Elijah Wood spins on site in Brickell

Elijah Wood has been around movie sets for awhile, with his first major role in 1992’s Radio Flyer when he was 11 years old. At 34, the baby face is still intact, but the actor’s all grown up now. With 93 credits on IMDB.com, including The Good Son, North, The Lord of the Rings, and TV’s Wilfred, Wood has definitely been there, done that.

These days, the native Iowan has taken a step back from movie sets, tapping into a different creative side as one half of Wooden Wisdom, with buddy L.A. DJ Zach Cowie. On Tuesday night, the two, who met through friends about five years ago and discovered a mutual taste in obscure music, were at the site of Brickell City Centre, a soon-to-be mammoth shopping center on South Miami Avenue downtown. Later on, the high-tech ceiling (with eco-friendly climate control) was illuminated in dramatic fashion.

“This is not necessarily what we expected,” said Wood, from the second floor of the vast space with workers in hard hats milling about below. “The fact that this is still so industrial makes it kind of special and cool.”

Further proof that Wood is an adult now: He orders an Old Fashioned, proudly rattling off the cocktail’s ingredients: “Whiskey, bitters and orange peels — I highly recommend it.”

With those wide blue eyes shining and an eager grin, Wood still seems a bit like the pensive yet immature teen in suburban melodrama The Ice Storm. But when he takes to the turntables, Wood gets serious, transforming into a professional DJ, getting the Art Basel crowd moving with a mix of lounge-y and house tunes. That famous smile was contagious — he’s obviously loving this new stage of his career.

“It's a blast,” he admitted. “Just great fun.”

Part of the fun is that Wooden Wisdom’s creative process is constantly evolving.

“We just play records for people to dance to,” said the actor, whose latest film, Cooties, came out on DVD Tuesday. “There is musical conversation that occurs. Zach will play something that inspires me, and I’ll play something in response. That’s how it goes. We’re kind of making it up as we go along.”

The guys will be back in January to spin at Bardot Miami.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Elijah Wood spins on site in Brickell."