Elijah Wood has, in his own words, “had to do a lot of weird things" as an actor, but his role in his new horror film "Maniac" may take the cake. "Scalping a woman? I’d say that’s probably the most intense thing I’ve ever been asked to do on the screen," he said.
In "Maniac", which premieres this week, Wood plays a serial killer named Frank. When I caught up with the actor at the Times Scare Haunted House in Times Square, he revealed to me that he is a big fan of the horror genre -- a fact I never would have guessed. Seems he's not such a "Good Son" anymore, moving away from risking his life as a hobbit and on to killing women met on online dating sites.
The film is based on the cult movie from the 1980s of the same name, and was shot all in POV. Although we don't see Wood in most of the film, he made sure to be on the set and stayed in character even when the camera wasn’t filming him. “I wanted to be prepared for anything,” he said.
Director Franck Khalfoun said he often felt tempted to turn the camera around when Wood was acting behind the camera and he was only getting shots of his hands; for the sake of the film, however, he couldn’t shoot Wood's reactions, and could only show the main character through reflections.
Although his character is very unusual, Wood said that it wasn't his most memorable experience: “I’ve also had a foursome in a movie," he said. "It’s called 'Pawn Shop Chronicles' -- that’s coming out in July. In the background of the scene you see me and three other girls naked. I’ve never done that before: it felt like I was jumping out of a plane, I didn’t even have time to prepare."
Well, that’s one thing he can mark off his bucket list. He said compared to playing a hobbit, having a foursome is a lot more challenging. Still, he seems ready for new experiences:
“I don’t know if my view on acting changed; if anything as I get older, my taste continues to grow and I continue to grow as a human being, with that comes new things that you want to explore,” he said.
At the Q&A when Khalfoun started talking about how Wood wasn't the most obvious choice to play a serial killer, the actor jumped out of the audience and yelled, “Fuck that guy!” Clearly, he’s a spontaneous actor -- and also one of the most down-to-earth, despite the fact he'll likely never be unemployed again.
