His brother, Matthew, is one year older than him.

Originally auditioned for the role of Frodo Baggins in the LOTR trilogy

Kept a pair of the latex Hobbit feet used in LotR.

Of the three British cast members of "Lost", the others being Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Naveen Andrews, he is the only one to play an English character on the show. Ironically, Monaghan is the only one of the three to not have been born in Britain, rather having been born when his parents were working in Berlin, Germany.

Speaks fluent German.

Has a habit of writing on his hands, which he shares with Chris Martin of Coldplay, who happens to be one of his favorite bands.

Monaghan's father gave him The Lord of the Rings book when Dominic was 15, telling him: 'I'll give you six months to read it' - Dominic only took two.

Surfs.

Is a video game fanatic and often hosts gaming parties at his house

Likes Radiohead, Coldplay, The Beatles and The Smiths.

Used to be roommates with Mackenzie Astin, the brother of his co-star from LOTR, Sean Astin. He now lives on his own in Hollywood Hills.

Is marginally the tallest of the 4 principal actors to play a hobbit in "The Lord of the Rings" films.

Attended Aquinas College, a Catholic sixth form school in Stockport

Previous jobs before acting included sorting mail at a Post Office, working in British Home Stores and working as a saute chef at a place called Quincey's in Didsbury, Manchester.

His favorite football club is Manchester United and his favorite players include Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Eric Cantona and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Bought a forest in India in early 2003, to help protect the environment.

Auditioned for Hetty Wainthropp three times in four weeks before finally getting the part.

The producers of "Lost" were so impressed with Dom they rewrote the part of Charlie to be a 20-something guy (it was originally intended to be a middle aged rock star who had faded from glory).

Did karate as a child

His mother, Maureen, is a nurse and his father, Austin, is a teacher. While in Germany Austin taught Science for the British armed forces.

Originally auditioned for the role of Sawyer on "Lost" before being asked to read for the role of Charlie.

Shares a birthday with his fellow co-star from the hit series Lost, Ian Somerhalder.

Attended St. Anne's R.C High School in Stockport, England where his uncle has just retired as Headteacher

Has a love for insects.

Wrote and recorded the vocals for the tracks "Shadow" and "Maybe", and co-wrote and recorded "Half Fling" with Elijah Wood on Viggo Mortensen's album 'Pandemoniumfromamerica'.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), in the first scene with Gollum and Bilbo Baggins, Andy Serkis who plays Gollum wasn't on set for the shooting of that scene, so Dominic filled in for him. It was his only interaction on screen with Ian Holm (Bilbo).

Owns a leaf-mantis named Gizmo, a Black Widow spider named Witchitar and an albino snake named Blink

According to The Toronto Star (December 12, 2003), Monaghan fell so in love with surfing that he moved to Los Angeles and found a place to live 25 minutes from a beach.

Shares a birthday with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen

While filming the Lord of the Rings-trilogy, he got rid of his fear of heights by joining Orlando Bloom when he went bungee jumping.