Elijah Wood Reveals The Childhood Role He's Most Proud Of, and It May Surprise You

Elijah Wood is making the rounds for his most recent film, The Toxic Avenger, which had a big presence at San Diego Comic-Con last week. While Wood is best known for starring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and some great indie films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he started out as a child actor in hit films like Paradise, Forever Young, Radio Flyer, The Adventures of Huck Finn and The Good Son. He has gone on to make so many different types of films, and even TV series throughout his career, it’s interesting to hear which projects most stuck with him.

While at Comic-Con last week, the actor was asked by Comic Book which of his childhood roles he was “most proud of,” and Wood quickly landed on the 1994 dramedy, North. He explained, “I haven’t seen this in a long time, but I had such a fun time making it. It was much-maligned at the time. Famously, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel hated it.”

North was adapted from a novel by Alan Zweibel published in 1984, and Zweibel wrote the screenplay himself, in addition to taking a minor role on screen. The movie was directed by Rob Reiner and included a star-studded cast, including Bruce Willis, Jon Lovitz, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and many others. It even includes Scarlett Johansson’s big screen debut at nine years old.

Reiner was featured in the Directors on Directing panel at Comic-Con, and he also mentioned the film while talking about his body of work, stating that he had a fondness for it as well, despite the negative feedback from Siskel and Ebert.

I haven’t seen this movie, despite being the prime demographic when it was released, just before I turned ten. But, as a fan of both Elijah Wood and Rob Reiner, it sounds like I should round up my kids and give it a watch.