The cast members of “The Lord of the Rings” have had mixed success in the eight years since the franchise wrapped up. Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom became fully-fledged movie stars (the latter less so in recent years), and Dominic Monaghan managed surprising longevity as a star of “Lost,” but Sean Astin‘s mostly been stuck in Adam Sandler movies and one-off TV appearances, while we’re pretty sure that Billy Boyd washed our windshield at a traffic light not so long ago.
But it’s hard to argue that Elijah Wood has had one of the more interesting post-Middle Earth careers. The actor’s had misfires like “The Oxford Murders” and “Green Street Hooligans,” but he’s spent most of his time in interesting indie flicks like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Everything is Illuminated,” with occasional brief roles in megahits like “Happy Feet” and “Sin City” along the way, while focusing principally on his record label, Simian Records, who look after The Apples In Stereo. The actor will be reprising his trademark role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson‘s “The Hobbit,” but first he’s just signed on to one of the more intriguing romantic comedies in the works.
The Hollywood Reporter brings news that Wood has joined the cast of “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” which is co-written and starring “Parks and Recreation” star Rashida Jones, who, opposite “Saturday Night Live” vet Andy Samberg, play a former couple trying to maintain their friendship while getting a divorce. Wood will play Jones’ business partner, “a metrosexual who tries to be her “saucy gay friend””.
Wood joins a supporting cast that also includes Emma Roberts, as a troubled starlet, Ari Graynor, as a friend of Celeste, and Chris Messina, as a potential romantic interest for Jones. We like pretty much everyone involved, the early script we read was strong, and Lee Toland Krieger, director of the woefully under-seen “The Vicious Kind,” is at the helm, so it’s certainly looking to be a few dozen steps above the majority of romantic comedies out there. Filming starts shortly, to take advantage of the hiatus in Jones and Samberg’s TV schedules, so we should see this in theaters in the spring/summer of 2012.