Elijah Wood On How ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Changed Him As A Person

J.R.R Tolkien’s adventures in Middle Earth will soon be returning to the big screen with the highly-anticipated The Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

According to TODAY, Lord of the Rings fans will, once again, be able to see Elijah Woods play Frodo Baggins. However, this time, Frodo will only show up for a little bit.

Frodo is not the main hero at the center of the new film. In fact, The Hobbit is set 60 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings.

Elijah Wood said this during a recent appearance on TODAY:

“We learn the story of Bilbo Baggins, which was (played by) Ian Holm in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. So this is him as a young man (played by Martin Freeman) going on his first adventure. It’s the story of him kind of becoming the character that he is.”

According to Wood, he can relate to this story. He can relate, because he feels like he became the man he is today due to his experience with The Lord of the Rings.

He said:

“It was hugely impactful. The way I think of it is more in terms of how it changed me as a person. I was in New Zealand for four years, made some of the best friends of my life. I kind of grew into being a man. I was there when I was 18 and left when I was 22, basically. So I kind of grew up. It was formative years for me. “

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will open in theaters nationwide on December 14.