Actor Dominic Monaghan has serious range. He starred in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series as the good-hearted, humble Hobbit Merry, one of the Fellowship's nine members. His next role is the sadistic Nazi officer Jannick Richter in Sledgehammer's Call of Duty: Vanguard, which releases this Friday, November 5. In an interview with GameSpot, Monaghan told us about how preparing for a character like Merry and Richter actually aren't all that different.
As an actor, Monaghan said his job is to find the justification for his character's behavior, and then bring that to life. In the case of Merry from The Lord of the Rings, viewers might find it easier to relate to a simple, country-loving Hobbit than, say, a war criminal. But there is a truth at the heart of each character that Monaghan taps into.
"Obviously Merry's motivation to do things might be a little easier to understand. He's trying to help out his friends. He's trying to stay alive. And fight for the good guys. And I'm sure the character I play in Call of Duty, he probably thinks he's fighting for the good guys," Monaghan said.
Monaghan said he couldn't give away too many specifics about his Vanguard character to avoid spoilers, but he said Richter is "paranoid" and fearful about how the war is going. The only glimpse of Richter we've seen so far came in a campaign trailer where he is torturing someone. This appears to be the pivotal scene that jumped off the page for Monaghan when he first got a hold of his script.
"There is a speech in which I talk about how much I admire Hitler and what Hitler has done for Germany, and who he is as a person, and what I've learned from him," Monaghan said. "And I found that interesting, that you can look at people from different angles. And obviously there must have been people feeling that way about a character like that. Can I make that believable? Can I make that real? [The teams at Activision and Sledgehammer] impressed on me the writing and producing team behind it, they impressed on me there wouldn't be that many bad guys, but there would be quite a lot of allies. So I was on a team of very few people trying to be the voice of the dastardly Nazi party. So it just seemed like a very fun, flashy, exciting role to play."
Also in the interview, Monaghan confirmed that he didn't initially know that the job was for Call of Duty. As is common, Monaghan was only told later in the process that it was for a Call of Duty game, and that turned out to be good news since he is a fan of the series and is familiar with it.
"I could tell based on the pages and the scope of the project that it was obviously a big game. And as we get closer and closer to talking to the writers and producers, they revealed it was Call of Duty. Which is obviously exciting because I play Call of Duty and I know the game," he said. "From that point on, they put the team together. They were obviously keen to have people from different shapes and sizes, from different countries; a diverse cast--to say the least. And I was happy to be part of that team."
The full interview follows below, in which Monaghan also talks about the motion-capture process and how it felt like performing a stage play. He also reveals which movies he watched to prepare for the role, and he shares his thoughts on the upcoming 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings.
Call of Duty: Vanguard launches on November 5 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For more, check out GameSpot's Call of Duty: Vanguard preorder guide.
What can you say about your character in Vanguard? Who is he and what is he all about?
There's a lot that goes on in the game that involves my character. I would argue that quite a few of those moments are a little spoilerific, so I don't necessarily want to reveal too much without having people have the opportunity to play the game. But obviously I am a German officer who finds himself at a very interesting time in the history of the Second World War. The Germans consider they might be close to winning it, and then very quickly realize that some of the news they are hearing is not necessarily true, and maybe they are finding themselves in a situation they wouldn't think they're in.
"He's a sadistic, very enjoyable-to-watch guy. Because he makes some big bombastic swings." -- Dominic Monaghan on his Vanguard character, Jannick Richter
The guy that I play is quite invested in the victory of the German Nazi party, and he's quite paranoid, and quite scared, quite fearful. And I think probably in different circumstances he probably would have lost his life in the war along time ago but he's found himself in a slightly lofty position as an officer, and seems to also enjoy torturing people at the same time. It's fun. He's a sadistic, very enjoyable-to-watch guy. Because he makes some big bombastic swings.
In Lord of the Rings, you play one of the nicest, most good-hearted people in Merry. And in Call of Duty, you're obviously playing a very bad person. Can you talk about how you became attached to the part in the first place and the contrast, not necessarily with Merry specifically, but in terms of playing a good character versus someone who is pretty evil?
You always have to approach it the same way, you have to try and find the justification for their behavior. And the reasons for their actions. Most people in the first-person tend to think what they are doing is exactly right and fair and reasonable, and it's OK to do. So I don't approach the characters in a different way. Obviously Merry's motivation to do things might be a little easier to understand. He's trying to help out his friends. He's trying to stay alive. And fight for the good guys. And I'm sure the character I play in Call of Duty, he probably thinks he's fighting for the good guys. He probably thinks that he's doing the right thing. So I try and make sense of my characters; try and understand my characters as much as I can.
And then in terms of the process of getting the job. I was sent the project through my agents. Obviously it had a different name at the time. Because they are very reluctant to say there's a new Call of Duty game. But I could tell based on the pages and the scope of the project that it was obviously a big game. And as we get closer and closer to talking to the writers and producers, they revealed it was Call of Duty. Which is obviously exciting because I play Call of Duty and I know the game. From that point on, they put the team together. They were obviously keen to have people from different shapes and sizes, from different countries; a diverse cast. To say the least. And I was happy to be part of that team.
Is there something that jumped off the page in what you saw in those original pitches for the game that made you want to get involved?
I read kind of a big scene for the character they wanted me to play in which I am kind of trying to get information out of a prisoner. But before I jump into the general torturing of said prisoner, there is a speech in which I talk about how much I admire Hitler and what Hitler has done for Germany, and who he is as a person, and what I've learned from him. And I found that interesting, that you can look at people from different angles.
And obviously there must have been people feeling that way about a character like that. Can I make that believable? Can I make that real? They impressed on me the writing and producing team behind it, they impressed on me there wouldn't be that many bad guys, but there would be quite a lot of allies. So I was on a team of very few people trying to be the voice of the dastardly Nazi party. So it just seemed like a very fun, flashy, exciting role to play.