Lord of the Rings panel w/ Elijah Wood & Sean Astin Sun 3-29-26 Planet Comicon Kansas City

Steve Erickson

Steve Erickson

991 views

Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. A prominent child actor of the 1990s and a prolific figure in major studio features of the early 2000s, he earned accolades including two Saturn Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.

Wood made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child actor with roles such as Avalon (1990), Forever Young (1992), The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), and The Good Son (1993). As a teenager, he starred in the films North (1994), The War (1994), Flipper (1996), The Ice Storm (1997), Deep Impact (1998), and The Faculty (1998). Wood achieved international fame in the early 2000s for playing the hobbit Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), based on the classic fantasy novel of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien.

As an adult, Wood appeared in a wide range of films, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Sin City (2005), and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017). He has had voice roles in projects such as Happy Feet (2006), The Legend of Spyro (2006–2008), 9 (2009), Tron: Uprising (2012–2013), and Over the Garden Wall (2014). On television, Wood starred in the series Wilfred (2011–2014), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016–2017), and Yellowjackets (2023–2025).

Wood founded the record label Simian Records in 2005, which was dissolved in 2015. He directed the 2007 music video "Energy" for The Apples in Stereo. In 2010, Wood co-founded a film production company for horror films, The Woodshed, renamed SpectreVision in 2014. Wood is a disc jockey, and has toured globally with his friend Zach Cowie as the duo Wooden Wisdom.

Sean Patrick Astin (né Duke; born February 25, 1971) is an American actor and trade union leader who serves as the 4th national president of SAG-AFTRA. He began his career as a child actor, making his film debut as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies (1985), followed by significant roles as Billy Tepper in Toy Soldiers (1991), Dave Morgan in Encino Man (1992), Daniel Ruettiger in Rudy (1993), and Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003).

He is known to television audiences for portraying Lynn McGill on the fifth season of 24 (2006), the voice of Oso in Special Agent Oso (2009–2012), the voice of Raphael on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012–17), and Bob Newby on the second season of Stranger Things (2017).

Astin's acting awards include a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Young Artist Awards. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1994 for the short film Kangaroo Court. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke and was adopted in 1972 by her then-husband, actor John Astin.

Astin ran for president of SAG-AFTRA in 2025 and was elected for a two-year term. His term began in September 2025