X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Interview with new mutant Dominic Monaghan

Joining Hugh Jackman in this months [sic] 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' is Dominic Monaghan. The LOST star joins the cast in a pivotal role as mutant Bradley Bolt, who is not physically tough like the others. His gift is intellectual. He has the power to control electricity. X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE is a prequel, taking us back to find out how Wolverine/Logan got those claws and adamantium skeleton.

It is a Cain and Abel story: Wolverine pitted against his brother and nemesis Victor Creed. In the most exciting installment so far, we discover who this iconic mutant really is and where his rage comes from.

Dominic Monaghan, 32, was born in Germany and moved with his British parents to the North West of England as a child. Always fascinated by film and talented at drama, he attended a youth theater and went on to appear in the British television drama HETTY WAINTHROPP INVESTIGATES. His films include SPIVS, THE PURIFIERS and SHOOTING. He is best known for his role in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. He also starred in the highly successful television series LOST. Monaghan is a passionate photographer and held his first exhibition, Happy Accidents, last year.

Words: Elaine Lipworth

Q: Tell us about the mutant you play in the new Wolverine movie?

Bradley Bolt has the ability to control electricity so he lives in this head quite a lot. He is not the physically capable of the X-Men but he is very intellectually bright and a little insecure and shy. My character is in Col. William Stryker's Weapon X program so that's how he knows Wolverine. I'm in his platoon and we are in battles and skirmishes together. Wolverine is of course very physically powerful, indestructible, a mutant who takes people out with his hands and I am quite different. I can manipulate electricity, causing distractions and making people look in different directions.

Q: What was the appeal of playing a mutant?

I was excited because I really wanted to work with Hugh. I had seen a film of his a few years ago, THE FOUNTAIN, an Darren Aronofsky picture, and it was one of my recent favourite recent films. I just loved it and this was a great opportunity to tell Hugh how much I admired his work. I was affected really strongly by what he did in that film. Also, I thought the role in this film sounded interesting.

Q: How did you get the part in this spin-off?

This is what happened. I got a phone call on a Thursday from a producer from Fox who was a friend and he said 'we really want you to read the script of WOLVERINE tonight', so I read it and I called him back on Friday morning and said, 'yeah, it's great, I think I could do something with the character, I'd love to take the role'. And he said, 'Okay, well, I think Fox will probably give you a call'. I got a phone call later that morning and was on a plane at 4 that afternoon. I arrived in Sydney on a Sunday and I started work the next day. It was incredibly quick and very exciting.

Q: The film looks amazing and quite different than other X-MEN films. Were you an X-MEN fan?

I'd seen the first three films and like those very much. I became really interested in them because of Sir Ian McKellen's role in them. I worked with him of course on THE LORD OF THE RINGS and loved his work in the X-MEN films. I loved the whole mutant superhero world and the way they are outsiders in society. I always enjoyed that aspect and responded to it. The film is different because it's slightly darker and it's slightly more of a brooding piece of work. Wolverine by his nature is multi-faceted and multi-layered, with a kind of pathos.

Q: What did you bring to your role?

I tried as hard as I could to play an outsider in a gang of outsiders. There's an interesting thing that happens with the mutants in that their talent pushes them onto the outskirts of society and I think a lot of people can understand that. For example, if you are a gifted pianist or a great footballer or brilliant at math, that talent becomes your curse in a way because it makes you stand out and then people around you are threatened by you or don't understand you. Bradley Bolt is a mutant but unlike the others who are all very tough, my character lives in his mind so I tried to personify that outsider.

Q: Were you a comic book fan as a kid?

I read English comic: Beano and Beezer and the Dandy, Minnie the Minx and Desperate Dan, not American comics. But when I was filming THE LORD OF THE RINGS, Elijah Wood turned me onto American comics and I loved them, and then I came to L.A. with him on holiday and I bought a bunch more and really enjoyed them so in my early-twenties I read more comic books than I'd read in my entire life.

Q: You collect some unusual animals, what do you have in your collection?

I have a python and a Black Widow Spider and two whip scorpions, a praying mantis and a Jerusalem cricket. I don't like dogs and cats. I don't learn anything from them. You learn an amazing amount from wild animals They have a great ability to conserve energy and be economical with it. My spider will sit for two weeks and do what you assume to be nothing; she has no need to do anything because she has everything she needs. She has the air and she has the sun and she has water. And then when I put out food she'll then think okay, now I need to use my energy to get food. She lives in the moment and that's admirable.

Q: Going back to acting, how did THE LORD OF THE RINGS and LOST change your life? Have they been hugely important milestones in your career?

THE LORD OF THE RINGS was revolutionary in so many different ways for me. I was 22 years old when I went to New Zealand and when I finished the job I was almost 27. I learned to surf and scuba dive there. I learned to snowboard. I went bungee jumping and I became friends with so many interesting people. It was the first time I live on my own for any long amount of time. My life and career turned on a right angle and it brought me to L.A., where I had to find my feet. I think THE LORD OF THE RINGS has probably been the number one calling card with producers and directors, and obviously it was an incredible gift. LOST was amazing because it was another piece of pop culture that people really responded to and certainly in Europe, it blew up in a way that no one really expected and I represented the English guy in that show. I represented Europe in a way.

Thanks to Emily for the copy of the magazine.