I first heard this reported on the E! channel two days ago, but was waiting for another source to confirm it in more detail...so here it is:

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!