Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood is reeling from a Sunday Times interview he insists was twisted into a commentary on Hollywood's pedophilia secret.

The subsequent newspaper article made international headlines on Monday (23May16), when Wood appeared to suggest Hollywood was full of sick executives and producers preying on minors.

A former child star himself, he was quoted as saying, "Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organized. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind."

"There is darkness in the underbelly," he reportedly added. "If you can imagine it, it’s probably happened."

But Elijah was on the attack on Monday and he turned to The Hollywood Reporter to set things straight, stating, "The Sunday Times interviewed me about my latest film, but the story became about something else entirely.

"It prompted a number of false and misleading headlines. I had just seen a powerful documentary and I briefly spoke with the reporter about the subject, which had consequences I did not intend or expect. Lesson learned."

He added, "Let me be clear: This subject of child abuse is an important one that should be discussed and properly investigated. But as I made absolutely clear to the writer, I have no firsthand experience or observation of the topic, so I cannot speak with any authority beyond articles I have read and films I have seen."

He insists his observations about "vipers" preying on child stars were based largely on what he saw and heard in director Amy J. Berg's flop 2014 film An Open Secret.