Elijah Wood on why the British are better at comedy than the Americans
American actor Elijah Wood made his cinematic breakthrough in 2001, appearing in the first instalment of the eternally popular The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Prior to his central role as the stoic hobbit Frodo Baggins, Wood enjoyed exposure in more minor roles in Back to the Future Part II, The Good Son and Deep Impact, among others.
Like his contemporary franchise star Daniel Radcliffe, who starred in the first Harry Potter movie in 2001, Wood quickly fell under the cloud of typecasting. Having appeared in such an iconic role across Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking trilogy, Wood understandably feared and fell subject to the typecasting curse following The Return of the King in 2003. In response, Wood sought roles as far from fantasy as possible, resulting in unexpected projects like Lexi Alexander’s Green Street, a British football hooligan movie released in 2005.
Having steeped long in the company of British actors while shooting The Lord of the Rings trilogy and again for Green Street, Wood began to heed transatlantic distinctions. Most notably, the frequently addressed comedy gulf, which appears to be wider than the Atlantic Ocean.
While the American remake of The Office was an unmitigated success, usually, such remakes – The Inbetweeners (USA) comes to mind – are a total, misguided disaster. Between 2016 and 2017, Wood appeared in BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, a remake of Dirk Gently, a failed British crime comedy series that was pulled after the first series in the UK.
Surprisingly, the US remake fared a little better, prevailing for two seasons with generally positive reviews. While promoting the show in the UK, Wood showed his steadfast allegiance to British comedy. “The British actors working on [The Lord of the Rings] spoon-fed me everything from The Day Today to Brass Eye to The Mighty Boosh,” he told The Telegraph. “[British comedy] doesn’t adhere to the same needs of American humour. It doesn’t constantly require a laugh out of you. It’s more sarcastic. There’s more wit to it.”
On another occasion, Wood affirmed his opinion on the transatlantic comedy gulf while discussing his series Wilfred. This show, airing in the US from 2011-14, was a remake of the popular Australian original.
“I always hoped [Wilfred] would be similar to a British comedy series,” Wood told the British Radio Times, “where it would tell a story and be done with it, as opposed to the typically American thing, which is to beat something into the ground over and over. I’m not interested in that.”
Watch the best of series three of The Mighty Boosh, one of Elijah Wood’s favourite British comedies, below.
