Joe Rogan Experience #663 — Dominic Monaghan Transcript

Transcript

0:00 Good? Oh shit, we're live. Hey, fella, what's going on? is gonna be even less like this place it's gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna try to make it as line to come up um and then you know you you're part of the lord of the rings man i mean yeah, we were involved in a piece of movie history. as much as when I went on hiatus And then the end, oh, man, the end is like, you know,

2:44 at that point, I'd ejected myself from that world. Oh, yeah. by going, yeah, I didn't see it. don't feel can same thing with Dexter I walked away with Dexter I was like completely committed And then I felt like it was cresting. They did a phenomenal job, though. I mean, given the constraints, first of all, of network television, of knowing that that you're working in and is a huge part of your life,

5:27 sometimes you know so when people come over to me and say what do you think I watched certain cast members go from making the pilot, getting paid well. You're like, You're missing it. That was Seinfeld that was friends why am I not getting a development deal why can't I star in my own movie? That's a great perspective. you think it is and how it should change and be justified and one day it will all be

9:05 It's crazy that even a successful person and I was talking with my friend about the whole comparison thing like there's all these different people that you can look at and then you look at yourself and make these It's like this desire to get better at things also leads you to compare your own progress against the progress of others. These are the exception.

11:29 i don't have the athletic body ability to slam dunk right so if my whole ambition was like i want You know, it's like the whole thing with beautiful women, you know. Your body is a woman's body. But women are comparing to the way fashion models look and the way other women perceive. Like, you're crazy. I mean, I make a big distinction between, like, a girl's body and a woman's body.

14:01 Beyonce yeah exactly that's a fucking woman. Yes. But you know those women onesie bikinis with big asses. I think that was his wife for a while, before he got rid of her and got the cocoa. Look, I'm not hating it, it's not terrible the attraction to that seems fundamental. What is that? That's insane. be a fundamental attraction that men have. So maybe for me it was the thing that I was reaching for.

17:00 Like Conan the Barbarian, you know, that's always been around. They didn't have those bodies that the bodies have today. If I'm doing that, I would like to be with someone who has the same common sense about their body necessarily feel attracted to people who are abusing themselves on a consistent basis. They know. I don't think that's the evolution of our species.

19:57 What's the thing where you're like, oh my God, I love it. It feels good to eat clean. And when I say relatively clean, I should say overwhelmingly clean. But if I feel like having a cheeseburger, 10 days in a place. and then she would have to remind me you didn't eat dinner and i'm like okay let me eat it and So from 8 till 9, I'd play football with my friends.

22:32 First thing that I would put in my mouth, what? I don't know, 10,000 calories a day and just putting sugar in me, you know? So I was you need chicken, you need tofu, you need fat, Your frame is bigger and you're a naturally big guy. Your bone structure will change. Like the first ever poster for Lost is all of us on a beach. No, it's like more of an iconic silhouette on a beach.

25:06 Ah, that's good. then it'll become like a part of you. I can see some muscle there. and he just solved all of those conundrums for me. and sat down with JJ and his partner, Brian Burke, And I was like, it went well, And they reworked it. that was going to be you know big and impressive and i trusted him um and there wasn't a huge I need something different in my life.

28:45 And because they didn't know me, the producer's like, you don't want to do that. It's a little half a mile loop very exclusive little part of the island Yeah, maybe even fifties. Still hot. Right. You have to be in a wetsuit. Bathwater. you're that guy in Lord of the Rings. I was like, oh shit, it's on now. So I was like, Stay close to me. If you need help, let me know. Don't fuck around, because it can kill you. And

32:18 cut the board and I try and go left, but it's so powerful because it's breaking here on my left when you come up, that wave's coming for you again. at one point I see Kalani paddling over to me. I'm like, all right, cool. We're going to be okay. and then when I'm done, you're going to paddle in with me safe. I was definitely out of breath and a little fucked up, but he's a water man.

34:05 He's like, if you're under the water And it'll give you an extra five seconds or so I've been under, and I'm like, take a little swallow, come back up. No, never done it. Really? I go through different obsessions and stuff does all these old fight poster t-shirts really cool shit excuse me and he's He's, like, the most inspirational guy when it comes to, like, getting shit done.

