Digital Trends

So much for standard celebrity perks like "World's Sexiest People" nominations, overenthusiastic groupies and champagne-soaked soirees. A nerd icon even before The Lord of the Rings trilogy made him a household Hobbit, actor Elijah Wood merely cemented his outsider status with geek-friendly cameos in later films like Sin City and Spy Kids 3D: Game Over.

Between his youthful looks (despite appearing professionally on-stage since age nine, he's still only 25) and charming demeanor though, the talented thespian's become Hollywood's de facto go-to goofball nonetheless. See: A plethora of roles casting the amiable performer as unlikely hero and/or charming underdog, e.g. wildly unpopular yet tap dance-prone penguin Mumble in Warner Bros' recent animated box office smash Happy Feet.

Therefore it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that Wood isn't just a lifelong videogame enthusiast. He's also an active industry participant, lending his vocal talents to the titular star of just-released 3D platform-hopping romp The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning (GC/PS2/Xbox), featuring the world's most popular purple cartoon dragon. The game – which also features voice-overs by comedian David Spade and silver screen legend Gary Oldman – doesn't just raise the visual bar for the franchise and explore its headliner's mysterious origins. It also reinvents the entire series, letting fans new and old freeze or fricassee a range of fantastical enemies with fire, ice, earth or electricity-based breath attacks.

Being the self-avowed dork he is, we seized the opportunity to give Wood a call. The mission: Discover not only what his favorite games are and how much time he's been clocking in behind the controller lately, but also just what his latest venture holds in store for joystick jocks. Following are the Tinseltown A-lister's thoughts on the state of the industry, retro fever and why he'd made a great God of War. (No, seriously…)

Doing Voice-Over work for Spyro The Dragon

Q: We hate to say it, but talk about typecasting: Aren't you getting a little tired of playing improbable heroes like Frodo and Spyro, on whose shoulders the job of saving the world always falls?

A: No, not really. I think the concept behind these guys is something that everybody can appreciate throughout anytime in history. We all go through this phase where there's a sense that we're insecure or just can't accomplish something, no matter how hard we try. That's why people continue to love these characters that are such unlikely heroes. You'd never in your wildest dreams picture them being able to accomplish all that they accomplish. I think it makes people feel better to see this and gives them a way to empathize with a character that in many ways is like they are.

Q: The Legend of Spyro explains its hero's mysterious origins. Is there anything people don't know about your past that might surprise them as well?

A: I don't know that there's anything particularly surprising in my past. I'm originally from Iowa. I was born in Cedar Rapids and grew up there until I was eight years old. I'm from the Midwest. I think people know that. What they may be shocked to learn is that my initial experience with acting was actually as a model. There's not really any outlet for acting in Iowa or the Midwest outside of the big cities, so I was enrolled in this modeling school that had actually had acting elements on the side. That's how I actually got myself to Los Angeles was through a modeling and talent convention.

Q: What makes the game so compelling, besides, of course, the whole flying and hyper-powered halitosis thing?

A: The first cool part is the story itself: It's reinvented here and given somewhere new and unexpected to go. As for the character, he's this young guy that discovers he's a dragon, which is a pretty major thing to stumble on. Because for most of his life, it turns out he thought he was a dragonfly. It's intense. He has to discover his lineage and there's so much that you can do with that as an actor or storywriter in future games that it makes playing Spyro such a great opportunity.

Q: You're a big name in the world of showbiz. The appeal of appearing in a simple interactive outing like this is…?

A: As both an actor and videogame fan, there's just something inherently neat about lending your voice to a game. But it's fun. I don't think of it as work.

Q: Find any inspiration for the role in a certain hairy-footed hero with an unhealthy penchant for white-bearded wizards and rings of invisibility?

A: I don't know that there was any particular inspiration for Spyro beyond the character himself and what he discovers. A lot of the discoveries he makes, I discovered as he made them. I followed them in sequence, so as he makes his discoveries in the game I was there right along with him all the way. I think the comparisons are certainly there between his personality and Frodo's – the similarities aren't lost on me. I don't know that I necessarily put any of Frodo in the character, but the parallels are definitely there.