FLASHBACK: A Chubby-Cheeked Elijah Wood Wants to Study the Sea

By
This video is unavailable because we were unable to load a message from our sponsors.

If you are using ad-blocking software, please disable it and reload the page.

Happy birthday, Elijah Wood!

You may know him now as Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings franchise or as Ryan Newman on the FX series Wilfred, but Elijah Wood is a name in itself. A successful actor since the age of nine, Wood's decade-spanning career has stood the test of time.

In celebration of his 34th birthday, we're heading back to our meeting place. The year is 1990 and ET is on the set of his big television movie, Child of the Night.

“[My] favorite part of making a movie would probably be special effects,” nine-year-old Elijah told ET at the time. “Lots of scenes are fun, because you can be anyone you want. But first, you gotta audition you know?”

WATCH: 24-Year-Old Johnny Depp is Not a Fan of Hollywood

While a chubby-cheeked Elijah made for an adorable interview, we must admit his maturity shine through when we asked about the hardest part of shooting a movie.

“You gotta listen a lot to the director. That’s mostly what you gotta do,” Elijah said. “Then you feel proud of yourself if you do that stuff. They say compliments about you, and then you feel proud!”

And we had to know if this young child star on the rise would make a lifetime career out of acting.

“I might study the sea and study sharks or something like that,” Elijah said, “or I might just stay in this, cause I can get a good career doing this.”

A good career is right! Check out this video to see adorable young Elijah at just nine years old.

Follow Ashley on Twitter: @AshCrossan