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OP 
Elijah Wood, the actor starring as Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring never read The Tolkien Trilogy!!!
He was quoted in USA Weekend, a Sunday newspaper supplement in the U.S., as follows:
Q: Had you read Tolkien before this?
Wood: "I'd read The Hobbit. I'd owned Lord of the Rings for ages but I'd never actually gotten around to reading it.
Q: Shame on you! Most Tolkien fans can recite his work nearly word-by-word.
Wood: But I was a big fan of The Hobbit! So I was quite familiar with Tolkien's work in that way beforehand.
WHAT!First of all, as an actor, this drives me up the wall...why would you not want to do your homework after signing for a part like this, and absorbing eveything you can about the character's background, especially Tolkien's vision thereof? Why didn't the producers and director insist, upon signing, that the entire cast read the triliogy...elementary, no? Unless the director feels he's such a masterful interpreter of Tolkien's work that he can impart that vision to the cast with his unique prowess.
But I haven't heard that mentioned anywhere so I don't believe this to be the case.
Thankfully, the movie is getting a fabulous buzz in previews, most saying it's superb! (and after that forgettable 70's animation bomb the story needed somebody to do it justice on film...if that's possible).
But I don't get these spoiled, lazy (and overpaid) actors today...let's see, we'll just "wing" Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, I don't need to know what Tolkien, the creator of the character had to say. Who needs subtext?
And, then, of course the message from all the interviews he gives on this will be "don't bother reading the book, it's not important if the movie's good."
If someone can help pacify me on this matter, please do...I still, however, plan to see the movie with open arms (but a bit more critical of Wood's performance/interpretation). And I can understand procrastinating over a long read (see our longest books discourse), but once you're signed to do the part, dammit!, read the book!
He said that though he hadn't read LotR before casting, he started reading it during filming and that he's almost done now. Also, for auditions, he said that he bought a book about hobbits? and made a tape of himself with some of his friends in the hills of Hollywood acting out hobbit parts, so he obviously did some research beforehand about the part.
The fact that Elijah Wood is playing Frodo was a big deal early on, but more recently people have been annoyed by the fact that they've significantly increased the role of Arwen (Liv Tyler) to create a bit of a romance between her and Aragorn and to make it so the whole story isn't all males.
I was more interested myself about how Wood has developed a non-American accent because he spent 16 months in New Zealand with primarily British actors.
As a musician, I have often showed up to a gig and had to sight-read all of the charts...
Don't worry, Max. He's young. He turns twenty one the end of next month. He'll probably get over it in a few months when he returns to a civilized part of the world.
Sweet WO'N, how generous you are, in wanting to endow Elijah with the same conscientiousness that you would bring to this job. Obviously you are a person who accepts it as a given that you will do your utmost, and go the extra mile. I have a feeling that he is not of the same persuasion, more's the pity. The world would be a better place if there were more people like you in it, my friend.
Max! You're in Iowa? You should have said something! Have you visited Grundy Center yet? I understand it's beautiful this time of year. It's only a couple of hours from Cedar Rapids if the snow's not too thick.
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