Born in Berlin, Germany, on December 8, 1976,
Monaghan is the younger of two boys. His
schoolteacher father and nurse mother spoke English at
home and, when Monaghan was 12 years old, moved
the family back to their native Manchester. Growing up,
Monaghan worked several odd jobs -- as a mail
sorter, a stock boy, a sauté chef -- but he always
wanted to be an actor. He enrolled at Aquinas College, a
Catholic sixth form school in England, where he studied
English literature, drama, and geography. By his second
year, Monaghan was a regular fixture in school
plays. He performed in Charles Dickens' A
Christmas Carol, played the Artful Dodger in
Dickens' Oliver Twist, and even portrayed
American gangster Bugsy Malone. Monaghan
soon started acting outside of school and joined the
Manchester Youth Theatre. His work with the troupe
caught the attention of a talent agent, who sent him to
an open casting call for the television show Hetty
Wainthrop Investigates, starring veteran actress
Patricia Routledge. Monaghan, then
only 18, made his television debut as amateur detective
Routledge's underage sidekick, Geoffrey
Shawcross.
The actor appeared on Hetty Wainthrop Investigates
for four seasons, building a fan base and honing his
craft. In the next few years, Monaghan made his
feature-film debut as a Russian sailor in
Hostile Waters with
Rutger Hauer and taped the docudrama This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper,
in which he portrays the boyfriend of a girl attacked by
the Ripper. He also recorded his first BBC radio
show, "Stockport...So Good They Named It Once," a
family sitcom that features Monaghan as a
witty, lovelorn 15 year old.
Monaghan was performing in a play in London
when casting directors scouted him for
The Lord of the Rings. As a child, he had
read all three volumes of J.R.R. Tolkien's
trilogy; the books were his father's favorite. After a
formal audition for
The Lord of the Rings, Monaghan left
England to film the WWII miniseries Monsignor Renard
(1999) in France, in which he plays a droll layabout
whose life dramatically changes during the German
occupation. Six months into shooting, Monaghan's
agent warned him to be prepared to immediately leave for
Los Angeles or New Zealand to meet with
Peter Jackson,
The Lord of the Rings' director. The actor
packed, but the meeting never occurred: Within days, he
was called with an offer to play hobbit Meriadoc
"Merry" Brandybuck, a major character in all three
films.
The Lord of the Rings' three installments --
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two
Towers (2002), and
The Return of the King (2003) -- were taped
simultaneously in New Zealand and kept Monaghan
occupied for almost two years. Their yearly releases
ensured Monaghan's continuing popularity, and
their popularity brought him hoards of jobs offers.
After returning to England, besides sifting through
piles of potential scripts, Monaghan also
completed his own comedy screenplay with fellow
hobbit
Billy Boyd.
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