Bob Rivers: Dominic Monaghan is the actor you loved as a hobbit in the greatest fantasy movies in the history of cinema "The Lord of the Rings." Now he's making countless more fans playing Charlie, the plane-wrecked rocker on the hit ABC series "Lost." After a long wait "Lost" fans will be rewarded with the first of many great new episodes. The critics are saying the storytelling and character development in the coming weeks will be the best that they've ever offered and help viewers answer so many perplexing mysteries. Dominic Monaghan, welcome to the "Bob Rivers Show," hi, how are you doing?

Dominic Monaghan: I'm good, man, good. It's a beautiful introduction, thank you.

Bob: You're welcome. We're admirers, of course, of "Lord of the Rings, " which had to be one of the greatest experiences of your life to be in. I understand you even got a tattoo to commemorate it, right?

Dominic: Right, I did. The entire Fellowship got a tattoo to kind of commemorate what we all went through. It was a life-imitating-art kind of experience. We were a true Fellowship, we were a bunch of rowdy young men all trying to forge our way in life and contribute something to the planet, so it was an amazing time for me.

Bob: When you say "what we went through," when you finished "Lord of the Rings," were you tired?

Dominic: Sure. I mean, I was tired but tiredness is something I don't use to slow me down in my life. I'm a young man, I've always been incredibly motivated by the work I've been given the opportunity to do, so tiredness is something I can deal with when I'm an old man. Right now, being tired doesn't stop me from doing anything.

Bob: Your character on "Lost," Charlie, at the beginning was one of my favorites, also one of the most prominent characters in the very beginning of the show. You had to play, probably I would say the most difficult role of anybody because you had to play a drug addict. I don't know if you've gotten any friends or experience in that where you drew from for that you had to play a drug addict, you fell in love with a girl and then it went terribly bad, all very quickly. Was that hard? Kind of different for somebody called Merry Brandywine.

Dominic: Right, right. It's a challenge, but I appreciate the challenge that's afforded to me. If people are going to trust that kind of storytelling in my hands, then I'm going to try and take advantage of it. I'm a fan of the Beatles, and obviously they went through a certain amount of drug issues as they were going through their lives. So I've been aware and around drugs in my life and it's been something that I've tried to use to the best of my ability to play Charlie's character. He's a broken unit; I've tried to play him as a bad good guy, essentially, and hopefully that came across on screen.

Bob: Oh, unbelievably well. Now, Charlie and Claire's onscreen romance, of course, shattered with the appearance that it would never recover, but now there seems to be an inkling that you and Claire might be doing OK now. Is that going to happen?

Dominic: I think it's inevitable that weird characters like Charlie and Claire, they're going to blow hot and cold. They're going to forge alliances and then they're going to get broken up inside a little bit. So that seems to be the case. Right now, he's trying to repay for the debts that he's caused against her.

Bob: Did you ever hear... by the way, do you get fan mail?

Dominic: I do, yeah.

Bob: Did you ever hear from any people recovering from heroin? I think you probably would have, right? There you are on an island, what a strange vision, an island full of statues of the Virgin Mary, filled with heroin and you're trying to stay clean.

Dominic: Right, yeah, I did receive quite a lot of mail from people who had struggled with drugs through their life and they appreciated the fact that there was a redeeming character who was trying to go through the same issues that they were. I think it's important to understand that there's a difference between abusing drugs and using drugs. I think it's a tough thing and it's an individual thing that you have to go through. I think there's nothing more satisfying than feeling a high when you're completely sober.

Bob: On "Lost," you never know what's going to happen, you never know who's going to die. Is being romantically linked to a character, is that pretty good insurance that you're not going to fall in a hole or get shot.

Co-host: This is a show that's not afraid to kill off its big stars.

Dominic: I don't necessarily know if that's the case around here.

Bob: I'd hold on tight to her.

Dominic: We all potentially got our head on the block; this show is going to end for everyone at some point, so you just have to understand. It's just like at the end of "Lord of the Rings," I didn't think my life or my career was going to end, it's just on to the next thing.

Bob: What's the status on the tabloids say you and Evangeline Lilly, has there been any change in your response?

Dominic: My response tends to be the same thing, which is that so much of my life is up for grabs in the media that I try and keep my private life pretty quiet.

Bob: Good for you, Dominic. Dominic Monaghan, really nice to meet you, and best continued success in everything you do.

Dominic: Thank you, it's a pleasure talking to you.