Height: 5'7

Biography: Monaghan is best known for the British television drama "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" (1996). He was studying English Literature, Drama and Geography at Sixth Form College when he was offered the co-starring role in the series, which ran for four seasons. His other television credits include "This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper" (2000) (mini) and a leading role in _Monsignor Renard (1999)_ , a series starring John Thaw.

On the stage, Monaghan has performed in the world premiere UK production of The Resurrectionists, Whale and Annie and Fanny from Bolton to Rome. Since watching Star Wars when he was six years old, Dominic has been consumed by films. His other obsessions include writing, music, fashion, playing/watching soccer and surfing. Utilizing his writing skills, he and LOTR co-star Billy Boyd are collaborating on a script.

Born and raised in Berlin, Monaghan and his family moved to England when he was twelve. In addition to speaking fluent German, he has a knack at impersonations and accents. He frequently returns to his hometown of Manchester, England to see his family and to be closer to the Manchester United Football Club.

 

 

 

Kept a pair of the latex Hobbit feet used in LotR.

Was given the Lord of the Rings book to him by his father when he was 15, who said: 'I'll give you six months to read it' - Dominic read it in two.

Bought a forest in India in early 2003, to help protect the environment.

Speaks fluent German.

Surfs.

Has a love for insects.

Mother, Aureen, is a nurse, Father, Austin, is a teacher.

He has one older brother.

Attended Aquinas College, a Catholic sixth form school in Stockport

Did karate as a child

Originally auditioned for the role of Frodo Baggins in the LOTR trilogy

In Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001), in the first scene with Gollum and Bilbo Baggins, Andy Serkis who plays Gollum wasn't on set for the shooting of that scene, so Dominic filled in for him. It was his only interaction on screen with Ian Holm (Bilbo).

Has a habit of writing on his hands, which he shares with Chris Martin of Coldplay, who happens to be one of his favorite bands.

Wrote and recorded the vocals for the tracks "Shadow" and "Maybe", and co-wrote and recorded "Half Fling" with Elijah Wood on the album 'Pandemoniumfromamerica'.

Used to be roommates with Mackenzie Astin, the brother of his co-star from LOTR, Sean Astin. He now lives on his own in Hollywood Hills.

His brother, Matthew, is one year older then him.

Previous jobs before acting included sorting mail at a Post Office, working in British Home Stores and working as a saute chef at a place called Quincey's in Didsbury, Manchester.

According to The Toronto Star (December 12, 2003), Monaghan fell so in love with surfing that he moved to Los Angeles and found a place to live 25 minutes from a beach.

Is a non-smoker; doesn't like girls who smoke, either.

While filming the Lord of the Rings-trilogy, he got rid of his fear of heights by joining Orlando Bloom when he went bungee jumping.

Owns a leaf-mantis named Gizmo, a Black Widow spider named Witchitar and an albino snake named Blink

Is marginally the tallest of the 4 principal actors to play a hobbit in "The Lord of the Rings" films.

His favorite football club is Manchester United and his favorite players include Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham

"I won't miss having to stand for two hours at 4:30 a.m. and having freezing cold glue applied to my feet. I won't miss two-hour drives to work or long, long, long, days sitting in my trailer waiting... waiting... waiting. I won't miss glue in my ears. But I would do it all again tomorrow."

"For Merry, losing Pippin is like losing his strength, the other side of his personality." - On Merry and Pippin's strong friendship in LotR.

"I hold Treebeard (In The Lord of the Rings) quite close to my heart. He takes things very slowly -- he knows that he'll live forever, so he can spend as much time as he wants mulling things over. I'm turned on by that because I don't think that way."

"I think deep down I've always wanted to be an actor. It was the one thing in school that I was undoubtedly enthusiastic about and good at. I coasted along being good at German, Geography, English and football but there wasn't anything that I could really call my thing, my niche."

"I'd love to play a gangster but I think people might say I looked a bit too young and cheeky to play a character who'd just blown someones head off!"

If I could uninvent anything, I would uninvent Hitler's mum, guns and broccoli.

I would like to be remembered as someone who could make people laugh. I would just like to be remembered really.

"I do quite like all the screaming crowds. I'm a big fan of the ladies, so to have them come to me without any real effort is amazing." [December 11, 2003]

[on his friendship with Billy Boyd, Elijah Wood, and Orlando Bloom:] "We all look after each other and support each other. Billy and I went down to Mexico to see Orlando Bloom when he was working on Troy (2004), we went to see Billy in a play, and I went to see Elijah when he was filming in New York. We all just look after each other, and hopefully that will continue to happen. We're a brotherhood, a fellowship." [December 11, 2003]

[re jokes about "where the Two Towers were really located," that is, rumors about gay affection among the hobbits:] "I think it's because we're all young, good-looking guys. We're kind of cheeky, and we're very physically tactile with one other. I love those guys. I don't (have) any qualms about it. They're my brothers, and I don't have any problem showing affection for men. I'm aware of my own sexuality enough to be free with people." [quoted in MX (Melbourne, Australia), December 16, 2003]

[after the last press junket for LOTR:] "I certainly grew up a lot on the movie. I arrived in New Zealand when I was 21 and now I'm 27. It's a defining point in any young man's life. I just did a massive overhaul of every facet of my personality and worked out who I was going to become." [December 18, 2003]

[on his character the hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck:] "You don't really see war through the eyes of a hobbit too much in the movie, but Merry becomes a warrior. To see Merry ... covered in blood, sweat and tears, and living the terrible reality, was really traumatic." [December 14, 2003]

[about a game called "Tig" made up as a prank on Elijah Wood early in the shooting of "The Lord of the Rings":] "So we -- the three of us [ Billy Boyd, Monaghan, and Sean Astin] -- were constantly getting it right. And every time Elijah tried a new way of tigging, we'd say, 'No, Elijah, you can't tig on a tog, you can't tag on a tig, you have to do an elephant impression if you're gonna tig Billy." (He adds that the prank went on for a year before the three 'fessed up.) [December 14, 2003]

[on hearing that Elijah Wood told a reporter that Monaghan, Wood, and Billy Boyd were considering sharing a home in New Zealand:] "He has all these grand plans. We did look at property in New Zealand. What we're going to do first, correct me if I'm wrong, is we're going to buy property in our respective territories. Billy is going to buy a beautiful little cottage in Edinburgh and Elijah is going to buy some in L.A." (Boyd corrected him, "Glasgow!") [December 12, 2003]

when asked what he remembered most about filming "Lord of the Rings":] "We loved to surf over there. It's something that we'll take with us for a long time in the future. We plan our holidays around breaks and places to surf. When Billy [ Billy Boyd] is in town I surf quite a lot, because it's hard to go surfing on your own. You can do it, but it's not as much fun." [December 12, 2003]

"I have been heartbroken once and it has affected all my relationships from there on. But now I look at it as a occupational hazard. If you are in the meat market at some point you are gonna get mad cows disease."