Dominic Monaghan, an actor best known as one of the guardians of the ring in the Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” movies, is on the phone from Hawaii, where he’s just embarked on another jewelry quest, this time searching for earrings to send his mother for her birthday. There doesn’t have to be anything mystical about the earrings, but they can’t be too dangly. Along the way, there are certainly myriad obstacles. Over the course of a 25-minute interview, Monaghan is stopped repeatedly for autographs and pictures. He’s also accosted by one person who knows the unassuming thespian looks familiar, but can’t identify him. Monaghan cops to being an actor, but notes only that he’s filming “Lost” on the island for ABC.

A minute later, the same person returns, more confident.

“Were you in that hobbit thing?” “Yeah, that’s right, I was one of the hobbits,” Monaghan says, only slightly drawn out. “I was at the shop across the street looking for earrings for my mum, but do you know any other craft-y shops?”
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When Dominic Monaghan came zooming back from Middle Earth, he hit with a resounding thud.

“My first year in Los Angeles was pretty hellish,” says the British actor who played Merry in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “I came over here after the high point of ‘Lord of the Rings,’ and I saw all my friends jumping around to jobs, and I had nothing.”

He’s found work now. The 28-year-old is co-starring in the ABC Wednesday night series “Lost,” the latest action ride from J.J. Abrams (“Alias”).

The expansive cast also includes Matthew Fox (“Party of Five”) and Ian Somerhalder (“Rules of Attraction”).
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It’s one thing to try to get into character as a produce-swiping Hobbit, quite another to cop the stance of a guy who once sang, “You’re a slave to the money, then you die.”

But so it is that Dominic Monaghan, his image set indelibly in the minds of this generation’s “Lord of the Rings” fans as the diminutive but gallant Meriadoc Brandybuck, gets on with the rest of his acting life, playing a fading rock star stranded on a deserted tropical island on ABC’s “Lost.”

Monaghan’s character, Charlie, is one of 48 survivors of a horrific airplane crash. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Ian Somerhalder, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Malcolm David Kelley, Naveen Andrews, Harold Perrineau, Josh Holloway, Terry O’Quinn, Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjim Kim.
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Dominic Monaghan thinks it’s a natural move — follow the biggest film trilogy with one of the biggest television shows of the season.

“You’re never going to have a more successful trilogy in your repertoire,” he says of “The Lord of the Rings” films, “and that’s fine with me. I’m all about the work. I don’t need to have box office gold every single time. I just want to work on material I like.”

Enter: “Lost,” a new television drama from J.J. Abrams, the man behind “Alias.” In the new series, which finds a plane load of disparate types struggling to survive on an island, Monaghan plays a rock musician with a nasty drug habit. He’s forced to face his demons and determine out how he and the others can get back home safely.
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As a hobbit, Dominic Monaghan’s drug of choice was pipeweed, a gentle, mellowing substance that encourages the blowing of smoke rings and the singing of song.

As a tormented rock star, his drug of choice is heroin, which makes you want to suck powder up your nose.

Brutal place, the real world. Real as in the world of television drama, which has crashed-landed Monaghan onto a forgotten island to fight for survival against the elements and a mysterious jungle menace — hopefully for several seasons.
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Shooting ABC’s new J.J. Abrams series “Lost” in Hawaii affords actor Dominic Monaghan a chance to do some of his favorite hobbies.

Surfing is one, says the German-born actor best known for his role as hobbit Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “We didn’t get an awful lot of time off, but when we did, we were in the water in Waikiki, which is busy.”

Also, he got a black widow spider. “Which I think is illegal,” he says. “I’m a fan of bugs. I’m a fan of wild animals in general and had snakes and lizards when I was a kid and would go out and catch insects and bugs and become more interested in the insects and bugs. I do sound like a geek, don’t I?”
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Ali, Glasgow: “What’s your favourite Merry scene from the trilogy?” DM: “The scene where Merry explains to Pippin in the Two Towers that now they are on this journey and they can’t turn back and their home is never going to be the same again.”

Jenny Stubbs, Staffordshire: “Were there any scenes that other actors got that you would have liked to film yourself?” DM: “Lots of Viggo’s battle scenes, and I have always been in awe of Sir Ian Holm so to be in Elijah’s shoes would have been great.”

J, Hants: “Which famous person would you most like to discover had a LOTR cut-out of you in their home?” DM: “Kylie Minogue or David Beckham.”
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Oscar nominations are all well and good, but Lord Of The Rings actor, Dominic Monaghan, has other things on his mind.

For, while bookies and movie critics debate how many awards Return Of The King is going win at the Hollywood ceremony later this month, the Stockport-born actor is already thinking about his next role.

Over the past three years, Dominic’s face has been plastered across billboards around the country as hobbit Merry Brandybuck. But it seems his real ambition is to play a much different type of legend – Eric Cantona!
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Question: Being together day and night for the past few years, have you become close friends or do you actually hate each other ?

Boyd: It’s kind of both really.

Monaghan: We hate how much we like each other. We’re good friends you know. It’s not too difficult to be friends with someone when you’re having such a great time. There’s kind of an unspoken thing that goes on between us now. We know what we’ve all been through to get to this point. It’s an incredibly strong link.
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How do you follow up one of the most successful films of all time? If you’re a hobbit, you might experiment with memory-erasing technology, take up martial arts, or head straight for the unemployment line.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” the top-grossing film released in 2003, heads into this month’s Academy Awards fresh from a Golden Globes sweep. But you can’t stay in the Shire forever. So while the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy has made its Halfling stars ? Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd ? household names, the actors are looking ahead to new projects. So what lies ahead for everyone’s favorite hobbits?
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