Elijah Wood Quotes

I found myself in the doldrums in the early Nineties. I was too old to play the dolly bird any longer and I looked too young to play a woman of my real age. No one ever saw me as the aunt, mother or grandmother.

I've introduced myself with comedy, and once you've introduced yourself as something, that's where people keep you. That's where people like to hold you.

I have a really adaptable face, but when I am just being me, people always think I am younger than I am.

I think every major character I've played was originally for an older woman. I have no idea what that says. I guess I'm mature for my age.

This idea of the world expecting you to remain an ingenue forever - it's a very short shelf life if you're going to commit to that as your career, and I knew that early.

When you hit 30, people have got this perception that you're past it, and I really disagree with that.

You have to have an overall vision of how you want people to see you.

I want to try to help shift perceptions people may have of me as an actor.

I'm not trying to clean my image to make anyone happy.

I think it's pretty crazy to say you've been typecast at the age of 20 before you've even really started getting going.

My career seems to have worked out OK, especially since I turned 40. I've always had a character part, mind you - I've never played the princess. But if you're used to doing that, it must be soul-destroying to hit 40 and suddenly find there's nothing for you to do.

When I talk about my husband, I feel as if people roll their eyes. It's like when you're 16 and order a martini, and the waiter says, 'Do you think I'm stupid?'. They can't grasp that I'm old enough to be married.

At about 40, the roles started slowing down. I started getting offers to play mothers and grandmothers.

I have very young looks, so it's easy for me to play high school, but I'm trying to stay away from high-school movies. As I get older, I'll try and broaden my talents.

I was stuck as a Boomer type in a lot of people's minds.

In Hollywood, you play a mom, and the next thing you know, you're on 'The Golden Girls.' They age you so fast.

You know, there's that temptation in interviews to make yourself sound - well, to give yourself a bit of mystery.

Men come of age at sixty, women at fifteen.

Basically I am just another actor who loves his work and this thing about age only exists in the media.

I don't want to be the stupid blond. I want to be an actor.

It's very difficult to change the perception people have of you.

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

Be careful with how you make the world perceive you, because they'll perceive you like that for the rest of your life.

People say, 'You look so great for your age,' and I say, 'OK, you can leave off the 'for your age' part. Can we all stop qualifying it?'

I want to play women my own age, rather than artificially 'de-age' myself so that I can play women who are younger or much younger than I am. I want to grow into those kind of more mature parts, not try and keep them at bay for as long as I possibly can.