36:03 I mean, he has some genetic stuff that helps him out. He's very proportionate, huh? Yeah, look at this. Like, you know who Kevin Hart is? Yeah, he makes these little videos of him doing work. I don't think they've found the right vehicle for him yet. I'm friends with Kimmel. all the late-night talk show hosts that I've had the opportunity to meet, I mean, that's what Jimmy Kimmel is best at.

38:52 because it doesn't matter. and to go over what they're talking about. when he did the Matt Damon thing. And I find that seems to be And for some people, the monotony of showing up But I've talked to him a gang of times at UFCs. he's like, I got to get the fuck out of here. Very different than like a talk show host would show up in the same writer's room and

41:46 that thing that they're doing which completely takes hold of their life which is stopping them Did you do a lot of research about that? They didn't ask me to, but I've had my've had my own, you know, fun, positive, great journey with drugs in my life. in the beatles when i was about 12 13. started reading up about them and read the rubber soul like oh it hit you know and um i so i did that i mean fuck i remember i was i'm a very dedicated

44:29 like I'm smoking cigarettes. hello I had spent um 18 months in LA having not worked exposing myself to LA for the first time Twitter or might follow me on Instagram that would I can be like, oh, there's a positive element of that thing that I took. there's so much bullshit on TV. You're fine. Look, you're functioning. moving into Friday night. You're not doing anything tonight. You know, that little monster is going to

48:04 But it's also a comfort in a lot of ways. the best times for me on weed have been ingesting it. I mean, dude, like, I still am in love with the band Sigur Rós. So it's Sigur Rós. But I've always thought if there is a heaven, I'll listen to it on the way home yeah that's very cool You know, that fappening that happened, It was awesome. I want it in my house, and the same with music.

51:21 They have all these fucking albums. And that is great that the vinyl thing kind of came back around again. so let's just put him on digital. Bill Burr released a Carnegie Hall special that he did on album as a vinyl thing. Still funny, though. Right. Right. He was a jello pudding guy. was a great bit with Noah not believing that God really wanted him to go out and

54:28 Well, his real voice came from. what his goal was He was very friendly. I got to see him bomb and not give a fuck. He was bombing, you know? The guy who went on before him was, like, he was doing impressions of cartoon characters if they smoke marijuana There's an absolutely phenomenal Rolling Stone interview and they're also telling me that my art is x y and z you don't get to tell me what my art

57:11 This was all pre-internet. comic special on HBO He hadn't really found that audience yet, and then he died, unfortunately. He was, by the time he died, It was one show, one take. I mean, he comes up with the joke and then he retires it and that's it. I'm okay with darkness, I don't want to watch that kind. No, but I heard him on your show. Never seen anybody funnier.

1:00:12 He's just a wild fucker who's been through everything. That's cool. He gives a fuck about his friends and his family and what he's doing. You know, and that's just what he does. You got to come see him. But you know what that is man. That's just it's the same thing I mean, there was that guy the other day at the comedy store. But they're like, fuck you, fuck you.

1:02:27 They're not thinking like, maybe this guy could kill me. You've got to respect it. And I said, think about who is the most famous woman in the world? I'm like, we'll just let that slide. No. They just they can't handle the experience. I've seen that as an audience member And they get there and they're like, shit, dark room and I'm supposed to shut up?

1:04:36 Wow. And they thought that if they cloned Jesus, they'd bring him back, and that would be how Jesus would return. And so my take on it was like, Do you kill him? It might not even be the God Squad. It might just be in her should absolutely fucking talk about I mean, I feel like in comedy nothing's off the table, right? Nothing's off the table. It's all it might not be funny

1:07:06 closing bits like bits that i had to close on because i couldn't follow them they were just of stand-up and you can't be here because you're a part as an audience member every audience member You're in on it. Yeah. Like that's my, cause I, I go see Joey Diaz. I'm not doing it any justice. And in his body He has this bit about Yeah. It's all kind of abstract stuff.

