Charlie didn’t have to die!

Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse has explained the decision to kill off the popular character of Charlie Pace at the end of the third season.

In an interview with TV Guide in the US, Cuse stated that axing Dominic Monaghan from the show was dictated by the narrative.

“We felt like we needed to pay off Desmond’s prognostications. We thought about various ways in which that could pay off, but, ultimately, we came to the conclusion that the best version of the story was for Charlie to die.”

“We felt like we had told the biggest and most important parts of Charlie’s story. He was an addict; he recovered from his addiction; he found some meaning and purpose in his relationship with Claire. It just felt like this was the best path for this character.”

Branding Monaghan a “wonderful guy and a terrific actor,” Cuse admitted that it was “very hard to say goodbye to Dominic.”

Source: RTE

Again, Charlie didn’t have to die!!

A heartbroken Kristin over at eonline.com has a fantastic interview with Dominic Monaghan (it’s fantastic because she always asks the right questions and she’s such a huge fan, which shows) about, again, him leaving the show, the fans, his friendships with the cast and about his future. Read the great and sad interview below:

Say it isn’t so. Charlie is definitely dead. For real?
For real, yeah.

There’s no chance he’s alive, coming back next season?
Well, it would be news to me if that were the case. My feeling had always been with a character like Charlie—who I always hoped, at least, was a strong, sympathetic character—that once he went, he went. You know, I don’t want to do that thing to the audience of “I didn’t really leave.”

Did you have a sense it was coming, that you would be written off?
Yeah. I definitely did. If you head down that road of consistently being told that you’re going to die, I just thought, well, what’s going to be the payoff for the writers here? And I would speak with my castmates, and I would say, “You know I must be, I must be leaving.” It makes sense in the writers’ room to write Charlie dying, as opposed to the more boring, less dynamic way of saying he cheated death, or he worked out a way to do it, or he’s not going to die for another couple of seasons.

They brought back Ian Somerhalder and Maggie Grace for flashbacks. Would you come back if they were to write something in like that?
I don’t know. I mean I might if it was kind of an Obi-Wan thing. [Laughs.]

Read rest of story…

Everyone wants to hear what Dominic Monaghan has to say about his heartbreaking departure from the show, including Entertainment Weekly. Read their great Q&A with Dom below.

Entertainment Weekly: How long have you known about Charlie’s death, and what was your reaction to that plot twist?

Dominic Monaghan: By the time they got around to actually telling me — which was four months after I knew about the storyline we were exploring — it was probably one of relief more than anything else. I just wanted to know what was going to happen, and set up on an open line of communication. So my initial feeling was one of relief. And then there was a lot of excitement along with that, and then there’s a lot of sadness. I mean, you’re leaving things that you love. But my overriding feeling was one of relief.

What was it like to film those final scenes?
I turned up on Friday [May 4], thinking it was going to be my last day at work, and it just didn’t work out. The stunts were not quite there yet, in terms of how I was going to drown, so we wrapped at 11 o’clock, and I ended up having a mini-wrap party, just for the hell of it, with the crew. I stayed at the studio ’til about 4 in the morning playing dice and I won about $700, which was fun. I’m sure that left a good taste in their mouths. [Laughs] And then I got up the next day and went surfing. I came into work midday and we filmed. I was in neck-deep water from about 1 in the afternoon ’til about 7:30 at night. No lunch. No breaks. This water was fraught with technical difficulties, but once the water was deep enough that I could submerge myself, we did the scene. I didn’t really think too much about it being the end; I just wanted to get it done because I had to leave the next day. I only took a breath once I finished and went home and continued to pack. I was pretty exhausted.

So you didn’t give in to the emotion of the moment?
I did the day before. Jack Bender, one of the producers, presented me with a paddle that had been made by the crew and the cast, and said a little speech about working with me on the show. He said some beautiful things and gave me the microphone, and I had a really hard time trying to get out exactly what I wanted to say without my voice faltering. That was probably the most emotional thing. And then I had to keep my head down and get on with business, you know?

What was the toughest part of shooting the drowning sequence?
The cold. If you’re in water for a couple hours, your body temperature starts to sink down — especially when you’re completely submerged in water — and I would spend long periods of time in the water. My teeth were chattering and my voice was faltering in places.

Read rest of story…

TV Guide.com has a great Q&A with Dominic Monaghan, who did a brilliant job of playing Charlie Pace on Lost for 3 years. Dominic talks about leaving the show, a little bit about Evangeline Lilly, and about what’s next for him.

TVGuide.com: First things first: Charlie’s really dead?

Dominic Monaghan: Oh, yeah.

TVGuide.com: I remember talking to executive producer J.J. Abrams early in the first season, and he said that as long as you still came out of your trailer, you’d always have a job on Lost. So, were you not coming out of your trailer anymore?

Monaghan: [Laughs] I still have that TV Guide. I’m gonna frame it for him and say, “Are you gonna sue them or shall I?” But seriously, I think that’s [indicative] of where the show is right now. J.J.’s one of the creators of the show, but in terms of making the decisions these days, he isn’t as connected as he once was.

TVGuide.com: You told me in February that you had been talking with Damon for a while about your leaving. How long have you actually known that Charlie would die?

Monaghan: Well, we could go way back to Season 1. I’ve always said to Damon, “Look, if I’m gonna leave the show, I’m totally cool with it, as long as I leave on an up-trajectory.” But we started talking in mid-October of last year, just the idea that Desmond was able to predict that Charlie may be dying at some point in the future. But Damon said, “At this point, we don’t know where that story line’s going to go.” I knew that I was definitely leaving in late February.

