By Ayako Karino
Freelance Writer
Question: Being together day and night for the past few years, have you
become close friends or do you actually hate each other ?
Billy Boyd: It's kind of both really.
Dominic 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.
Q: Upon receiving the role of the hobbits, did you do anything to
create the characters?
Monaghan: I think our innate understanding of hobbits was close to the
way we kind of feel in general life, really. They're quite happy, genuine
characters. They try not to hide their emotions too much and they're very
quick to laugh. Same could be said of Billy, Sean, Elijah and myself.
Boyd: Yeah, it would be strange to cast someone who was dark and gloomy
as a hobbit, because it wouldn't be believable.
Monaghan: Yeah, Viggo couldn't do a hobbit (laughing).
Q: What are your feelings toward people looking at you as Pippin or
Merry in everyday life and perhaps your career ?
Boyd: I don't mind because they're such great films and such lovely
characters. But I think it's up to us as actors now, to pick our parts
quite carefully so that people will see that we're not just hobbits. We
can play other things. Dom will be very good in say ¡½ a geisha girl.
Monaghan: Well, thank you. It's a script I've been entertaining people
with for the past couple of weeks. You should see me in a kimono. Ohhh!
Boyd: When he's closely shaved and got makeup on ...
Monaghan: I look very, very beautiful.
Boyd: Oh, he's quite enchanting!
Monaghan: Yeah, I wore it once at a fancy dress party. I told Elijah
that I was going to turn up as a red Indian. But when I actually turned up
as a geisha girl, he actually tried to kiss me. It's an ugly part of our
relationship !
Q: In The Return of the King, you two play your roles separately. Did
you have any envy for the other's part ?
Boyd: He gets to sit on a horse with Miranda Otto, which must be quite
a fun thing !
Q: You also composed and sang that beautiful song in the film. Is music
important for you as much as acting ?
Boyd: I used to play in bands. It's got that sort of feeling we got
from this film. We did very much feel like a team, almost a family. You
feel that in a band, too. I'd love to do a bit more of that.
Q: What do you think is the theme of this film ?
Boyd: So many. I mean this was a man's life's work. I'm sure he put a
lot of his kind of morals and themes into the book. As well as the obvious
things of friendship and racial tolerance, he was a great lover of the
environment and nature. I think he hated the way the Industrial Revolution
was tearing down nature to create weapons and machines. If we keep
attacking nature, nature will attack us at some point, which he put in The
Two Towers with the ents (the tree shepherds). There's so much in it, and
that's why it's so popular to this day.
Q: Do you have anything to add to that ?
Boyd: Do you? Do you ?
Monaghan: I can't, I can't. I can't do any better than that. How do you
improve on perfection? It's like putting a cherry on top.
Boyd: Well you can tell me the cherry.
Monaghan: Uh, uh (shaking his head).
Q: Billy's like a teacher for you, isn't he ?
Monaghan: Ohh, he's like a wise old master. My samurai mentor.
Boyd: Go and get me some ice cream (laughing). No we teach each other.
It's a wonderful relationship. One day I'm the teacher and the next day he
is. One day, I'm the geisha, and then he's the geisha. One day I'm the
frog and he's the prince.
Q: And where do you think your friendship is heading in the future?
Dominic, you said you wanted to see Billy at your wedding ?
Boyd: If he pays for my plane fare.
Monaghan: I'll pay for it.
Boyd: And my hotel?
Monaghan: Well you can sleep on my floor with my new wife.
Boyd: OK. I'll go (laughing).
Monaghan: You know I think Billy and I will know each other for the
rest of our lives. We can't go through an experience, which comes to
define huge parts of you, and just let it all go. We've written this
script together and we're going to try and work together. The idea for
Billy and I is to go off and do our own things and come back every five
years or so and do a project, whether it be a play, a film or a television
show. Same goes for everyone else. We're constantly dreaming of new ways
of trying to get back together. |