Dominic Monaghan Is Looking 'Forward'

The star talks about his latest role and the final season of 'Lost'

MSN TV

Dominic Monaghan is a favorite of fan boys (and girls) the world over thanks to not one, but two iconic roles -- the loyal and lovable hobbit Merry in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and redeemed rocker Charlie on ABC's "Lost." The actor has made his way back to the smallscreen and reinvented himself as the arrogant and enigmatic Simon on "FlashForward," which returns Thursday, March 18, on ABC. We talked to Dominic about his latest role, his prestigious past and who elicits his fandom.

MSN TV: Your character on "FlashForward," Simon, is dark and mysterious and unlike anything we've seen from you. Is he fun to play?

Dominic Monaghan: Yeah, he's really fun to play. That was the reason I took the role. I wanted to play a character that I'd not had the opportunity to do before. I wanted people to say, "That's different than anything that Dom has done before." That was the big challenge for me.

How have your fans reacted to this character?

Everyone seems to be pretty intrigued for sure, interested in who he is and what his motives are and stuff like that. So most people seem to think he's, at the very least, worth watching.

What's in store for Simon for the remainder of season one?

Well, he's going to get himself a whole bunch of new enemies. His behavior is kind of brought into question, and a lot of major characters in the show start to dislike him even more than they do right now.

How would you compare working on "FlashForward" to working on "Lost"? Are you more aware of the plot and where your character is headed on "FlashForward"?

You know, every job is different. Every job feels different to me. You're in different locations with different actors. You have different directors. You're playing a different role. I like to always try to approach every new role with a kind of refreshed head space.

One question I'd be remiss not to ask: Will we be seeing more of Charlie on the final season of "Lost"?

Well, you've already seen him in episode one, and he'll probably show up before the show finishes -- not a lot I can tell you about that.

It's OK. I figured that might be the case. You seem to have a penchant for these iconic, fan-crazed projects. What's it like to be associated with such beloved characters?

It's great. It really helps my work and what I want to do and how I want to live my life and achieve some of the things I've been lucky enough to achieve. It only helps when you associate yourself with good projects and for me, that kind of begins from the ground up. I read a script and if it's a script that I think is quality and I can do something with, then everything else kind of falls into place. My agent's job to a certain extent is to make sure that I'm reading the projects that he thinks are going to be successful, and if I respond to them, we move on from there. That's kind of how it works.

Who or what are you a fan of?

Oh, man. I'm a huge fan of Gary Oldman. One of the reasons I became an actor is his kind of stellar performances. Tim Roth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anthony Hopkins. I think Robert De Niro is probably going to go down as the greatest cinema actor of all time. And then in terms of filmmakers: Darren Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson, Richard Linklater, Shane Meadows, Paul Greengrass. I mean those guys inspire me. Those guys make me think, "Well, if I continue to work maybe I'll get the opportunity to work with them one day."

You have spent a lot of the last decade either in New Zealand filming "Lord of the Rings" or in Hawaii filming "Lost." What's it like to be in L.A. now?

It's good. It's fun. I get to wake up in my own bed every morning, and that's good. I hang out with my social scene. I like L.A. It has great restaurants. It's the center of my industry, so it's nice to be here. I like how excited people get when a really fun movie drops for the weekend. I'm enjoying myself.

One thing I wanted to ask you about is your reptile and insect collection. Any new additions there and what started that fascination?

I've always been inspired by animals and continue to be inspired by animals. They force you to be in the moment, and I think that's a valuable place to be. I have two royal pythons -- one's called Mojave and one's called Conquistador. I have a crocodile skink. It's a nice thing to check into every so often with your time. Instead of consistently thinking about yourself, you have moments in the day where you have to make sure they're fed and watered and happy and taken care of. I think that's important. We get a little self-involved.

Aside from that, what else do you like to do when you're not working?

I like to surf. Yeah, we're on our way surfing today -- me and my friend Billy Boyd just hanging out with my official surf instructor. He's kind of taken us back to the drawing board, starting from scratch like he's building a car from the ground up. That takes up a lot of my time. I watch a lot of movies, play Scrabble, do crosswords, collect "Star Wars" memorabilia. I play Halo, play video games. I play FIFA online. I just do my thing.

"FlashForward" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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