In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Warren and Debbie Wood welcomed the arrival of Elijah Jordan on January 28th, 1981, their second of three children. As a toddler, little Elijah showed an affinity for performing and his mother, on a whim, took him to a large modeling and talent convention in Los Angeles. Scouts recognized his knack for entertaining and with that, a child star was born.

After seeing that his appearance in a few commercials would lead to greater things, the Wood family moved out West to fuel Elijah's rise. His first big gig arrived when he was cast in '80s pop star Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" video, which he followed up with a role as "Video Game Boy #1" in Back to the Future Part II.

It wasn't until Wood starred in his first big part, in Barry Levinson's critically acclaimed Avalon, that fans began to notice this budding child star. At 11 years old, Wood could add two other movies to his resume; Radio Flyer with Lorraine Braccoand Forever Young with Mel Gibson

With each film, Wood was gaining great experience. And fans could see an improvement, despite the commercial failure of 1994's North and The War, especially since he was the redeeming quality of both these movies.

Spots in hit TV shows like Frasier and Homicide: Life on the Street helped breathe new life into his career after getting unlucky with his last two movies. Wood then got back on track with Flipper, the 1996 adaptation of the popular television series.

Soon Big was on a roll. First in the parade was 1997's The Ice Storm, in which he co-starred with Sigourney Weaver (who portrayed his dysfunctional mother). Then came the Armageddon-themed Deep Impact in 1998, in which a meteor headed toward Earth threatens to end all existence. The Faculty was released that same year, and featured Elijah as a student who suspects that his teachers are from another planet. All did well at the box office, and cemented the notion that Wood had gone from a young, raw talent to a full-fledged Hollywood star.

On the set of The Faculty, Wood heard that Peter Jackson was undertaking a huge project and was immediately drawn to it. After Wood sent in an original audition tape for the role of Frodo Baggins, Jackson had no choice but to cast him as the central figure in the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Filming started in New Zealand and continued for more than a year as all three films (adapted from the J.R.R. Tolkien books) were filmed consecutively. The experience was life-altering for Wood, as he forged close bonds with the film's other actors and grew not only professionally, but also personally. In fact, thanks to many TV specials and DVDs on the subject, the filming of LOTR has become subjected to legendary status, which Wood full-heartedly agrees with.

Thanks to incredible media hype, innovative computer generated graphics and great acting, The Fellowship of the Ring raked in truckloads of money during its opening weekend in December 2001. Big's portrayal of Frodo became internationally recognized and his popularity only became stronger with the December 2002 release of The Two Towers. The critical acclaim and accolades that came with the first two installments have increased the anticipation for the final episode, The Return of the King, to a fever pitch.

Admirably, Wood has not simply sat back and milked the success of The Lord of the Rings. Surely fans will see a different but equally great side of him in his next two projects: Thumbsucker and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, both set for release in 2003.

From child actor to adult superstar, Big has seen and done it all -- and he's only in his early 20s. We can't wait to see what sort of status he reaches after another decade or two in the biz.