Elijah Wood starring as Iggy Pop!

According to Variety, IMTA alum Elijah Wood will star in The Passenger, a feature film biopic about the legendary rocker Iggy Pop. The role is much-coveted and is said to be an award-winning caliber script and role. The feature will begin filming in the next six months and is scheduled for a Summer, 2008 release. The movie is about Iggy Pop's early years in his band The Stooges.

Elijah certainly has the chops to play the role perfectly. His performances in the feature films Everything is Illuminated, Sin City, the Academy Award-winning trilogy The Lord of the Rings have been praised by film critics and moviegoers alike.

Elijah got his start at IMTA in 1989 when he caught the eye of the famed superagent Al Onorato. He moved from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Los Angeles and booked his first roles in Paula Abdul's memorable video Straight Up and the feature film Back to the Future Part II. Elijah has starred in over 40 feature films in his career and is one of young Hollywood's (and IMTA's!) most-loved actors!

IMTA INSIDER SCOOP: We'll never forget Elijah's performance during the Talent Showcase when he forgot a few of the words to the song he was singing, Don't Worry Be Happy. He did an impromptu duet with our emcee Russ Fega that had the whole crowd rooting for him. The entire Talent Showcase audience was charmed by his ability to recover. Elijah's song got a huge round of applause!