Dominic Monaghan

No more Mr Nice Hobbit as Merry goes to war...

What did you enjoy most about making The Return Of The King?
Having fights with stuntmen. Merry gets thrown off his horse at Pelennor Fields, so he grabs his sword and starts fighting.

Apparently a lot of the horse-riding extras are women with fake beards...
Yeah, VIggo Mortensen had a crush on one of them. He really got into the bearded women!

What tomfoolery did you get up to on set?
We trashed esch others' trailers' we beat each other up a lot. I nearly got thrown out of my own birthday party because Viggo came over and headbutted me. We were just fooling but the bouncer tried to throw me out.

Did you have any real fights?
Orlando Bloom and I got into a fight. My triceps were painful from working out, and one night he came up behind me and pinched my arm. I said, "Don't do that!" and he did it again and that was it--I kicked him across the dancefloor and we started having a rumble! But we made up.

What are your favourite memories?
Flying in helicopters up to Mount Cook and to Mount Ruapehu. Giong snowboarding and kayaking. And some of the emotional scenes I did Billy were great.

What were your leaving presents?
My sword, a pair of feet, my elven brooch and the clapperboard of my final take.