TVSquad Talks To Dominic Monaghan on the Physics Of "FlashForward"

[JamesG]

Dominic Monaghan Talks The Physics of "FlashForward"
Posted Apr 29th 2010
by Gabrielle Dunn


Dominic Monaghan has played his share of "troubled" roles.

Now, he's on the ABC sci-fi series "FlashForward" as misunderstood physicist Simon Campos, who may be partially responsible for a global disaster.



Monaghan talked to TV Squad yesterday about the physics of "FlashForward":




Were you worried at all about going into "FlashForward" after "Lost", two very similarly mysterious, plot-heavy shows?

No, I tend to choose projects based on roles, so the role was just really exciting for me. Simon was so drastically different from anything that I've really done before on television and everything else is not really my concern.

My main concern is to try and do the best thing I can do in my job -- which is, you know, act. And I thought that I was going to get a great opportunity to act in a way that's not been seen before so that's why I took the job ... It's probably easier to play the same character over and over again, but that's not what I want to do.

That's kind of why I try to switch stuff up. I enjoy both characters. Simon's probably a bit harder to play because he is so dark but I've still got a soft spot for him.







Do you research your lines? Do you try and understand what Simon is saying?

You know, some stuff. I bought some books you know, Idiot's Guide to Quantum Physics and quantum theory and string theory and all that kind of stuff.

Attempted to read A Brief History of Time, which is not super-easy. I read Bill Bryson's book, which is called A Short Introduction To Almost Everything, which was kind of fun, and then I read a lot of Richard Dawkins.

You know, Richard Dawkins is one of the foremost atheistic writers right now -- writes from a science point of view. His work has been very influential in sort of keeping things very simple and science-oriented.







With "Lost" ending, can "FlashForward" step into that sci-fi niche on TV?

Oh, hopefully. I think it's a good time for any show that has an interesting message to be on the TV.

It's really well-written, it's really well-acted and, you know, I just think that it's a show that deserves to stick around for a little bit.







I love the relationship between Simon and FBI Agent Janis Hawk (Christine Woods).
Do you think she's really a double agent or do you think she's playing Simon?

Yeah! Me too. I think it's a bit of both you know, Christine's my favorite person to work with on the show, without question, and she's my buddy -- I like everybody on the show, but she's like my tightest buddy on the show.

Yeah, I think she's playing him and he's playing her. She's obviously super-smart and she's a double agent and Simon's pretty smart too and he's essentially a double agent as well, so they have a mutual respect for each other.

I don't think Simon's aware that Janis is gay so he's trying to get in her pants and he's not getting any action and he's like, "What's going on here? Usually girls just drop dead when I start spitting quantum physics at them." Janis is not interested.




I thought he'd end up being her "baby daddy."

Yeah, I kind of like that idea too, but I think they went a different route.

But I think they'll continue to explore Simon and Janis's relationship as the show goes on.







How is it working with Sonya Walger again?
You were both on "Lost" and now you're on "FlashForward" together.

Yeah, I had one scene with Sonya, which was really good and I enjoyed, and we both went off to film "Lost" together and I said to her, I'm just so excited to have her on set with me and I have so much fun with her on "Lost's" set in Hawaii.

She's a really sweet person. I've just loved getting to know her more and more.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/04/29/do...hysics-of-fla/