon", when critics first began to notice what others had known from the beginning.
"What Elijah always did was, he jumped off the screen, because he enjoyed himself and he enjoyed the business," recalls Mr Guillod. "And you can see it. You can certainly see it."
"Elijah's personality is just right for the screen," Mr Scalzo said. "When he walks in, the whole room lights up."
Write to Elijah at:
Elijah Wood
c/o Nicole David
William Morris Agency
151 El Camino Drive
Beverly Hills, California
90212 |
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