‘The Toxic Avenger’ Star Elijah Wood on Cult Remakes and Why He Loves Weird Movies

Elijah Wood will always be associated with the Lord of the Rings movies, but the actor has also built up a varied array of unusual characters across his career. Maybe his weirdest yet comes with The Toxic Avenger, the long-awaited remake of the cult classic that’s finally hitting theaters later this month. Wood has a memorable supporting role as Fritz, the brother and henchman of Kevin Bacon’s sleazy villain. He’s not as freaky-looking as the title mutant, played in human form by Peter Dinklage, but he comes awfully close.

io9 got a chance to talk to Wood about The Toxic Avenger (and a few other things in that vein) at the recent San Diego Comic-Con.

Cheryl Eddy, io9: Fritz is many things. He’s the head of security, he’s a music manager, he’s the villain’s brother. And he’s also very unusual looking. Did you come up with a backstory for him to explain what his life’s been like until this point?

Elijah Wood: No, but I think the writing’s on the wall there, like, he was born physically deformed, probably picked on. His brother was always smarter, more handsome, more capable. I think he desperately wanted to be loved and sort of wasn’t; he was kicked to the side and treated like shit. And so I think that turned him into, well, “I guess I’m the henchman,” and I think that brought out, not necessarily an evil in him, but I think it was like, resentment breeds dark deeds. I think that’s kind of how he became who he is.

And then, of course, his brother was just like, “I’m going to have you do my bidding,” to which he sort of acquiesced. And I think you see that in the movie; he probably really wants just to be loved. He’s actually sort of a sweet guy, and he’s just misunderstood.

io9: We saw you earlier this year playing a very different sort of villain in The Monkey. Which character do you think is more odious?

Wood: Oh, [The Monkey’s] Ted Hammerman, without question. Odious is a great word, by the way. Yeah, Ted is awful. Just a toxic male [who] thinks he knows better than everybody else. He’s got his whole perspective on what makes a great father, although I don’t think he really does know what makes a great father. That was a blast. I love Osgood [Perkins, director of The Monkey] too, and it was a joy to come and join that for a bit. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time.

io9: You starred in the Maniac remake back in 2012. And now you’re in the new Toxic Avenger. What draws you to these cult-beloved titles, and is there one you’d like to see be remade in the future, whether or not you star in it?

Wood: It’s all circumstantial. That one, I was drawn to it because it was taking the source material and doing something really different with it. Remakes are tricky, you know, and both of these films are related in the sense that they made something new of the source material rather than regurgitating it in the same way.

I was really attracted to Maniac because… my character doesn’t really show up. It’s primarily a POV film. I love POV horror; it’s really interesting. There’s a great POV horror film from the ‘60s, Peeping Tom. It reminded me of Peeping Tom a little bit, about how wonderful to take this and put you sort of in the mindset of, or at least the POV of, the characters. That was the reason I wanted to do that. And I love the creative team behind that film.

And then this one, I mean, Macon [Blair, director of Toxic Avenger], I’ll do anything Macon asks; I’m a huge fan of his work. I worked with him on this movie called I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, and so I’ll do anything for him. He’s a dear friend. And then to be asked to play a character like this in this universe was just a blast. I think it was clear that it was an approach to the original material that was very much its own but had total reverence for what Lloyd [Kaufman of Troma Entertainment] had created.

So it was circumstantial that these two things came into my life. I don’t know that I’m seeking these things out, but I love genre, and I’m always going to be interested in making something weird and funny and absurd.

The Toxic Avenger hits theaters August 29.

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