For just under 50 years, Star Wars has had a massive influence on the film industry. Be it the game-changing nature of The Empire Strikes Back that had ripple effects throughout Hollywood or creating some of the biggest stars of a generation, Star Wars, from its very beginning, proved to have an arguably unprecedented impact.
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Yet, some of the impacts these movies had are impossible to know. That is, countless actors, directors, writers, and others in the industry were influenced by Star Wars, some of whom even credit the franchise for their interest in breaking into the industry. In terms of the latter, one major Lord of the Rings star recently confirmed that the galaxy far, far away was the very reason for his dream of becoming an actor—meaning that Lord of the Rings fans have Star Wars to thank for one of their favorite characters.
Dominic Monaghan Became An Actor Because Of Star Wars
At Fan Expo Philadelphia this year, for which ComicBook was in attendance, several Lord of the Rings stars hosted panels celebrating 25 years since The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released. Among those stars were the actors for all four main hobbits in the original trilogy of movies: Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), Pippin (Billy Boyd), and Merry (Dominic Monaghan).
Interestingly, it was Monaghan, who also starred in Star Wars’ sequel trilogy as Beaumont Kin, who shared that the franchise had made him want to be an actor. In addition to Monaghan directly saying, “Star Wars is the reason I’m an actor,” he went on to explain, “Star Wars was massive for me. I remember being a kid and seeing Empire Strikes Back actually first, before Star Wars.” (Presumably, Monaghan was referencing A New Hope’s original title, which was just Star Wars.)
Evidently, when he then watched Indiana Jones, he recognized Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and his parents explained that he was just playing a role. In response, Monaghan said, “I was like, oh, I’m going to do that.” Monaghan also shared a story about getting a moment alone with R2-D2 on the set of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and telling the droid that he had been his “best friend” when he was about nine years old.
Love It Or Hate It, Star Wars’ Impact Is Immeasurable
It’s no secret that Star Wars movies and TV shows haven’t had the easiest time over the years. Although the franchise is undoubtedly one of the biggest in the world, it has faced some serious backlash, and its fanbase has become notorious for vitriolic responses to various projects. No matter how one feels about Star Wars, though, it’s clear that these stories have had a massive impact.
Monaghan is nowhere near the first or only actor who had this reaction to seeing Star Wars as a child. In fact, current—and beloved—Superman actor David Corenswet is known to be a massive Star Wars fan as well. In that sense, even those who hate Star Wars or have become bitter about it have to admit: This franchise’s larger impact is downright immeasurable because of its scale.
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