Elijah Wood Confirms What We Suspected All Along About This Hilarious LOTR Myth
It's been twenty years since the release of the first film in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. "The Fellowship of the Ring" began the epic saga that would stay in the hearts and minds of fantasy film buffs for years to come. Central to the trilogy was actor Elijah Wood, who portrayed the essential role of Frodo Baggins, the young hobbit who takes it upon himself to leave the comfort of his simple life and go on a dangerous quest. Frodo is the center of the journey, and, simply put, Wood has become synonymous with the "Lord of the Rings" franchise.
The ensemble of actors in the "Lord of the Rings" films worked together very closely and for many years during production of the trilogy. Countless stories have emerged over the years of behind-the-scenes shenanigans, pranks, and surprising moments (like what really happened when Aragorn kicked that helmet). As for Wood, there was one story that his fellow actors would never let him live down, and he recently opened up about this embarrassing incident that happened while shooting.
Elijah and the "fart heard round the Shire"
"Hot Ones" host Sean Evans recently sat down with actor Elijah Wood to snack on some spicy wings and talk about Wood's newest film, "No Man of God," which is set to release on August 27. Inevitably, the conversation turned to Wood's experiences while filming the "Lord of the Rings" movies, and there was one story in particular that Evans couldn't resist bringing to light.
"Is it true that you let out the fart heard 'round the Shire doing the hillside roll with your hobbit castmates?" Evans asked, to which Wood immediately reacted by cracking up.
"First day of filming," Wood confirmed. "Day one!" He elaborated further, describing a scene where Frodo runs into Merry (Dominic Mognahan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd): "The scene is we are rolling down the hill after Merry and Pippin run into us, running away from Farmer Maggot's field, having stolen a bunch of vegetables. They bang into us, we roll down the hill. . . so it's picking up that moment of falling down the hill and falling on top of each other in a very comedic way, and I think it was like take two. And I had a, uh, what is that, a concussion fart? A fart that is brought on by pressure? And yeah, I literally fell [and farted] and everybody burst out laughing. It was great, it was very funny . . . a hell of a way to start filming 'Lord of the Rings.'"
Being one of the youngest cast members at the time of shooting (Wood was 17 at the time), it had to have been quite the initiation for the actor to rip one out on the very first day. Wood seems to be able to laugh about it now, though, and "Lord of the Rings" fans have yet another reason to love the hobbit hero.