Dominic Monaghan - Personal Life

Personal Life

Monaghan is a nature lover, and has been active in the planting of trees, cacti, and the pod-seeds of mature hedge-row bushes. He owns a small forest in India, and has worked with the animal rights group PETA. Monaghan has a great love for insects and reptiles that he developed during his childhood, and has kept an assortment of pets, including a leaf-mantis named Gizmo, a Black Widow spider named Witchitar and an albino snake named Blink.

An avid outdoorsman, Monaghan enjoys activities such as surfing, kayaking, snowboarding, football, basketball, and hiking. He has also stated that he likes hunting for insects and reptiles outdoors. He learned karate as a child, practices yoga, and often goes to the gym for strength and weight training. He is a longtime supporter and fan of Manchester United.

Monaghan loves to play various games, and has hosted game nights for fellow cast members in the past. He is also fond of working the New York Times crossword puzzle.

On his right arm he has a tattoo of the Elvish word "nine" written in Quenya-mode Tengwar, a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. Seven other cast members and John Rhys-Davies' stunt double also got matching tattoos during the film's production, at Monaghan's instigation. Below that tattoo is another that reads, "Life imitates art", an Oscar Wilde quote. On his left arm is a tattoo, "Living is easy with eyes closed", a line from The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever". He also has two stars tattooed on his left foot, one black, and one white. In 2010, Monaghan got two more tattoos, one on the upper side of the back ("Love you take is equal to the love you make", taken from the song "The End" by The Beatles). The other, done by Kat Von D on the television show LA Ink, is located on his lower right arm ("Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter", a quote from Yoda).

He resides in the Los Angeles, California area. In 2008 Monaghan held a photographic exhibit in Los Angeles in which he sold prints of his own works. A portion of the proceeds from the exhibit were given to an orangutan rescue organization.

Past relationships include his Lost co-star Evangeline Lilly from 2004 to 2009.

In June 2008 Monaghan traveled to Argentina with Lilly to film the pilot of the American version of CQC, (a successful television programme in fewer than ten countries).

He has long been working on a script with LOTR co-star and good friend Billy Boyd. Dominic provided the inspiration for the naming of Boyd's band Beecake after he sent his friend a picture of a cake covered in bees.