Elijah Wood Talks Hideous The Toxic Avenger Character, ‘Amazing’ Kevin Bacon | Interview
The Toxic Avenger star Elijah Wood spoke with ComingSoon about the horror comedy movie finally getting a release. Wood discussed his character’s gross look, working with Kevin Bacon, and more. Cineverse will release The Toxic Avenger in theaters on August 29, 2025.
“When a downtrodden janitor, Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage), is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Elijah, congrats on The Toxic Avenger. I thought this film really just captured the spirit of Troma so well. I was curious, since you’re obviously such a cinephile and love wild movies, what was your personal relationship to the Troma brand over the years?
Elijah Wood: You know, it’s funny, for someone who is obsessed with horror films and genre movies, and being so aware of Troma’s past work, I’d never seen any of them. And I hadn’t actually seen The Toxic Avenger until we’d started making this film, which is embarrassing to say.
But I was very familiar with Troma in the sense that I knew what this company was. I knew who Lloyd was. I knew that they were this insane, scrappy company making wild genre exploitation movies for decades against all odds, and had sort of built an incredible fan base. I was aware of the iconography, and I knew who the Toxic Avenger was. I’d seen the animated series in the nineties. So in that sense, hyper aware, but I didn’t have a relationship directly to their films.
Well, now you have a great reason to catch up.
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. There’s no time like the present [laughs].
Your character in this looks completely wild. It’s like a cross between Danny DeVito’s Penguin and like Toby Maguire in Babylon. It’s such a funny look. How did that look come about? Was that like a Macon’s vision or was it a collaborative effort?
It was really kind of the vision from the get-go. Macon sent me the script, and it came with a little rendering of what Fritz would look like, and it’s pretty similar. Slightly hunched back, wearing a kind of long black coat, walking with a cane, balding with sort of stringy hair. That was kind of the idea.
Then getting to Bulgaria, it just became about fine-tuning, working with the costumer, figuring out the right kind of combination of elements, and then working with the hair and makeup team to get that just right. But it was really at that point, kind of fine-tuning. It was all sort of there, which was thrilling reading the script.
Having that image in my mind was really fun. It’s not often you get the opportunity to kind of completely transform. So it was a blast.
When you have such a distinct look and a departure from your handsome self, how does that really help inform how you play the character?
Elijah Wood: So much. The character, in addition to the way he looks, there’s also sort of a physical deformity to him. He’s slightly hunched back, so that changes the way that you kind of move. The voice was also something that just felt like a natural move away from my own. He’s sickly, he’s coughing, it can’t be a healthy voice.
So it was also kind of finding that element, which was sort of the last piece of the puzzle. Yeah, all of those things really inspire how you perform something, which is a blast. You know? The transformation allows for a kind of immersion, and it points in the right direction as to how this character should emerge.
Congrats, you’re now one degree from Kevin Bacon.
Yay! I did it.
He has been such a standout actor for so long, and your characters have a very interesting dynamic. What stood out most about him as a scene partner for you?
Oh, man, Kevin’s amazing, and Julia Davis too, who is with us in that sort of trio. She’s also incredible.
Look, he is so impressive. You know, such an iconic actor that we have had in our lives for decades, and he is so vital, so youthful, in crazy shape, and so committed. This is an absurd character. And to come to the party and play in that sandbox with such enthusiasm and reverence for the material and for Macon was just rad.
This kind of movie separates certain people from others, right? You’re either down or you’re not [laughs]. I think it says a lot about him that he would read this material, see that character and go, “yeah, I’m down to play in this universe.”
Thanks to Elijah Wood for taking the time to talk about The Toxic Avenger.
Source: Comingsoon.net