Elijah Wood (aka Frodo) surprises shoppers by playing ‘Star Wars’ on the piano

30 August 2019, 10:37 | Updated: 30 August 2019, 10:41

Elijah Wood, aka Frodo from Lord of the Rings, just surprised a load of casual shoppers by playing the piano. As you do when you’re a famous Hollywood actor.

A few weeks ago, Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) surprised shoppers at the Fremantle Markets in Perth, Australia, with an impromptu piano performance of... the Star Wars theme.

Yep, it’s a lot to process (main gripe: why didn’t he just play Howard Shore’s theme?)

The actor had been enjoying a casual wander among the fruit and vegetable stalls when he was invited to play the instrument by members of staff.

Taking a seat at the public piano, he began playing John Williams’ popular film theme – and passers-by were impressed with his skills.

A spokesperson for the Fremantle Markets said the performance came about as members of staff asked him to play: “He was very happy to oblige, nice guy!”

Wood started learning the piano while taking on the lead role of Tom Selznick in the 2013 Spanish thriller Grand Piano, which tells the story of a concert pianist who suffers from stage fright after discovering a threatening note written on his sheet music moments before going on stage.

While promoting the film, he explained: “I took private lessons for three weeks prior to going to Barcelona [to shoot the film], and it was super-intense. I'd played when I was younger but certainly not to this level.

“It was really difficult, but also really fun. It's fun to have a challenge that is that specific. I don't play in life, but I am musical and I play around with instruments so I was endeared to it.”

Keep practising, Elijah...!