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by Scott Juba Published: April 3, 2006
Monaghan says it will take more than a simple “I’m sorry” for Charlie to regain Claire’s trust. “He has to convince her he’s going to be clean and that he’s more motivated about taking care of her and the baby than he is about tripping out every so often,” he remarks. “I think she’s looking for someone a little more constant in her life. With that in mind, it will be a long process of rebuilding bridges.” In a recent episode, Charlie resorted to a fake abduction of Claire’s baby to convince her to baptize the child. Although the baptism may have placed her baby on the path to spiritual salvation, it only drove Claire farther away from Charlie. “Charlie tried his best to save the child and get the child baptized,” Monaghan explains, “but he had to jump through the hoops that he did so that Claire would baptize the baby - in her own way. There was no way it was going to happen on its own. He had to back her into a corner to a certain extent. He was influential in making the baptism happen, but like most things in Charlie’s life, he goes about things the wrong way and then it all blows up in his face.” Although Charlie is a flawed character, Lost Executive Producer Damon Lindelof says Monaghan’s humor and inherent likeability make Charlie a fan favorite. “Dominic's greatest weapon is his humor,” Lindelof says. “Yes, he is remarkably likeable, but he's also downright funny. This is something we rarely put on the page, but Dom has a way of making even the most intense and serious dialogue more accessible by delivering it with the proverbial ‘spoonful of sugar.’ People think Jorge [Garcia] carries the comedic torch in the show, but I find it surprising that Dom isn't included in the ‘comic relief’ category.” One of the unique and whimsical nuances about Charlie is that he writes messages across his hand that often reflect his mood. Some published reports indicated Monaghan got the idea from Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who writes messages on his hand. When asked if there’s any truth behind those reports, Monaghan replies, “Not especially. I’ve been writing on my hand since I was a kid. My mum would always say, ‘You know, you’ll get ink poisoning because the ink’s going to rub into your skin.’ It was just my way of remembering things. When we came around to the plane crash on the show, they wanted Charlie to be doing something. I said, ‘If he’s an artist, he’d be trying to get his frustrations out through art.’ We just decided it’d be fun for Charlie to be writing something on his fingers. It was a mix of ideas really.” A more weighty issue the show deals with is the clash between science and faith. Monaghan takes a middle-of-the-road approach when it comes to dissecting the issue. “I was brought up by a science teacher and a nurse who were both obviously pretty placed in a science-based idea but also in a Roman Catholic background,” he says. “I understand the ideas behind faith, but I would put myself more in a science field. On the same note, I’ve had enough spiritual experiences in my life that I believe there’s something out there. I would say I’m relatively agnostic at this point and will probably remain agnostic. I’m a believer in evolution and the tree of life and all that kind of stuff. I think the evidence speaks for itself.” Away from the show, Monaghan’s reported romance with Lost co-star Evangeline Lilly inevitably lands him in the tabloids even though he would like people to be more respectful of his privacy. “It’s really frustrating for people to think they have any kind of right to infringe on your private life,” he remarks. “So much of my life is out there in the open. So much of how I work, why I work, what I wear, what I eat, when I eat it, what music I like, what films I like – so much of that is fair game for the public. I think it’s only fair that every so often we should be afforded the opportunity to keep our private lives sacred. That’s what I’ve always tried to do. I’ve dated different girls in different scenarios, and no one seemed to be interested. Right now, they seem to be a lot more interested. I just always maintain the idea that it’s no one’s business apart from my own.” Now that Monaghan has attained a level of success few actors reach, he says he’s learned that fame and fortune don’t guarantee a fulfilling life. “The notion of success and fame is something that’s really unattainable,” he tells me. “I still worry about the same things I worried about way before I achieved any level of fame, if that’s what you call it. I still worry about my family. I still worry about my friends. I still worry about money, and if I’m doing the right thing and whether I’m happy and whether I’m living my life the way I should. Fame obviously covers up a lot of stuff and gives people the impression that you’re happy. There’s nothing more desperate and sad about someone who has all this fame but is crying out for help.” Monaghan quickly points out, “That’s not essentially where I am right now. But there have been moments in my life where I’ve thought, ‘This all comes to nothing because when I’m shutting my door, I’m not a happy person.’ Fame doesn’t heal anything. It just becomes your life, but you still have the same issues you had before.” If there’s one thing Monaghan can definitely smile about, it’s that his entertaining performances on Lost help audiences escape their own problems and enjoy one of the best-acted and best-written shows on television. |
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