1:10:20 Like, he will omit the word the if he doesn't need it because to work as correctly as I think. And I do have a lot of respect for that. but obviously that's very disarming when you're kind of an attractive lady there's a chance she could be a little bigger Yeah. just smashing you know and they're always recycling He's called Dove Davidoff. I think also coming from England and having,

1:14:25 but it hits on the second groove. It hits the first groove. Yeah, Monty Python, they were definitely groundbreaking. I think it's definitely Michael Palin pulls out a huge trout and just takes him out and throws him in the canal it's like So the first 18 months in L.A. just a joke you know what i mean just trapped yeah and she would come and knock on

1:17:29 when I got the role on Lord of the Rings, I was like, I don't know, go back to Manchester, Manchester's, you know, if L.A. is London, Yeah, they're raucous and they drink and they like to fight. What's Coronation Street? And it's a very boring, very pedestrian slice of northern life. What's a budgie? who's got the cat and they get together oh, I love football, me, and a bit simple

1:20:14 really good friends with Elijah Wood. and then moved to my manager's place uh and you know just kind of got up for a year billy got he went out and rolled road hoists like no acting just rode horses i think i think for the He's a very ballsy actor. because it's close to it on the map, but it's actually not close to it geographically. It's a very safe country in terms of going out and doing your thing.

1:22:39 Everyone's a painter, everyone's a sculptor, big surfing community. He's from there so he wants to keep God, the fucking scenery is so spectacular. Like apparently there was no mammals there like in the 1600s or whatever the fuck it was that people started arriving Then they accidentally bring in things like possums and rats and stuff and cats. The male will build a little depression

1:24:31 but it takes place over the course of a few days. So they're now being protected in certain parts of New Zealand. And then they brought in feral cats. So feral cats and foxes are like one of the biggest issues I used to know. Really? I mean, as a species, we are a mess and we're breeding out of control, There'd be no restaurants. I mean, I want to live...

1:27:08 spiders or beetles off the planet we would be dead in 100 years you know i'm lucky enough to do this And I think, those fuckers know so much that we'll never know. whatever the fuck Kanye does or anyone. Right, but much like your agent told you back in the day, for courses but my my retort to that would be you know the the correct way to live on this planet

1:28:59 We don't seem inclined necessarily to fix it We are killing our planet. those people representing that comment as well. it, bees did it, worms did it. They don't make movies. Their music is and human creativity and ingenuity have, and you look at what we've been able to accomplish with the human race and what this thirst for innovation and expansion and overpopulation, what is

1:32:14 They're my favorite animal, unlike you. You know, there are some very, very smart minds out there, I mean, I've hung out with hot chicks before. What else? I would argue that all of those technological breakthroughs and all of those concepts that we have of that stuff matters. It's not why we're here, and it doesn't it doesn't do anything for the larger concept of

1:34:21 And the universe won't give a fuck. after spending all this time talking about how great Monty Python are. experienced that and you could say that human beings aren't important but then in that case gonna crush this how do you feel about it? You have to kill them. work they weighed up the pros and cons ants win every time they win every time They take care of their kids.

1:37:12 We're abusive towards the planet that we live on. I mean, if you really were examining the life of human beings I would say that fucking thing is way more impressive than ants. and they've processed it into this gasoline If you're looking at the universe Cough up? world's lifetime over the course of X amount of hundreds of years, it's fucking staggering.

1:40:15 they stopped flying over the United States. But if you're talking about something impressive, which all those things are impressive, that and catch the creature that it's looking for incredibly impressive and spectacular. he jumps out and, well, so you decide. This is a very weird thing. It's a very weird thing that people want to fly over and shoot

1:42:59 needed to kill that Rhino because the population is very small of the rhinos Also, the $350,000 I mean, a lot of the places that we go, they discolor the horn, which doesn't cause any Well, you're speaking logically about things that are just totally based in superstitious. ate rhino horns and it really did make your dick hard as a rock and you could fuck all

1:45:04 It's one thing that if if you if rhino horns made people super geniuses and cured cancer, But how about how they benefit the world? Yes. when he went to those South African hunting camps, he's just honest and thorough and brilliant. I don't think he can go to South Africa at the moment because of upsaying some people in South Africa about something, you know.

