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I'm Jesse Thorne live on tape from my house in Los Angeles. It's the sound of young America from MaximumFund.org and PRI, public radio, international.

It's the sound of young America. I'm Jesse Thorne. My guest on the program is the actor Elijah Wood. He's been acting professionally since he was just seven or eight years old. In fact, he was in a Paula Abdul video. He was an acclaimed child actor and has been the rare child actor that has managed to sustain his career consistently ever since his childhood.

He's of course best known for his work in the Lord of the Rings movies, but his other films include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Among many others, his new movie is called The Romantic. It's released September 10, 2010. Here he is in the film, making a somewhat drunken rehearsal dinner speech.

Let's face it. My sister is perfect. Everyone here knows it. If you're a chick, you've spent your life fighting the urge to kill her in their sleep. If you're a guy, you've spent your life trying to sleep with her.

Admit it, Jake. Admit it. You admit it. Don't worry, Lise. He never got anywhere.

I know it's been hard to embrace the new in-laws, but don't worry. We only have to spend Christmas and Thanksgiving with them every year for the rest of our lives.

Wait. Do Irish people celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah?

Elijah, welcome to the Santa Young America. It's great to have you on the show. It's a pleasure.

I mentioned on my Twitter that you are coming in today and someone who is from your hometown mentioned that it smells like quaker oats.

Is this something that you remember?

Oh, yeah. It's Cedar Rapids Island. Yeah. There's a massive factory. My mom used to work in, actually.

And so the entire town smells of quaker oats. How old were you when you moved to LA?

I was seven. I think I turned eight when I moved here.

Did you move to LA to work in the entertainment industry or was it for other reasons?

Kind of. Yeah. I mean, in essence, it was. My brother, who's seven years older than me, Zach was in school doing drama and musicals already.

And he had a sort of vested interest in performance and enacting. And my mom put both of us in a modeling school.

Ultimately, the school traveled out to Los Angeles. Like some of the students came out to LA for this modeling and talent convention. My brother and I competed in it.

And it was there that I met a manager who asked me if I want to become an actor. I think I was seven at the time.

And I started auditioning. I enjoyed that process. After six weeks of auditioning, I got my first job, which was the Paula Abdul music video.

And this is for every girl where it's Paula Abdul teaching dances to little kids.

Yes. Yes. And then they just watched it. That's why.

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