Ex-hobbit Wood has a novel TV return
When Elijah Wood took on the role of the hobbit Frodo Baggins in the famed “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he was plunged into the world of Middle-earth, where he had to contend with dragons, Orcs, Ents and a Gollum.
Wood’s new project, BBC America’s “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency,” finds him in the real world, but its weirdness could rival Middleearth. He plays Todd Brotzman, an unlucky hotel bellhop who is suddenly thrust into a sci-fi-flavored mystery populated by an assortment of bizarre characters, including Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett), an eccentric, fast-talking sleuth who believes in the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things” and sees Brotzman as the Watson to his Sherlock.
“Gently,” based on a popular novel by Douglas Adams (“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”), marks a return to series television for Wood, who spent four seasons starring in FX’s “Wilfred,” about a young man who has a unique friendship with his neighbor’s dog, played by Jason Gann in a furry dog costume.
The following is an edited transcript of the conversation.
“They will be a part of me for the rest of my life.”
Q: What attracted you to “Dirk Gently?” Were you familiar with the novel?
A: No. In fact, I’ve not read any Douglas Adams. I’m certainly familiar with him as a pop culture reference. My entry point was quite literally the pilot script that (creator) Max Landis had written. I had never read anything like it, certainly not on television.
Q: Were you looking for another series?
A: No. I had an amazing time making “Wilfred” for four years, but it was not on the list of priorities to do another series.
Q: What most appealed to you?
A: How funny and surprising it was. The thing I was most impressed with was thinking about how you’re constantly being thrust in different directions.
Q: How much has choosing roles over the last few years had to do with wanting to do something different after being part of one of the most popular film phenomena of all time?
A: Not at all anymore. Closer to the proximity of the release of those films, that occupied more of my mind in the sense that those films loomed so large, and I just wanted to continue in things that were very different, particularly smaller films. But it’s been over 15 years since the first one, so it doesn’t occupy my mind anymore.
Q: Do people still approach you about them?
A: All the time! They will be a part of me for the rest of my life. They’re part of pop culture.