GL: And welcome back to Radiosonic everybody, I'm Grant Lawrence, and just enjoying some German beats there. If you've just turned in, it's a very special show tonight. We have with us Elijah Wood from LotR and Franka Potente from a number of movies. Lo.. Run Lola Run, etc. And that set was put together by you. So why don't you tell us what we heard there.
FP: Well, as I said we started out with Einsturzende Neubauten, some Industrial '80s German influence important band. After that is a band that I loved in the 80s Phillip Boa and the Voodoo Club.
GL: Yeah, we were rocking out to that.
FP: They have an American name, but they're actually German. I don't know if they have an accent to you, they don't to me.
EW: No, they sound American to me.
GL: I heard a little bit of Euro-feel to it. A little Nina type..
EW: Yeah, there was.
FP: And uh, Phillip Boa and the Voodoo Club. "Lunatics Over Brighton" is from their Copperfield album, in case somebody is inspired and wants to buy it. You can buy it here, I bought it here. And Kruder and Dorfmeister. So three very different..
EW: Which, yeah.
FP: What about them?
EW: No, no no. I was just going to say Kruder and Dorfmeister, which is probably familiar to a lot of people.
FP: Probably the most familiar.
GL: Oh yeah, they do a lot of remixes and uh..
EW: Well, they put out that K&D Sessions, which is pretty unbelievable.
GL: Yeah, good cross-section of German music. So thank you very much.
FP: You're very welcome.
GL: Well listen, now, we mentioned that you're a singer. Are you continuing that?
FP: I don't consider myself a singer, even though some people made me sing for Run Lola Run.
EW: *laughs* They made you?
FP: That's basically how it happened.
EW: They threw you into a room.
FP: I had no desire whatsoever. In acting school I did take classical singing classes. But for Run Lola Run they didn't have money to pay a singer and I would sometimes come by the studio. And they were like 'do you mind singing a layout? ["A layout"? Dunno. Can't tell.] We don't have anybody who can sing it. Can you do it really quick?' And I did it. Didn't require much, it's more like spoken word. And they were like 'Oh that sounds great. Do you mind if we put it on the CD?' and I was like 'No that's cool. Sure.' And they mixed it a little, shook it a little and it's basically what the outcome was.
GL: And now, Elijah, now correct me if I'm wrong, are you not also a singer of some kind?
FP: He sings pretty well, I think.
GL: Are you taking singing lessons? Am I just on a totally wrong track here?
EW: No, I.. well yeah.. no..
FP: You're taking singing lessons?
EW: No. No.
GL: That's incorrect.
EW: Well, I did. I did take singing lessons for a little while because actually, I actually auditioned for that Baz Lurhmann movie..
GL: Oh, Moulin Rouge.
EW: Moulin Rouge. I'd auditioned for it and they required people to sing. So I went and did a little voice coaching and all that. And uh, yeah. That was about it.
GL: So no rock star aspirations..
EW: But I'm actually on the soundtrack to North, the movie I did called North. I'm on the soundtrack to that. And I sing a portion of "If I were a rich man" because my character in the movie is on stage and does a little performance for school and they ended up recording me for the soundtrack. *Franka laughs* So yeah, there's my singing venture.
GL: Now see a lot of these rumours come from the web. That brings me to the question of who is Marcus Needler? [Don't know if I spelled that right, not going to check.]
FP: Huh?
EW: Marcus Needler?
GL: You ever heard that name before?
EW: That sounds kinda familiar.. why?
GL: He seems to run elijah-wood.com. Any idea who this person is?
EW: No.
GL: Okay, is this just a fan site?
EW: Yeah. [He actually makes one of those noises that means yes but is impossible to spell.]
GL: There's quite a few of them, eh?
EW: elijah-wood?
GL: elijah-wood.com
EW: Yeah, no. I don't personally know him.
GL: I thought maybe could he be a friend.
FP: I don't actually have an official website. In fact, there was a website that was calling itself offical, which was not. But I don't really believe in having an official website. [Kinda burps.] There's something.. the idea of self-promotion.. yes I burbed, excuse me.. the idea.. *FP and GL laugh* that's right.. the idea of self-promotion kind of freaks me out.
