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Ring the changes
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.
"I was having my hair cut and someone took a picture of me," he says. "Occasionally, someone recognises me and says hello, but there's no hysteria when I walk down the street - only when I'm standing on a red carpet surrounded by the rest of the cast."
In the epic movies, filmed in New Zealand, he sported bruises, curly hair, cuts, dirt, hairy feet and pointy ears, so it's hardly surprising that he doesn't get mobbed. Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise because it gives him a chance to move on.
"You have to embrace change because life goes on," he says. "I was exhausted after making those films and I will always be grateful for the doors that have been opened. But there's a certain amount of freedom now that the trilogy has ended because I can do whatever I want. I can show people that I'm not just a hobbit.
"Merry was cute and adorable but there are other aspects to my character. I want to take cinema audiences with me on another journey."
His desire to move on from Merry may take time, as it's safe to say that nobody - Monaghan included - could have forecast the impact of the three films.
"It took the world by storm," he admits. "And the momentum that sustained the films has been amazing. I have to accept that everything that's happened is crazy. It was life altering. I always felt that being an actor was temporary, that I would do a few things and then get a `proper' job. Being in Lord Of The Rings changed that.
"You can't top that experience, you can't better it. You just strike things off your list - I've played a major part in a film that's grossed $2bn and worked with fantastic actors."
There are times when Monaghan must pinch himself as he remembers his childhood talent for mimicking television characters, and then teachers. Even at the age of four, he liked having an audience and his extrovert personality made him a natural on stage.
Although his father, Austin, a teacher, and mother, Maureen, a nurse, were supportive of his ambitions, there was ribbing from some of his peers at school.
"Fey vibe"
"My artistic feelings were suppressed when I was young. I didn't want to be ashamed of what I enjoyed doing but at my school, St Ann's High, in Heaton Chapel, acting wasn't the manly thing to do," he recalls.
"Girls did drama - lads did football. There still seems to be a fey vibe to people wanting to act and guys seem to think that acting is 'gay'. And that's a shame.
"When lads said they wanted to be footballers, there were no objections, but saying you wanted to be an actor was not the done thing.
"I dragged a few of my friends kicking and screaming into drama class and we did musicals. I had to fight for it, though, because there was a kind of segregation about what boys and girls were meant to do.
"But acting didn't compromise my masculinity and I went on to be the first boy in the school to ever get an A in drama."
His talent grew and he was just months away from his A-levels when he had the chance to make his television debut in the BBC series Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, starring Patricia Routledge.
"I always knew I could go back to college but I could never go back to a missed opportunity. I felt that I was on my way to doom if I'd gone to university and I don't feel ashamed that I didn't finish my education," he says. Monaghan has fond memories of Manchester, however, and waxes lyrical about the music and the nightlife. Just for a moment, he sounds like an enthusiastic local lad.
But although he enjoys unremarkable pastimes, including movie-going and jogging at his new home in Los Angeles, his lifestyle could no longer be described as ordinary. Some of the friends that surround him in America are A-list celebrities.
However, fame comes at a price. Out of a group of seven or eight original mates back home, he's now only in touch with two. "There's a non-intentional callousness about me. I give the impression that I don't care because I can't be around for birthdays or other events. Acting is a lonely job.
"It becomes very clear very quickly who wants to invest in your friendship. I appreciate that people can't just pop over to LA, but you have to meet people halfway. I'd pay for people to come out.
"Sometimes, it's so long since friends have spoken to me that they don't know how to get in touch. So they don't.
"But you have to believe that they want to. Just as my life has changed, so have theirs. When I go back to Stockport, they have girlfriends and kids and jobs.
"My best friend is a fireman and another is a researcher for the BBC. We're from the Manchester streets. And, you know, my peak of the week was going into Stockport with a Manchester Evening News voucher to claim two cheeseburgers for the price of one."
So much for Tinseltown and Middle Earth, then. You can take the boy out of Manchester, but you can't take Manchester out of the boy.
From Manchester Online | 28 January 2004 | by Riazat Butt
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Manchester Online interview