Speaking From The Shire

Posted by: webteam on Dec 08, 2003 - 12:00 AM

Philippa Kaplan chats with Dominic Monaghan, who plays Meriadoc Brandybuck in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, about his Manchester roots, life as a famous hobbit and leaving behind the cast of the most successful movie trilogy ever.

SITTING IN my New York apartment, I begin to feel somewhat apprehensive about the impending phone call to Dominic Monaghan. Reading through my pre-prepared questions for the fourth time in a row, I begin to wonder if there is anything I could ask about Return of the King that Dominic has not already answered thousands of times as the wheels of hype surrounding the year's biggest film whirr into motion.

Although a hobbit and Hollywood star, Dominic grew up on the same Manchester streets that nowadays house thousands of students. And I hope that this shared experience would prove useful when trying to con him into giving me inside details regarding the final installment of The Lord Of The Rings. Within a few seconds of speaking to him, however, I know that my nervousness was misplaced and I feel entirely at ease as he cracks a few jokes.

Thanking me for calling him on his cell phone, Dominic explains that it means he can 'get out, head to IKEA and pick up a desk,' as we chat. Immediately I ask about his roots in Manchester. 'Ah, well it's my hometown you know,' replies Dominic and judging by the background noise he is clearly on one of the many LA highways in his car as he chats.

'I haven't been back so much for the past two or three years because I've been busy. But it's always going to be a place that I return to because all my mates are there. My mum and dad live there at the moment but they're moving out to Spain soon. I'll still go back though, even if I have no formal ties.'

As if to prove himself a bona-fide Mancunian, Dominic asks whether I live in Fallowfield or Withington. 'Withington,' I reply, adding as an afterthought that most of my friends live in Fallowfield. Dominic seems proud as he reels off information about the various areas of the city and the characteristics he remembers them for, and describes Fallowfield as 'a bit scruffy with too many shopping trolleys, and too many students.' Thinking about Fallowfield last time I went, it quickly becomes evident that little has changed since Dominic left.

Listing his favourite haunts from his time in Manchester, Dominic says that Dry Bar was top of his list as 'one of the coolest places to go,' along with the clubs 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. He also tells me of his love for local pubs in Didsbury, including The Royal Oak and The Old Cock. I ask him whether he misses pubs since relocating to LA. 'There's a few pubs here, but I don't really go that much because they're quite far away,' he tells me.

'I don't like the idea of having to drive somewhere, then you can't drink, so what's the fucking point of going to a pub anyway, you know? I like going and watching the football, having a few beers, you can't really do that over here.'

Football is clearly important to Dominic, and he describes United as 'one of my biggest links to Manchester.' I almost feel guilty in not sharing his enthusiasm when he reveals proudly that Ruud Van Nistelrooy is going to be attending the London Premier of Return of the King.

Is Dominic looking forward to getting back into the British way of life after his time in the States when he pops over for the premier? 'I'm definitely looking forward to the British music,' he replies, speaking enthusiastically of his favourite Manchester bands. 'When I was growing up my favourite band was The Stone Roses. I really like Ian Brown, he's doing some great work. There's stuff that the Black Grapes and the Happy Mondays are doing that I still follow and Morrisey and Johnny Marr, I still enjoy their work.'

What about Elbow and Doves, I venture, to see if life as a hobbit has removed Dominic from the latest Mancunian sounds? 'I'm playing Elbow right now!' he exclaims, turning up his car stereo loud enough for me to hear.

Music and football aren't Dominic's only interests. He tells me he enjoys writing (he is currently working on a script with fellow hobbit Billy Boyd) and has a taste for exotic pets: 'I'm a big fan of insects; I've got a black widow spider and a leaf mantis. I like all that stuff,

And with that, before I can ask him what happens in the final installment of the trilogy, the phone goes dead. Dominic had earlier warned me that his cell phone didn't get very good reception, but I was determined to catch up with him. When I finally reconnect my hobbit friend has arrived at Ikea and distractedly answers my questions, pausing mid-sentence to utter things like: 'I love Ikea, it's so much fun!'

I'm keen to move on to the movie, and dive straight in with the first of many questions about the climax of the trilogy. In terms of Return of the King, what do you think of Merry in the final film? Do you prefer playing him in the final film? 'Yeah, I kinda prefer playing Merry in the third movie because he's got a little bit more going on than being the usual happy-go-lucky character that he is in the first one, and to a lesser extent in The Two Towers,' replies the happy shopper, with a passion that, for a moment, distracts him from the blinds and curtains which are undoubtedly surrounding him.

'In Return of the King he�s around so much battle and death that it starts to take its toll, and he becomes more pensive, more brooding. He was an interesting character to play.'

Was the scouring of the Shire cut from Return of the King, I ask, in reference to the final chapters of Tolkein's epic. 'Yeah, it kinda is. What I think Pete Jackson (the film's director) has asked the audience to do is to invest in the story of the ring. You can't ask them once the destiny of the ring has been fulfilled to still be interested in another hour's worth of hobbits settling back into their hometown, though there is some stuff touched upon of the scouring of the Shire.'

I wonder whether Dominic was disappointed by the removal of a large part of his character's action from the film? 'That's right, yeah,' he says, disjointedly, 'it's a shame, we were pretty pissed off about that. It does show that Merry and Pippin have actually changed quite a lot. I mean, they become warriors. Pippin is quite well versed on war by the time he's done hanging out with Denethor and Gandalf, and Merry's actually been on the front line, so they're able to control a group of people on horses and lead them into battle.

'But that's not really touched upon in the film so much, because ultimately the movie is about the story of the Ring.' Tellingly, his tone of voice changes when he discusses Merry's fate, and it seems obvious that the actor is not altogether happy with the reason for his character's screen time being cut. As if to hide his annoyance, Dominic qualifies his point, albeit in a somewhat unconvincing manner: 'I'm sure there are cinematic reasons behind it that make sense.'

Before letting Dominic return to his soft furnishing shopping, I enquire about the cast. Is there a feeling of sadness amongst the team that everything is now ending? 'Yeah, but you don't really want to play that beat until it's actually happened,' he tells me, pointing out that he still meets up with the other cast members all the time.

'I saw Orlando when he was in town, I saw Viggo last week, I speak to Elijah all the time. Billy and I obviously have a lot of interest together, we're writing a script, which is a work in progress. So it's not like it's all over, we're still so involved in it, and still so excited to be a part of it and to be around each other and going on another tour.

'I think I'll still hang out with these people for a long time to come, so maybe it'll never feel like it's really done as we'll be reminiscing and hopefully working together in future projects. I mean, it's definitely something that we're all thinking about, it was such an amazing experience and such a happy time in our life. I think change is always going to bit a bit scary.'

Co-written by Philippa Kaplan and Kay Hebertt
Return of the King is released nationwide on December 17th.