Elijah Wood, 24, best known for starring in the Lord of the Rings movies, plays a student who becomes immersed in the world of English soccer thugs in the upcoming film Hooligans.

Elijah Wood (middle) gets into the spirit of an English soccer match. Graeme Robertson/Getty Images

SI: This a far cry from a big-budget film. Why was this script so compelling to you?

Wood: I was utterly fascinated by the subject matter. I had never heard much about English soccer hooliganism. It's a part of English and European culture that was completely foreign to me. I had heard bits of information here and there but I really didn't know the whole story. Right off the bat, the subject matter was one of the more fascinating elements of the script itself. The idea of playing a character like Matt who starts off as this very innocent character -- he travels to England after being kicked of college, he has no friends there and just a sister he is slightly estranged from -- was interesting. He falls in with this group of people and it's kind of what happens as a result of being exposed to football fans and the violence and the camaraderie. It's an interesting character arc as the character grows throughout the process. As an actor the role fascinated me. Meeting with [director] Lexi Alexander after I read the script and hearing her passion for the film and her ultimate vision was exciting. I wanted to be a part of something that had these kind of grassroots attached to it and would be difficult to get made. There was someone at the helm who believed in it so much that she would do anything to get it made. That kind of energy and passion excited me.

SI: How did you approach researching this world of English football?

Wood: My character comes into it from an innocent perspective and kind of has no idea about football or the violence that ensues between the fans or any of that world. I simply had to fly to London and kind of experience things as they went along -- which was kind of perfect for my character. The guys who played the characters who were in the firm actually had to more research and spent time with some of the guys that actually exist in firms to get a sense of who those people were to be able to play those characters. For me, I just jumped into the world and experienced by default what these guys were experiencing.

SI: How did you present hooliganism on the screen without glorifying the violence of it?

Wood: Well, I think for all of us the important thing was to show the initial excitement of being part of a group like that and the kind of camaraderie that a group like that has, this sort of addictive nature that violence has and the excitement and rush that it gives them. So it was important to show the good of that, and ultimately what is attractive about that. And to not glorify it, it was important to show what ultimately the outcome of that can be. So there is kind of an arc within the film throughout the fight sequences. From the beginning it becomes more and more exciting and then ultimately there is a price to pay. And we don't hold back in showing what that price is. And that was our way of not ultimately glorifying football violence.

SI: Can an American audience get behind a film that is so steeped in another country's culture?

Wood: I think ultimately the story is a relatable story and a human story. It's going from a place of not feeling he belongs anywhere and not having a direction in life to finding people he belongs with and gaining a sense of identity and brotherhood through that. And then making various choices that he has to learn from. Everyone can relate to that. I think there are very common human themes and it just happened to be set against English football hooliganism. But I don't think you have to any knowledge of that world to enjoy the film. And it's presented through an American's eyes.