I know that Charlie [Hunnam] was out there for something like two months in advance, which was definitely great for his journey. For me, I didn't need that kind of research. I didn't need to put in that kind of time because my character does come into it so green and so innocent. So it was kind of perfect that I came into it when I did. But it was actually a great time those first two weeks. It really cemented our relationships with the guys. That group became a strong unit, which is important in terms of trying to depict that in the film. We all had some pretty incredible experiences going to the matches and going to the pub before the matches. It was really amazing.”
Elijah Wood on What He Learned About the World of Football: “I mean, I appreciate it a lot more especially going to matches. I mean, it is truly electrifying. It's unlike any sporting event that I've ever been to. But largely I don't really follow sports that much. I think that if I were to follow sports, I think that I would probably follow football. Definitely.”
Elijah Wood on Preparing Physically for “Green Street Hooligans:” “I didn't get hurt. Actually, we had pretty intensive training and choreography for the fighting. I did about three weeks of training with Pat Johnson, who was our choreographer, before I went out to London. And then consequently during those two weeks of rehearsals, we all trained together and choreographed the fights. So it was a lot of fun. It was fun to be trained in fighting and learn street fighting moves. It was very male and masculine and it was fun. It was a lot of fun.
Interestingly enough, I think that we all kind of assumed, 'Oh, those are going to be the best days. The fight scenes. The easiest and most fun because it'll be the fighting - the scrapping and all of that.' They were the most complicated days. They were the most exhausting. Those scenes took the longest because it was all very, very specific and it looks very manic. But of course it's all these tiny little moments that are all cut together to make it look chaotic and manic. So those were definitely the most difficult days, particularly the last fight which is actually the first fight that we shot, I believe. That, I think, took two and a half to three days and it was cold. It was exhausting. We were sore from just exerting ourselves. But it was safe. I mean, there were no injuries. I think that there was one injury, actually. Ross McCall, one of the actors in the film, was rehearsing a particular punch movement with one of the other actors and he clocked the guy in the nose and burst his nose. There was blood running everywhere. He felt awful. It was a total accident of course.”
On His Ability to Handle Himself in a Fight: (Laughing) “I think that I could handle myself pretty well. Yeah. I'm certainly not looking for it. But yeah, I'm not bad.”
Elijah Wood on What’s Next: “There are a few things sort of on the horizon, nothing is really set though. There is a movie called 'Bobby' that Emilio Estevez wrote and is going to direct. It's about the day that Bobby Kennedy was shot at The Ambassador Hotel. So it's sort of about a cross section of all these different people's lives, different stories of days in the life of different people at The Ambassador. It ends with that tragedy to give insight into that experience, but also what people were going through at that time in our history, at the hotel itself. It's really an ambitious script and pretty incredible. So it looks like I'll be a part of that.”
On His Passion for Music: “I've always been passionate about music. I guess that it was just a few years ago that I thought, 'God, it'd be really interesting to start a label. I love music and I think that it'd be a really fun process to find bands that I really believe in and put out music or just be a part of that process of putting out music that I love and think people should hear.' I think that it's kind of noble and small. It's great. So, yeah, my taste in music is so varied.”
