Dominic Monaghan

Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan (born 8 December 1976) is a German-born British actor. He is best known for playing Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck in Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), and Charlie Pace on the ABC television drama Lost (2004–2010). Monaghan first gained fame as Hetty Wainthropp's sidekick Geoffrey in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996–1998). His first film role was as Sasha in the television film Hostile Waters (1997) based on the true story of a Soviet and a US submarine colliding in the Cold War. His other film roles include playing the young mutant Chris Bradley formerly known as Maverick in the superhero film X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and playing Beaumont Kin in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), reuniting with J.J. Abrams, the co-creator of Lost. He also has hosted the nature programme Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (2012–2016). Early life Monaghan was born in West Berlin, West Germany, to British parents: Maureen, a nurse, and Austin Monaghan, who was of Irish descent, a science teacher. Monaghan's family lived in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Münster, moving about every four years. When he was about 11 years old, his family moved to Heaton Moor in Stockport, England. In Stockport, he attended St Anne's Roman Catholic High School (where his uncle taught and later became head teacher) and Aquinas College, where he studied English literature, drama and geography. Career and events Although Monaghan held many occupations when he was younger, he long wanted to be an actor. After his second year at St Anne's, Monaghan became a regular in school plays such as Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Bugsy Malone before joining the Manchester Youth Theatre. There, he was scouted for Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, in which he starred alongside Patricia Routledge and Derek Benfield as Hetty's under-aged sidekick, Geoffrey Shawcross, for four series. Monaghan has since credited Routledge as "an amazing teacher" who taught him some "very valuable lessons" that have influenced his acting career. He made his feature-film debut as Russian sailor Sasha in the TV film Hostile Waters.