» ARCHIVES Interview: Sean Astin and Dominic Monaghan     |     28 July 2003 Several members of the Lord of the Rings cast were at this year's San Diego Comic Con to promote the impending DVD release (and subsequent extended edition in November) of The Two Towers, and to get fans ridiculously excited by showing an all-too-brief glimpse of Return of the King, hitting screens this winter. I got a chance to sit with two of the four hobbits (or 22.222% of the Fellowship) in an incredibly boisterous room, and this is what the extremely laid-back Sean Astin and Dominic Monaghan had to say (or at least what I could decipher from the tape). Question: So this is the last film of the series. Is there a sense of fear or sadness to the end of the trip? Dominic: Not really, I mean it's so far away until the movie opens, months, and then the whole Oscar thing and the DVD coming out, we've still got a good while yet. We're all really excited about the last one coming out, we're just kind of waiting. We're sitting on something that we know is good, we're just waiting for the rest of the world to find out. Sean: There's a certain kind of sadness, yeah. Question: The films have been so well-received, they'll probably go down as classics on the same level as Star Wars. That's got to be kind of daunting, that the films will be remembered on the level as classics. Dominic: It's hard to have any real concept of that. I don't really process that, and when it's brought up to me, it seems like they're talking about something else, someone else. Sean: What do you mean by "daunting"? Question: It's got to be a bit like, "Oh my god, my grandchildren will remember this long after…" Sean: My wife said that to me. We were watching a scene, at the end of the second film, "There's some good in this world and it's worth fighting for", and my wife leaned over and said "When you die, your children will always remember this." And I just said "Aaahhh!!!" Question: To put that into perspective, at an online writers' panel yesterday, the question was raised what everyone's favorite franchise currently was, and the vote was 6 to 1 in favour of Lord of the Rings. Sean: Nice! But that whole competition thing, I think it's a compliment, but it's boring. Question: They wanted to lay it to rest, actually, so that's the bottom line. Sean: Not for the Star Wars people! [laughs] I guess it's kinda fun, the nature of the competition. Question: One of the most unique things about this experience is that I imagine you walk away with this enormous set of lifetime friendships and associations that you'd never get on another film. Dominic: Absolutely! Sean: Yeah, he [Dominic] and my brother have been living together now for, what? Dominic: A year now? Sean: I sold him my car. Dominic: It's like being on a desert island with a group of people. Whichever way you look at it, you've all been through the same experience, so you're always going to be linked. I mean, it's weird, I guess after we hang out with each other at the end of the year, we won't even really necessarily need to hang around with each other. When you've been through something so life-changing, so huge, with only a small select group of people, you'll constantly be around those people because you'll go back and revisit it. Sean: Dom will need money. Dominic: You'll need a babysitter. Sean: You mean you'll feed me and stuff when I can't do anything? Dominic: I was thinking more about your daughters, but... [laughs] Question: You've been doing these movies for so long, are you looking forward to tackling new material? Dominic: Yeah, in the interim we've been able to do new things and flesh out a little bit, but you have to give these movies the respect it deserves. I'm excited, I want to keep working, and because we've been involved with these movies we get more opportunities than we would four or five years ago. Question: What's your perspective on the way these movies have sort of institutionalized the notion of putting out these extended DVD cuts? Sean: Did Lord of the Rings get credit for the emergence of that business? I think it may just be a benchmark, because Peter Jackson… I actually got a note on my interviews from a studio guy, saying not to focus so much on the extended DVDs in terms of Peter's attention and focus during the films, but he really wanted to make [content] for the DVDs. I remember he said about James Cameron's The Abyss that the theatrical release, you'll never see that again, the thing that lives forever is what's on the DVD. And at first it seemed like a kiss-off, because he'd say "Don't worry, it'll make the DVD", and you realise he was making this whole experience. Question: There are probably not a lot of three-hour movies that people want more of. Sean: [laughs] That's true. Question: Sean, I thought you did a really great job directing the episode of "Angel" this year, any plans to do another one this season? Sean: Thank you very much. I'll have to call my agent and beg for another slot. I've been thinking that I should do one, I want to do one. Joss Whedon is here [at the Con]! Would it be bad for me to go shilling for a job? "Please, let me direct another! People said they liked it!" But yeah, I hope so. Question: Dominic, what else have you got planned? Dominic: Well, I just finished two English films. The first one is called Spivs, which is a London gangster heist drama with Nick Moran [of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels] and Ken Stott, and I play a long-haired bearded stoner and kill a lot of people, kind of different from Merry. And I did a movie called The Purifiers, which is basically a gang movie, loosely based around The Warriors. It's the story of ten rival martial arts gangs who get to get together in a fictional city to try and control crime. And my gang, the Purifiers, says they don't want any part of it, so the nine other gangs come after this one gang to kill them. Question: So you actually get to do kung fu in it? Dominic: I get to do Wu Shu, which is a Shaolin technique. This thing called "sticky hands", where your elbows are sort of locked together, it's all about centre. So it was fun, I got to do a lot of wire-work and flips and kicks and stuff. Question: Were you already trained in martial arts? Dominic: I did karate as a kid, from like 12 to 17. Anything physical I really like. Question: Did you guys read comic books when you were kids? [This was Comic Con, after all.] Dominic: Yeah. Mainly Spider-Man, the Hulk. My dad was a big Harry Crumb fan, so there was always that around. Love Preacher. Elijah and I tried to go down [to the show floor] and buy some comics but it got a little bit hectic down there. So we might go incognito. I want to meet Stan Lee and Mark Hamill. Question: What do you think is the difference between comic fans and movie fans? Sean: Is there a difference? I think there's a lot of crossover. Question: What was it about [Showtime series] "Jeremiah" that made you want to join the cast? Sean: Joe Straczynski. And Luke Perry called my agent and made a passionate pitch for me to a part of the show, and I was moved by that effort on his part. So I investigated the show, and sat with Joe Straczynski, and looked at what he wanted to do, and I got it. And it was good money. And then the hobbits were whisked away by the Nazgul. Or some talent wrangler. 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