Posted in: Movies | Tagged: Bite Club, dominic monaghan, hobbit, interview, lost, Screamfest, tea

A Tea Time Chat With Dominic Monaghan

Dominic Monaghan, one of our favorite Hobbits and actors from LOST, stopped by for a cross continental chat ahead of the kick off of Los Angeles's Screamfest film festival.

Dom is an ambassador for 2017's Screamfest, which is the largest female-run and longest running horror film festival in the U.S.  They run from Tuesday October 10th to October 19th 2017.

Bleeding Cool:  Hi Dom!  So excited to talk to you!

Dominic Monaghan:  Hello there!  I'm all the way over here in Australia, so if it seems garbled or anything.

BC:  Oh well I've got the Blue Angels practicing overhead right now, so if you hear loud jet noises, that's why.  (we both laugh)  So I understand you're an ambassador for Screamfest.  I know it's happening in Los Angeles this coming week, how did that come about, you being an ambassador for them?

Dom:  Well I'm a big fan of movies.  I know as an actor it's kind of academic that a lot of actors are fans of film.  I love working in film, in television.  But movies were really a spellbinding thing for me when I was a kid. I could just rewatch movies, over and over again. Movie night is sort of the go to thing in my house, I attempt to watch one or two films a day, and I'm constantly convincing the house to watch something.

I'd worked with some of the folks from Screamfest previously on things, and they presented me with the idea of being an ambassador.  Which unfortunately with me being in Australia, I can't do it in the same way.  If I were there in person, I'd be attending as many of the films a day as I could, to help promote them. As an actor myself, I understand the value of promoting things. Wear a nice suit, show up, watch movies.

BC:  And all the popcorn you can eat, right?

Dom: YES.  But also I like to do that thing where if you have the sweet and salty popcorn, I do sweet on the bottom and salty on top, so then you have like your main meal and then your dessert.  That tip came from Billy Boyd, it's something he taught me, and I stole it from him.

BC:  Your Wild Things show on BBC was fabulous, my entire household really enjoyed it.  Any chance we're going to get more of that anytime?

Dom:  Oh thanks, yeah I think that some aspect of Wild Things would come back at some point, we've been talking about doing specials. Mostly just trying to figure out the best ways to utilize my time. I've been busy, so I've not been able to get to it the way I'd like.  Wild Things takes up a lot of time and energy.

I actually just finished a VR pilot with the same company I did Wild Things with, called Curious Minds, so we're putting that together right now. Finished two other things, one was done last Friday, then I flew to Australia to start doing a cop show called Bite Club.

BC:  Are you one who likes to stay busy or do you need that reset time between projects?

Dom:  I like to stay busy, I think again it's one of the reasons why Billy and became such good friends, in a lot of ways we're total opposites.  I like to run around and stay stimulated and be doing two or three things at a time and I'm always inspired by Billy's satisfaction with the simplification of just doing one job. He takes it easy after something, and I just can't do that. I do watch him, and sort of learn how to relax a bit better in my down time.

But at this point in my life, i'm young and healthy and happy with the job I do, and I want to do as many high quality jobs as possible. The work we do is so immersive, my average call time here (Australia) is 6 in the morning and we don't finish til 8 at night. So there isn't really a lot of time to do anything.  When I get a weekend, I try to use to to go and explore, especially in a fantastic city such as Sydney.  The weekend goes so fast, and you could spent it just recharging your batteries.

BC:  What do you do to recharge?

Dom:  It's funny, it makes me laugh really, because I use movies. It's my obsession with movies.  Today, I'm moving into a new flat, and after I do that, I'm going to go see the new Blade Runner. And then maybe I'll even watch another movie after that. I do really like to be in nature; forests and mountains and jungles.  Theres a big botanical garden in town, and I'm going to go there.  I like to eat nice food, and stay healthy.  And watch football.

BC: One of the questions I got the most often when I asked some of my colleagues if they had anything they wanted to ask you, of all things, was what your favorite kind of tea is.

Dom: Hmmmm, well that's a good question, isn't it. I do tend to travel around with quite a bit of different kinds of tea. I'm a big fan of a good high quality green tea, I think it's hard to beat a nice loose leaf green tea. Peppermint tea is great in the morning, you know, because it kind of wakes you up. Chamomile tea at night.  But I grew up in England drinking Tetley tea with milk and sugar.  I don't really have that anymore, but when I do go home, it's sort of nice to have that romantic memory of what it was like to drink endless cups of tea. I remember going back, and seeing my brother drink probably 10 cups a day, and me thinking there was something wrong with him.  Ah, what it means to be English, in a lot of ways.

BC:  You two seem to have a really special friendship with Billy Boyd,  you appear often on each other's social medias, and you both talk about each other often.

Dom: I've been through several lifetimes, and I feel like my adventure with Billy Boyd has only just begun really. We're going to do so many other things, so many other travels, making so many other stories to tell, you know. I love that guy.

***

Thank you again so much to the crew at Screamfest for facilitating the conversation with Dom, make sure you check out their list of events if you're in the greater Los Angeles area.

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