"I could always flip between emotions and be available to suddenly do something new. I think it's a part of playing, and you hang onto it when you're a kid"
About this Quote
Dominic Monaghan links artistic craft to the instinctive fluidity of childhood, treating emotion not as a fixed state but as something you can pivot through with ease. Flipping between emotions, as he describes it, is less a stunt than a posture: a readiness to be surprised, to respond, to try something unplanned. He calls it playing for a reason. Children play by leaping from pirate to astronaut to shopkeeper in seconds, unembarrassed and fully committed each time. Acting at its best recaptures that same elasticity, only with technique and intention layered on top.
The word available is crucial. In rehearsal rooms and on sets, availability means being open to direction, to a co-actor’s energy, to a new choice that was not in the plan. It asks for looseness rather than rigidity, presence rather than preparation alone. Monaghan’s career bears this out. As Merry in The Lord of the Rings, he shifts from mischievous camaraderie to battlefield terror and courage without losing the character’s core warmth. In Lost, Charlie Pace ricochets between wry humor, addiction’s desperation, tenderness, and faith, and those quick turns feel lived-in, not ornamental. That credibility comes from staying in a playful, receptive state where the next emotion can arrive and be believed.
There is an implicit critique of adulthood here. Growing up often means narrowing, rehearsing the same few reactions until they become armor. An actor has to resist that narrowing, keeping the imaginative muscles limber. The trick is not volatility for its own sake; it is controlled spontaneity, the capacity to commit fully, let go, and commit again, without self-consciousness. Monaghan points to a truth that spans performance and ordinary life: when you preserve the child’s freedom to pivot, you gain resilience and creativity. You become more responsive to the moment, which is where honest emotion and fresh choices live.
The word available is crucial. In rehearsal rooms and on sets, availability means being open to direction, to a co-actor’s energy, to a new choice that was not in the plan. It asks for looseness rather than rigidity, presence rather than preparation alone. Monaghan’s career bears this out. As Merry in The Lord of the Rings, he shifts from mischievous camaraderie to battlefield terror and courage without losing the character’s core warmth. In Lost, Charlie Pace ricochets between wry humor, addiction’s desperation, tenderness, and faith, and those quick turns feel lived-in, not ornamental. That credibility comes from staying in a playful, receptive state where the next emotion can arrive and be believed.
There is an implicit critique of adulthood here. Growing up often means narrowing, rehearsing the same few reactions until they become armor. An actor has to resist that narrowing, keeping the imaginative muscles limber. The trick is not volatility for its own sake; it is controlled spontaneity, the capacity to commit fully, let go, and commit again, without self-consciousness. Monaghan points to a truth that spans performance and ordinary life: when you preserve the child’s freedom to pivot, you gain resilience and creativity. You become more responsive to the moment, which is where honest emotion and fresh choices live.
Quote Details
| Topic | Youth |
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