Interview: Dominic Monaghan On the Set of FLASH FORWARD

Written by Christina Radish

Thursday, 18 March 2010 13:11

On the ABC drama series FlashForward, actor Dominic Monaghan plays Simon Campos, a man with multiple PhDs in various fields, in the physical sciences, who also happens to be one of the most intelligent men in the world. His colleague, Lloyd Simcoe, is convinced that their work caused the black-out that lead the world to have a flash-forward of their life on April 29th, but Simon isn't quite so sure that they're the ones responsible.

At a recent set visit, Dominic Monaghan said that he prefers not to see Simon as a bad guy and revealed that viewers will finally get to know his character a little more personally. He also talked about returning to Hawaii to be a part of the final season of Lost.

Q: What's coming up for Simon, during the rest of the season?

Dominic: You're going to get to meet his family. You're going to get to meet his mom, his brothers and his sister, and you're going to find out what happened to his dad in the black-out. He volunteers his services with the FBI, and I don't necessarily think is the best idea, giving Simon the ability to delve into the FBI's database and get ahold of a gun. He hits loggerheads with Lloyd (Jack Davenport) because Simon doesn't think he's responsible for the flash-forwards, as opposed to Lloyd who thinks that they are. So, they disband and Simon sticks his nose around the FBI.

Q: Do you know anything about the possible multiple flash-forwards, or have anything to do with that plotline?

Dominic: No. But, there's the chance that, if this has happened before, it could happen again. If they've not caught these people yet than I'm sure, leading up to April 29th, there's the chance that they would do it again. I think Simon is a little less invested in that, and a little bit more invested in sorting out his family life and protecting the people that he loves, and moving forward with that.

Q: Is Simon a good guy or a bad guy?

Dominic: Well, that's all a point of view. Who are the good guys and bad guys, in any aspect? You can argue that the Joker is the bad guy from the Batman mythology, but not from the Joker's point of view. The Joker would think that Batman is just fucking up his life and trying to do what he wants to do. That's all a point of view. When I came into the project, it was key for me that I wanted to play someone who had bad elements to his personality. The more interesting characters for me are always a little more than two-dimensional. If you're just playing bad notes all the time, the audience is going to get bored of you. So, even though Simon's motivation seems to be one of being a bad guy, I'm always trying to play against type. If I'm playing a good guy, I try to make him a little bad. If I'm playing a bad guy, I try to make him a little good. That's my challenge.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to see happen with Simon? Do you get much input into the character?

Dominic: I just want him to remain authentic and dark. I like his one-track mind. I like the fact that he's not interested in what other people's agendas are. He's just trying to take care of himself. I'd like to see a lot more of his physicality come through ‘cause he's fast, he's strong, he's spry, he's clever and he can fight smart. Really, I'm just having fun.

Q: Is he going to get any more ladies?

Dominic: I think he gets a lady before the season ends. Someone comes into his life that's kind of dangerous, but also attractive, at the same time. That's a double-whammy for Simon.

Q: Is that fun to play, rather than how Charlie was on Lost?

Dominic: Yeah. Obviously, that's fun because he's more of a man. Charlie was more reactionary to everything that was going on, as opposed to being pro-active. I think Simon is just a little bit more in control of his environment. I was playing Charlie when I was 27 and I'm now 33, so I, as a person have changed and I, as a person, am different. I want to continue to show an audience the different things that I can do.

Q: Are you glad that you can still pull off younger roles?

Dominic: Yeah, that's a good thing for me. But, sooner or later, maybe I'll start to look my age. The best parts for men are always in your late 30's and early 40's, anyway. I think I'm doing all right.

Q: You've already returned to Lost and talk is that you'll return again before it's over. Do you know what's happening or not?

Dominic: Yeah, I know some stuff because I sat down with Damon [Lindelof] at the start of the year, and he talked me through the last season and told me what was going to happen, so I know a few things.

Q: Have you been watching the show?

Dominic: I don't watch TV. I watch DVDs. I'm just working a lot, and when I'm not working, I'm out or I'm at dinner or I'm surfing. I'm so immersed in TV. I do it for a living. It's in my life and I have to do press junkets, so going home at night and sticking the TV on is not really what I'm into. I feel like that's a little bit of overkill, so I don't watch that much TV. The only thing I watch is futbal, or soccer. I'm a big Manchester United fan. I watch that, ad nauseam. I watch season reviews from the early ‘90s and go all the way up to 2009, over and over again. It puts me in a great mood and inspires me.

Q: Do you fly home for games?

Dominic: I fly home for big European games, so I'll probably fly home for the semi-finals in the Champions League, and maybe even the Champions League final, if they're in there. I went to the final last year, and we got beat by Barcelona in Rome. That was fun. It took me four hours to get a taxi. None of the Romans would pick me up because I was wearing a Manchester United shirt. They weren't into that.

Q: What DVD would you watch, if you could just stick something in to your player?

Dominic: My favorite movie of all time is Apocalypse Now, and I tend to watch that every couple of months, or so. I also watch a lot of natural history shows. I'm a big Crocodile Hunter fan. I watch surfing videos.

Q: Was it nice to have that closure by being able to return to Lost? Would you have been disappointed if you hadn't been able to do that?

Dominic: It's difficult for me, as a person, to move forward, if I'm looking backwards. I think my motivation has to be in the thing that is ahead of me. To a certain extent, that was a life that I used to live and I don't live that anymore. My head has to be here a little bit more than in Hawaii.

Q: Isn't it fun to go back and see your friends?

Dominic: Not really. I love those guys, but you've got to appreciate the fact that it's work. I'm working on FlashForward. The last time I went back to the show, I was working Monday and Tuesday on FlashForward, flew out Tuesday night, worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on Lost, came back on Saturday morning, did a press junket Saturday, had something to do on Sunday, and then worked on FlashForward again on Monday. It's just work.