Elijah Wood: 'Lord of the Rings' changed me as a person The adventures in Middle Earth are soon set to return to the big screen with the highly-anticipated "The Lord of the Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," and once again, fans will get to see Frodo Baggins, as played by Elijah Wood. But this time, they'll only get a glimpse. Frodo isn't the Hobbit hero at the center of this story. In fact, "The Hobbit" is set 60 years before the events of the "Rings" films. "We learn the story of Bilbo Baggins, which was (played by) Ian Holm in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy," Wood explained during a Wednesday morning appearance on TODAY. So this is him as a young man (played by Martin Freeman) going on his first adventure. It's the story of him kind of becoming the character that he is. It's a story Wood relates to. After all, he feels like he became the man he is during his "Lord of the Rings" experience. "It was hugely impactful," he said of his time working on the epic films. The way I think of it is more in terms of how it changed me as a person. I was in New Zealand for four years, made some of the best friends of my life. I kind of grew into being a man. I was there when I was 18 and left when I was 22, basically. So I kind of grew up. It was formative years for me.  Catch (a little) more from Wood when "The Hobbit" opens in theaters nationwide Dec. 14.