GL: Well, I'll do some promotion for you. You may be wondering what these two people are doing on Radiosonic
EW: What are we doing in Vancouver of all places?
FP: I don't know.
GL: Working on this movie, Try 17.
EW: Going to the hockey games.
GL: Also with, who was it.. Mandy Moore. I had never heard of her. You guys are like 'what the hell, you haven't heard of Mandy Moore?'
EW: That's okay.
GL: Our listeners will jump all over me for not knowing Mandy Moore for sure. [Actually Grant, they probably won't.]
FP: She did the song *sings* 'A walk to remember..' *laughs*
EW: For the movie. There you go! Cause Margaret sings it at work.
FP: Our make-up woman sings that song.
EW: A walk to remember. Which is a movie that Mandy is in as well. *Franka sings it again and laughs*
GL: I just want to reiterate that you have.. you guys have picked all the songs that we're playing tonight.
EW: Yeah, I brought my big old CaseLogics with me.
GL: It's a real eclectic set list and this next band we're going to get into, I love them too.
EW: It's really weird. Well they released, it's interesting, they got a lot of press in England and they released a compilation there, called Your New Favourite Band, which is a compilation of the first three records.
GL: We're going to start rocking in this set.
EW: Let's rock with The Hives.

[Songs.]

GL: Wow. That was a great set. So welcome back folks, it's The Escapader Hour, wrapping up here an extended Escapader Hour. We're here with Elijah Wood and Franka Potente, I love saying that name.
EW: Is it..
FP: Say it again, I like to hear it.
GL: Franka Potente. Half German, half Italian. Is that right? Well,.. the name of it is.
FP: Well, 1/16th Italian. It's a German-Italian name, yes.
GL: Yes. And it's been a great thrill having you guys here. We really appreciate it.
EW: It's been a thrill to do this.
FP: I think so too.
GL: For the kids of Canada, playing all the great tunes. So Elijah, why don't you tell us what we just heard in that set.
EW: We heard some music from New York, some music from England, and The Hives - where are they from? - they're from Sweden, aren't they?
GL: You got it.
EW: So, the last band was Clinic, a little band from I guess Liverpool. Not at all like The Beatles. They're actually being compared to Radiohead, as the sort of, the kind of more recent Radiohead, which is interesting. Very atmospheric.
GL: Yeah, they seem a little more like Indie Rock. Did you, have you seen them live?
EW: Clinic? I haven't. They just played Vancouver, I completely missed out.
GL: They were in Toronto a little while ago. Apparently they were like surgical masks.
EW: Yeah, that's their thing. And in all the publicity shots: surgical masks. Before that was Television. They are sort of being cited as an influence, as are The Stooges to a certain degree, to the band we all love, The Strokes. The sort of poster boy band.
GL: In fact sometimes not very, like people say, "Strokes? Ah, just listen to Television."
EW: Exactly. Television's great though, and that's a wicked track. Before that was The Stooges, Iggy Pop's early band. They're just brilliant. It's just pure rock power energy.
GL: Franka and I were shaking it with the hand claps. *Franka laughs* That's excellent.
EW: So good. And before that was The Hives. Your new favourite band.
GL: Yeah, "Die, Allright."
EW: They're billiant.
GL: That's what we heard, wasn't it? Was it "Die, Allright?"
EW: "Die, Allright." Yeah. So awesome.
GL: Great track. So listen, we're just about out of time, as I said. We want to thank you again for coming in and doing this.
EW: Thank you.
FP: Thank you for the invitation.
GL: It was a very eclectic mix. Really appreciated that you know what you're talking about.
FP: I don't.
EW: Well I love music, so passionate about it. *Franka snort/laughs* *Elijah giggles*
GL: And you're all over the place, and you do, you have like you're here in Vancouver, I guess you've been here for about a month, making the film Try Seventeen. When are we going to see that in the theatres?
EW: Probably sometime next year. I heard a rumour..
FP: Summer I would guess. No?
EW: Well, nah, I think they might wait to release it, until after Sundance. They might want to take it to Sundance. That's my inclination, I could be wrong.
GL: And you get to make out with Debbie Harry. This is the big selling point. With Blondie. That's amazing.
EW: And Mandy Moore for those who know her.
GL: What's the age difference between..?
