Dominic Monaghan Says He Won His Role in STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER in a Bet With J.J. Abrams
It was a pretty cool surprise when we learned that Dominic Monaghan had joined Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The actor got his big break in The Lord of the Rings franchise and has gone on to do a lot of other great projects. But The Rise of Skywalker is one of the biggest and most exciting things he’s been a part of in recent years.
The actor eventually ended up working with J.J. Abrams on the hit TV series Lost, and his relationship with Abrams helped land him a role in the upcoming Star Wars movie, but not in the way that it usually happens. He didn’t audition for the role, Abrams didn’t flat out offer him a role, instead he won the role in a bet with the director!
Monaghan recently appeared as a guest on the podcast Distraction Pieces with Scroobius Pip, and he shared the story of how he got the role. It’s explained that when Abrams jumped on board the project he promised Monaghan the possibility of a role in the film. So, Monaghan told his agent to avoid taking any other projects so that his availability would be open when he got the call. Things didn’t play out the way he expected, though. He explains:
“At the start of that game, because J.J. is a motherfucker in the best way possible, he emailed me and he said, ‘I think I have a Star Wars part for you.’ And I wrote back and said, ‘Brilliant, I won’t bother you but let me know if there’s anything I can do or what I can say.’ He wrote back and said, ‘If England beat Colombia, you’re in.’ I was like, oh mate, you bastard.”
England ended up winning the penalty shoot-out, and Monaghan got another email from Abrams saying, “You’re in.” That must’ve been one hell of an intense game to sit through!
We don’t know much about Monagan’s character in the film, but he did show up in the final trailer for the film, and the role he plays was written specifically for Monaghan.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20, 2019.
Source: Inverse