Dominic Monaghan has been in England for a few days and he’s fighting a cold, which makes a change from fighting the monstrous orcs, ringwraiths, uruk-hai and other creatures that have been part of his life for three years.

Although Los Angeles is now home for the 27-year-old actor from Stockport, he’s back home to take a break from the whirlwind of premieres and promotional tours that come with the territory of being part of a film phenomenon.

Ever since he made his big-screen debut in 2001 as the hobbit, Merry Brandybuck, in the first film in the movie adaptations of JRR Tolkien’s novels, Monaghan’s face has been everywhere. So for someone who spent his teenage years going to local gigs, clubs and bars, the fame-fallout of his latest work comes as a bit of a shock.
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Question: If you could be another character in the film, which one would you like to be?

Dominic: Arwen! (Everybody laughs)

Elijah: He doesn’t appear much in this first movie, and he is tortured, bad things happen to him, but… Gollum! I’ve liked this character since I was a child.

Liv: Maybe the white horse I rode. Because it doesn’t suffer during the shooting, does it? (Laughs) We (actors) had a tough time. But, of course, it was a wonderful experience as well.
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According to actor Elijah Wood, Hobbits aren’t size queens…when it comes to their oversized feet.

“Ah, no,” the fresh-faced Wood laughs. “The bigger the feet, the more annoying they became to walk around in.”

Wood spent The Lord of the Rings film trilogy — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King — skipping about in a pair of latex rubber feet.

So did Hobbit costars Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan.
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B.L. Did you guys get totally into character?

B.B. Pretty much. It took a lot to take on the Hobbit way of life, which I think is a good thing, because I think Tolkien wrote the Hobbits as being honorable and good people. So I think if you take some of their characteristics I think it’s a good thing.
D.M. They are big beer drinkers as well.
B.B. Big beer drinkers.
D.M. Mmmm.

B.L. So this is the third and final film, how do you feel now that it’s all coming to an end?
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For both Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, who as Merry and Pippin experience life-changing transformations (both on and off screen) as intense as any of their marquee-name costars, the final shot was one of third-act triumph rather than the sort of tomfoolery that got them into trouble so frequently in the first two films. “My last shot of principal photography was really dull,” explained Boyd, who shows his color in the final moments of Return To the King. “[It was] a blue screen shot climbing up to like the beacon, looking around the edge of a thing that’s not even in the movie. And I remember being quite disappointed that it was my last shot.”

Thankfully, the reshoots allowed Boyd to enjoy a more fitting conclusion to the experience. “My last shot was killing the Orc that’s about to kill Gandalf (in ROTK). I thought, that’s a great shot to have shot. So that was, kind of looking at my sword with the blood on it, and I thought ‘that’s great.’”
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Did you guys get totally into character? B.B. Pretty much. It took a lot to take on the Hobbit way of life, which I think is a good thing, because I think Tolkien wrote the Hobbits as being honorable and good people. So I think if you take some of their characteristics I think it’s a good thing. D.M. They are big beer drinkers as well. B.B. Big beer drinkers. D.M. Mmmm.

So this is the third and final film, how do you feel now that it’s all coming to an end? B.B. How do you feel, you must be running out of questions! D.M. (to Billy) How do you feel? B.B. Just hungry. It’ll be lunch soon. D.M. There have been so many ends to this film, the end of principal photography, and the last time you do that line, the last time you do a premiere. I don’t think the end can truly be realized. If this is the end then what is behind it, and what’s behind what’s stopping it. We’re going to go from here in December on this tour. I think that might be a little bit more poignant because it will be the last time we’re on the tour together. But the things that you take from the film, that you keep alive, and the mates that you make; that’s going to continue.
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You first saw them in the Shire two years ago. Now, Pippin and Merry complete their journey in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. During the first two films, the Hobbit friends have been side by side, but moviegoers will finally see how their stories divert as the two are separated for most of the movie in The Return of the King.

Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) were in New York City recently to give their thoughts about the ending of the trilogy.

Q: Can you guys talk about the sentiments going through your head, now that the trilogy has come to an end?

BILLY: Mmm, yeah, it’s sad that we won’t be working on this. It was such a special thing. We’ve all become good friends. If Tolkien had written 50 books, we could have just had a career doing this!
DOMINIC: That would’ve been great!
BILLY: Except in the fourth one, it says that the Hobbits’ feet got a lot smaller. (Laughs) It’s good that there were three books, and that there were three films, and that the story makes sense. In the future, people can watch it as one story. It’s not [like] we made one movie and it was a success, and we said, “Oh, let’s make another one.” It’s just one story.
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Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) are the Abbott and Costello of The Lord of the Rings cast. They’re writing a comedy for themselves to star in, and if it captures even half the humour of their interview, they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

National Post: Billy, you starred in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. What was it like?

D: Last night I was congratulated on Master and Commander. They said, “I very much enjoyed Master and Commander.” I said, “So did I.” I’ve been asked to sign pictures of Billy. I was asked by a Japanese journalist, what is the melody of your character.
B: What do you say to that?
D: G sharp.
B: The happiest of all keys.
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It’s that time of year again.

You know the one I’m talking about.

Come on… You know.

Okay, fine, I’ll tell you. This is the time of year when we cart out the big guns and deliver some of our massive in-depth interviews with castmembers from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We’ve done Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, and Billy Boyd.
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Every big, heavy epic needs its comic relief, and up until now, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd have served that purpose in The Lord of the Rings . In Return of the King , however, their characters, Merry and Pippin, get to take center stage. How do they feel about it? We sat in with them and found out.

Can you tell us about the shirt you’re wearing?

Dominic Monaghan: Yeah. Myself, Billy, Viggo and Elijah have become involved with a company called Carbon Neutral. They find out how much carbon you use over the year and offset that by planting trees for you. We’re going to try and plant a million trees in the next two years. First, on a plot of land in Tibet, and then in New Zealand.
Billy Boyd: People will be able to buy a tree, have it planted in the fellowship forest, and then go to the forest and see the tree.
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