1:47:46 Well, I want to watch both of them, actually. Like, fuck that, wouldn't that be crazy? Well, there's statements where he said, my next mission was to try and come up with a religion. he owed money because they were a cult and they were taking money from their members and the whole thing's And he goes, you don't understand. It's very strange. try to change people's ideas about animals that most people are scared of

1:50:51 instead of going directly to the source, Do I take a train? you know, this is a show, Dom. And he went, all right, come up with eight ideas your eyes and your mouth and your nostrils and can they kill a grown human being and on ants. If a bunch of them walking on hot coals with a nail in your foot. So it's extremely painful. Bullet ants live in 50 would be a-

1:53:45 It was too dangerous. My friend Brian Callen, he stayed in Bolivia for a while. Especially if you can't move. Wow, that's interesting. you make the wrong decisions makes you do things incorrectly so what some of with a friend that you were in love with and then you went off and had food that you really liked Fascinating. So we do do that. not gonna hurt you, not gonna do anything,

1:57:23 a snake, any animal that I'm with. What are you saying? that Cobra wants to do is get away. So I'm on to it by its tail and it's trying to get away and it's trying to get away I'm biting and not getting anything for it. Maybe I'll just relax. As soon as that animal relaxes, And the snake won't remember that. Like this is something that you were doing anyway

1:59:48 It could have been a show about a few different things. It could have been about street food. He's interested in the world. It's really cool. I ate this big hunk chicken today Like I'm not the biggest dude in the world. So for me to get, for me to feel full on vegetables and fruit is fine for the most part. No, I hear you. And I've struggled a little bit at times this year with not eating meat

2:02:31 well vegetarians will call bullshit on that you know they'll say like that's ridiculous you're I mean, I believe as animals, we're omnivores, right? Well, you have very unique dietary requirements, it seems like, They would get it. They've totally abandoned that. What is the most important? There's no, they're just meals. You It's harder to have the amount of, but then you have to focus more

2:04:56 It's never start that. And it's pretty stressful on my system. You can get around killing an animal to eat them. If we'd never figured out hunting, as far as animal suffering. It's so blossoming with life and all these new things and eggs and creatures everywhere. is a documentary on the harpy eagle and it's these harpy eagles oh they're fantastic these

2:08:28 It's just, what a bizarre niche. We don't have that as much in our world. wild is very heavy it's very strange i was um moose hunting in british columbia uh this last Like this happened hours ago. it apart yeah and we're we're i mean it's it's it's contradictory that you would find something A series of variables that you're dealing with here. And they had broken, or it had broken, one of its back legs.

2:11:25 And I was in mixed company. And we left, and I was talking that night with the people and we saw some coyotes running along the track and stuff. And I stopped her and I was like, Fleur, and keep us stupid so that the bosses can do what they want. It's something that people create. Of course we're natural. but yet human beings naturally construct them

2:13:44 and then they figure out Wi-Fi, and then they figure out solar power. And then they figure out electricity. And then they figure out Wi-Fi. The difference being that we can debate whether or not we should be doing it or whether or There are creatures that, as far as we're concerned when we watch them, because we exist and we create it. That's a natural process. But those things that we're now

2:15:18 from one place to the other feels a little unnatural. It's because if you leave people alone, you don't kill I don't necessarily think, if you take out this human bias, that that is natural for from predators, and the reason why we wanted to fuck It's really hard to fight those fuckers off. doing something and that something is fucking everything up it feels different than if one

2:17:15 The very apathetic idea of, well, what difference can I make? throw them on the ground all the time stepping on it and then it's out of their mind cigarette smokers I think it comes from the fact that dudes i've seen eight different priuses throw cigarettes out the window it's one of my favorite What's going on? But I mean, you know, the level of education certainly in most of Western Europe and in

2:19:58 this whole thing out better you'd be a hell it's so much healthier yeah but just let them know how you feel about it. I was a lot more fucking, you know, opinionated. and they were smoking, which I would never do, It's true, but you don't drink tequila all day, every day. okay, let's get this toxin out, let's send all these messages to the brain So your system goes, okay, let's deal with this adrenaline, throw all those painkillers

2:22:19 call cigarettes smoking it sounds like something you give a dog yeah and you know like he's he's And that was the thing that I took home with me. like everyone talks about cigarettes calm them down. you have this bizarre attachment to this substance for a brief amount of time, and then it asks for it again. which stopped me from The first one was she told me about people in the hospitals that she was working at

2:24:37 I was like, holy shit. Apparently based on reality, too. about what I like about on a wordpress wordpress account and I thought it was a really interesting But it's, from where I was sitting, it is a comment on the first time a human being has exposed themselves to depression She had a slightly different relationship with her parents. most part, I was just coasting on this happy-go-lucky kid.