FP: And me.
GL: Oh and you too?
EW: Yeah, in the movie, yeah. My character, I didn't realize it, but he gets a lot of action.
GL: Do you make out with Mandy Moore, too?
EW: Yeah.
GL: Wow, you're all over the place.
EW: Yeah, all over the place.
GL: Okay, and LotR. What a trilogy to be involved in. [Not a trilogy. Dumbass.]
EW: And The Two Towers is coming out again, so that's going to be great.
GL: So, I don't know like, what it must be like to sign onto a project like that where you're, you're just set. I mean, I think the movie is pretty great.
EW: It's awesome. I mean, I'm biased but I can still see it as a fan and I think it's unbelievable. It overwhelmed me.
GL: So how did you get that part? I heard there's an interesting story about a home movie or something.
EW: Yeah, I did my own audition tape because I didn't really like the idea of going into an office and being shot against a white background. Plus I knew that they were looking primarily for an English actor so ... [tape cuts out here] ... barefoot, I had the hobbit outfit.
GL: Now, is it really your hair or did they put a wig on?
EW: In the film it's a wig. [Thank god. Imagine having to live with that mullet cut for over a year of your life.] And prosthetic ears and prosthetic feet.
GL: What about the other hobbits? Did you get along with those guys?
EW: Those guys are like brothers to me now.
GL: Like, what's the guy, you know the guy with the fam.. Patty Duke's son?
EW: Sean Astin.
GL: Yeah, Sean Astin, from The Goonies.
EW: He's like family. I mean, I spent, you know.. Going and seeing the movie, it's an incredible experience for people and they go through a certain journey. But making the movie for me was more of a life experience than a filmic one.
GL: I can imagine because there is three of them.
EW: Yeah.
GL: That's amazing. And I guess, I heard that you got a tattoo with your fellow hobbits.
EW: That's right.
GL: Like, some number, or something?
EW: Yeah, Elvish number nine. Stands for the nine members of the fellowship.
FP: Did you get two towers somewhere as well, or just..?
EW: The two towers? No. I was thinking about getting a scar actually over my left breast cause um, Frodo gets stabbed by a Morgul blade and the wound never fully heals.
GL: What in the first one?
EW: In the first one, by the ringwraith. And I thought, wouldn't it be cool, to get a tattoo of just a simple sort of scratch that will never go away.
GL: And even more interesting is you actually have The Ring.
EW: The Ring.
GL: And so, what's the story there. How did you? Did they just give it? Was it lying around the set, you picked it up? *Franka laughs*
EW: It was a gift, cause you know, we used it every day, so the ring was kind of commonplace.
GL: Was there only one?
EW: There were a few. And varying sizes as well. But they gave me one that had been used I guess the most. And they gave it to me after the last set of pick ups that we did for the first movie. So I went back, did some extra footage and stuff for the first movie while they were still in post. I went to the editing room to say goodbye to Peter and Fran and they were like 'Oh, we've got a gift for you.' And so I opened this box and there was this kind of a wooden box, this really beautiful wooden box, and I thought 'that's cool.' And they were like 'No, open the box.' So I opened it up and there was a pouch inside with the ring on the chain. So I have the one ring.
GL: And where do you keep that?
EW: Hidden away, actually, I don't take that out too often.
GL: It's valuable. Well, Elijah Wood and Franka Potente. We thank you for being here on CBC Radio tonight.
EW: Thank you so much, it's been so much fun.
FP: Thank you.
GL: It has been a lot of fun. And uh..
EW: I hope all of you out there have enjoyed the music.
GL: Yeah and we'll look for the two of you in Try Seventeen in a few months or so or whenever it happens to hit the screen.
EW: Whenever it happens.
GL: And you're going to leave us with
GL and EW: One Last Song
EW: That's right. This is Pulp, off of Intro, which is a kind of - I don't know - it's a weird record for them. It's kind of got a lot of synth in it. It's a sort of synth poppy kind of record. More of an EP than anything. This is called "Styloroc (Nites Of Suburbia)" and it's just a wicked song.
GL: K, well thank you two.
EW: Thank you.
FP: Thank you. Danke.
GL: Thank you, you two. That's what I mean to say. Okay, bye bye.
EW: Bye.