TVGuide.com: Why would you want to leave a hit series?

Monaghan: Obviously, there are huge positives to being involved in a show like Lost. We film in Hawaii, and the lifestyle there is a really fantastic thing. But, to be honest, as an actor I’ve been kind of frustrated for a while. I’ve wanted to do a little bit more. The difference between how much the audience got to see Charlie in Season 1 as opposed to how much they got to see Charlie in Seasons 2 and 3 was significant. It’s been kind of frustrating for me for a while. So I think it’s time for me to move on, you know.

TVGuide.com: Still, you’ve been with the show since day one. It must’ve been a little emotional when you finally got the “We’re definitely killing you off” call.

Monaghan: More than anything else, I was just relieved. It’s been so long for me to be sitting with the potential of the decision. You know, I got to a point where I just wanted to know. I’ve been trying to plan the rest of my career, and there’s a whole bunch of opportunities that have been up in the air because I couldn’t commit to them because of Lost. It was a little bittersweet to be leaving behind surfing and palm trees and beaches, but I think I probably squeezed the last amount of enjoyment I could’ve got out of that for a while. More than anything else, I have to [go] where the best work is going to be for me. And some of the best work for me [on Lost] was going to be done in my leaving the show.

TVGuide.com: The episode before the finale, “Greatest Hits,” was like a eulogy for Charlie.

Monaghan: I think that was to allow the audience to sit with it long enough to prepare themselves for what was going to happen [in the finale]. I think I benefited from the fact that the producers knew it was going to be a big deal with me leaving, so they wanted to make it as significant as possible.

TVGuide.com: Charlie started out as a self-involved, washed-up rock-star junkie. But by the end, he’d evolved into someone who was willing to sacrifice himself to save everyone else. How involved were you in that transformation?

Read rest of story…

Dominic Monaghan is proud his likeness has been used to make a host of action figures.

The actor has been turned into a toy on four occasions, three times for his role as Merry the hobbit in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films and now again as rocker Charlie in cult plane crash show ‘Lost‘, and admits the figures fill him with a child-like sense of excitement.

Dominic said: “I had three done for the Lord of the Rings movies so the ‘Lost’ one is my fourth, which is pretty crazy! When I was growing up, ‘Star Wars’ figures were a pretty big deal for me, so if it gets kids excited in the same way as I was about ‘Star Wars’ then that’s really cool.”

The British actor - who is rumored to be engaged to his ‘Lost’ co-star Evangeline Lilly - has also revealed he is nothing like his character Charlie.

He explained: “There is a frustrated rock star in me, but Charlie is probably the most unlike me of any part I’ve ever played. Even Merry the hobbit was me when I was 11-years-old.”

Source: Female First

“I took Hologram to a secluded part of the island, and I was kinda sad as I let him go.” - Dominic Monaghan bid a fond farewell to his beloved chameleon Hologram after the pet died in Hawaii.

Lost stars Naveen Andrews and Dominic Monaghan are bemoaning the lack of screen time they have in the third season of the desert island show.

The British actors earn a reported $78,000 a week playing Sayid Jarrah (Andrews) and Charlie Pace (Monaghan), but admit they spend a lot of time sitting around with nothing to do.

Andrews says, “Even though I like getting paid for doing nothing, it is nice occasionally to work.”

Monaghan adds, “As one person works more, work is being taken away from another. You have to make your peace with that.

Executive producer Carlton Cuse explains, “The actors are frustrated. They’re all really good at what they do and it’s difficult when they don’t get a chance to do it.”

Source: Hollywood.com

Actor Dominic Monaghan believes he should have been a homosexual - because he loves make-up, painting his nails and wearing skirts.

The British star, who is dating his Lost castmate Evangeline Lilly, freely admits to being a “metrosexual”.

He says, “I wear make-up and I paint my nails. I wear high heels. This is all true. I like wearing skirts. I should probably be gay but I like women too much. I am kind of metrosexual in the sense that, if I do get lost, I do ask for directions. I pull over to gas stations and ask. So I don’t know. I guess guys have a lot of pride.”

Haha — that’s so random, and funny.

I know that Evangeline and Dominic have always kept their relationship very private — in fact, they have never even confirmed that they are an item, but I thought this was worth a post. If they are indeed getting married, then I think congratulations is in order! They seem very happy and it wouldn’t surprise me if they got hitched. How does Evangeline Monaghan sound?

Evangeline Lilly and Dominic Monaghan are getting married this summer, it has been claimed. The Lost stars are planning to tie the knot when the cult TV series breaks from filming in July.

A source told America’s Star magazine: “They’re planning to get married during the show’s summer hiatus in Hawaii. It will be a beautiful but low-key wedding.”

Lord of the Rings star Dominic, 30, and 27-year-old Evangeline refuse to publicly speak about their relationship. They have been together for two years since meeting on the set of Lost.

British actor Dominic was reported to have proposed in Hawaii last month. A source said: “They want to spend the rest of their lives together.”

[Source]

Lost actor Dominic Monaghan is fearful the never-ending turns in the plot have made the series uninteresting - and dreads an army of disappointed fans.

The actor - who plays castaway Charlie - says the show’s executives are ruining the content of the TV drama.

He said: “They (the writers) had a beginning and then they had an ending and the studio says, ‘Can you expand the middle?’

“That kinda gets you to a point where it’s not as exciting,” reports contactmusic.

Dominic - who is dating co-star Evangeline Lilly - added: “I’d like them to do four or maybe five great seasons and then we’ll do, like, a couple of movies and it’ll be like a big event. Stringing it out and losing the quality is not what we want.”