2:27:01 I was like, holy shit, I didn't realize it could I've been sad for a week and it was depression. It's recent. You're both broken. They loved it. that they put into the script, dark and heavy and they define who you are as a person to the positive but they did that at the So I do have dark elements to my subconscious. When they sort of lost their shape and it was really bizarre.

2:30:10 I felt like it worked. mouth and you have to deal with it like maybe a 10 year old isn't ready for that There's always going to be like we were talking about the actors looking at other people going it's, it's almost like burning your hand on a hot stove, like letting you know, like you're Not her fault. And you were trying to get in her panties, so she didn't like that.

2:32:38 Like, shit that doesn't happen with my friends can happen with a girl. And I think there's a certain amount of women, whether they appreciate it or whether they're honest about it or not, And I kind of feel like that's all, You better figure out how to not get dumped. I mean, you know, as a creature, as a species, biologically, like you said earlier on, we

2:34:55 coin just flipped over in a different way if you have a great birthday and you get all the gifts the balance of those two things. So what I tried to do when I was younger, I would suffer from it Yeah. my life where I've thought I've sat around on my own and thought I think the And she fucks that guy. Not that the girl that I talked about but another girl that I did in high school was I don't like to say slut

2:38:08 used to the disappointment. Yeah. So it's not like you had this sort of existential angst good relationship with my brother I was I did okay at school I never had those to deal with it the first time. she'd be like fuck you I'm going for the jock like oh fuck I can't even compete oh, that was a dark period in my life. the Ricky Gervais show, I think he ends the entire show

2:41:27 hectically happy all the time. Balance. It's a huge word for me. it was raining inside the tent because it was just mist it was water mist of the whole thing i i have my own issues with la i I mean, first of all, it's way too hot for me. That's January here. It gets to 110 on a bad day. spiritually and of its soul you know of its community you go to places like barcelona or

2:44:18 But I also think that one of the archetypal characters of L.A., The guys in the rooftop bars and shit. That's bizarre. She just lies around this aquarium their reaction to seeing something genuinely impressive, let's say for the sake of argument, it's an animal that we've never seen before crossing Sunset Boulevard. Honestly, I think that LA has so many people and so many people that are trying to fit in. Honestly, I think that L.A. has so many people and so many people that are trying to make it.

2:46:33 I don't think there's anything even close. They're the ones that are going to go, cool. And you have a nice little percolating community of people traveling in, traveling out, everyone says hello. but in terms of hanging out, with Elijah or Orlando or Billy is a fucking- I have no interest in being a hobbit. And what I love about being at home, for me,

2:48:33 But when I'm in a bar scenario, as I'm sure you've experienced over years, people feel I'm with my friends, I'm just gonna do my thing. like put their arms around me they think they know you. I loved your show. Okay, that's great. I was in Vegas table. I want my friends to meet you. I loved your show. Yeah, I'm good. I wasn't mean to her it wasn't but it's that same thing, but I've also had great experiences in bars

2:50:42 And then you have these conversations with people as long as the people are cool? So I don't hide. kind of recognizing exactly what you are and figuring it out after a while. that is a completely different scenario. I'm going to be like, dude, go away. Because of that, people want to fuck with me or people want to talk to me weird or they, Charlie, you're right here.

2:53:02 I'm just like, fucking. And they want to like Who want to tell me I could take Don Jones dude And that's real. Yeah, and sometimes ditch diggers have smart kids, but sometimes they don't. Does he know how to fight? classifications of you know man can't beat up a woman or a woman can't beat up Yeah, yeah. Chain mails. And just as he got caught, he tied the guy up, put him on the floor, and was like, fuck this

2:56:17 Isn't he one of George St. Pierre's boys? July 11th. Good luck to him. I think he's in his 30s, and he took a tremendous amount of punishment in his career and did the greatest thing you could ever do. and that's just in training and you were like, are you retiring? him to hang on to now is his mind and he looks like he was just about to lose it You know, you're talking about a guy whose fucking job is to break people's brains, you know, and he's training with other trained killers and they're hitting each other on a regular basis.

2:58:59 and he seems to have come from a foundation of support other side when they're 35. Huge amount of depression in retired football players because whether it's football players, basketball players. I think we're out of time. Love it. Yeah, man, I'm here. See you.