Wood revisited the New Zealand set where he first began shooting “The Fellowship of the Ring” 26 years ago this month.

Elijah Wood crashes Lord of the Rings-themed wedding held at the Shire: ‘Oh my God’

Wood revisited the New Zealand set where he first began shooting "The Fellowship of the Ring" 26 years ago this month.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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October 28, 2025 7:04 p.m. ET

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Elijah Wood as Frodo in 2001's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' and crashing a wedding in October. Credit:

New Line Cinema; Hobbiton Movie Set/TikTok

The quest for the ring continues.

Elijah Wood recently returned to the New Zealand set of *The Lord of the Rings*' Shire to surprise a happy couple at the altar.

In a video shared Monday to the official TikTok account of Hobbiton, the charming Matamata, New Zealand, set that Wood's Frodo Baggins called home in Peter Jackson's acclaimed film trilogy, Wood surreptitiously arrives with a small armada of camera operators to document the surprise. As soon as he steps out from the throng and presents himself at the end of the aisle, the bride and the groom can both be heard exclaiming, "Oh my God."

Wood stood out like a sore thumb, dressed in a simple outdoor jacket, pair of jeans, and sneakers. As he observed after joining the soon-to-be newlyweds at the altar, "This is amazing, and everyone is dressed as hobbits!"

The 44-year-old actor posed with the beaming bride and groom — the latter clad in the appropriate mid-calf length trousers — for a picture. The crowd continued to ooh and ahh as the full wedding party discovered one by one that the nondescript gentleman who'd crashed their loved one's big day was in fact the reason for their being there in the first place.

"Thank you so much for coming," the groom happily enthused, as Wood consented to another selfie, and went on his way.

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It's 26 years to the month that director Peter Jackson first assembled the sizable production crew in Matamata to commence shooting *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring*. The first entry in Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's behemoth fantasy classic set the tone for the films to follow, grossing roughly eight times its budget, picking up four Oscars, and catapulting cast members like Wood into superstardom.**

Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sean Astin as Sam in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001).

New Line Cinema

Tolkien conceived of the Shire as the quaint, pastoral homeland of the Hobbits, a race of short yet courageous dwellers of the fictional Middle-earth. Jackson imagined the Shire as idyllic beyond measure — cozy cottages dug into the landscape's gentle green slopes, totally free of the conflict and violence that the saga's Hobbit quartet eventually learn lie just beyond its borders.

When the original film trilogy ceased production at the end of 2000, there were no plans to preserve the 39 "Hobbit Holes" dug across the 12-acre plot. All but 17 were demolished, but the groundswell of tourist traffic to the former set led to Hobbiton being designated an official attraction, complete with guided tours in 2002. Jackson returned in 2009 to film *The Hobbit *trilogy, leaving 44 reconstructed Hobbit dwellings that tourists and newlyweds continue to enjoy.

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Source: “AOL Movies”