Many fell in love with Dominic Monaghan's portrayal of the Hobbit Merry Brandybuck from
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy films back in the early 2000s.
So when he came across our screens again for the TV series Lost, fans immediately recognized
the actor.
Dominic has maintained a fair amount of privacy around his personal life since he rose to
fame.
However, the actor did recently open up about a devastating heartbreak he experienced during
his time on the Lost.
While sitting down with Anna Faris for her podcast, 'Unqualified,' Dominic spoke about
his previous relationship with his fellow Lost co-star, Evangeline Lilly.
The actor got candid about how their relationship came to an unexpected end and why it made
such a huge impact on his life.
The actor admitted that none of his previous breakups had hurt as much as his split from
Evangeline.
Monaghan admitted, "I think I've only really got my heart broken once in my life.
I was dating an actress on Lost called Evangeline Lilly, who, you know, has gone on to have
a name all of her own."
Dominic and Evangeline had begun dating back in 2004, about a year after he had wrapped
up filming for The Lord Of The Rings.
There isn't much information on how they met and the details about their time together.
However, considering that they were both cast in Lost around the same time, it's safe to
assume that this was how they first crossed paths.
Before meeting Dominic, Evangeline had been married to Murray Hone, an American professional
Ice Hockey player.
The pair had gotten married in 2003, but their union was short-lived.
Although they only officially divorced in 2005, they had split the year before, around
the same time she and Dominic had begun dating.
It was even alleged that Evangeline had left her husband for her co-star, which was why
their marriage didn't work out.
Lilly and Monaghan were together for about three years and got so serious that they even
discussed marriage and having children.
Dominic shared, "I don't really know how she would explain the narrative, but from my point
of view, it was probably the first time in my life that I was all in."
At the time, Monaghan was still coming to terms with his fame, which had skyrocketed
with the immense success of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
Naturally, a fair amount of drinking and partying came along with his popularity.
Unfortunately, the actor struggled to find the balance between his fame and his personal
life.
Before he knew it, Dominic had spiraled into an addiction to alcohol, and it soon took
a toll on his relationship with Evangeline.
He confessed, "Even though I would get my work done and at that point I was a very committed
actor to Lost, I would only consider it a weekend if I was drunk out of my mind on a
Friday and Saturday night.
I thought that was normal."
He went on to explain that his drinking resulted in his "choices and mood" being "up for debate."
On the other hand, Dominic described Evangeline as being "straight down the middle."
He added, "I was always the guy that wanted more."
Before the pair had split, it was alleged that Monaghan had even proposed to Lilly in
Hawaii, but she had turned him down.
It's unclear why she rejected his proposal, but it's possible that she wanted him to get
his drinking under control before they made any plans for marriage.
Despite his love and commitment to Evangeline, and their plans to take their relationship
to the next step, the actor struggled to control his drinking problem.
Looking back at his behavior during their time together, Dominic acknowledged that he
had "an extraordinary amount of growing to do in terms of handling my substances and
handling my choices."
He also understood that at the time, he didn't think there was a problem with his drinking
because of the way he was raised.
Monaghan explained that growing up in England; it's not unusual for someone to begin drinking
alcohol as a young teenager.
He added, "And that's not like a glass of wine or a pint of beer.
That's like getting absolutely wankered on a Friday and Saturday night and maybe a Sunday
afternoon.
I thought that was normal.
And I had a huge amount of growing to do in terms of what was normal and what wasn't normal."
Unfortunately, it seems that no matter how many times Evangeline tried to draw the line
with his drinking, Dominic wasn't able to change his ways.
Sadly, he found out that she had left him after one of his friends told him that she
had started dating someone else.
Monaghan shared, "I mean, to say I was devastated is an understatement, you know.
I had to be told by a third party like, 'You do realize that she's with this guy,' when
we were together.
And I was like, 'Wait, what?.
And this person was like, 'Yeah.'"
The actor explained that Evangeline started "looking around to see what else was an option."
The most difficult thing for him was knowing that she had moved on without saying anything
to him about it.
Unfortunately, the whole incident "exploded" in his face "in an awful way."
To make things even worse, it seemed as though everyone else had known that Lilly had moved
on except for Monaghan.
He understood that the friend, who had told him that she was dating someone else, was
"trying to help," because they thought that Dominic didn't have "all of the facts," and
didn't want him to be the laughing stock on set.
He explained that the devastation of their dissolving relationship, coupled with feeling
like the Lost crew knew Lilly was allegedly cheating on him and had kept the secret from
him, was almost too much to bear.
Monaghan continued his partying and drinking ways to numb the pain of their split, but
about two months into their breakup, he realized he needed to make a change before he went
down a path he couldn't come back from.
"The big turning point" happened after Dominic woke up on his kitchen floor.
He didn't know what time it was, and his house was completely blacked out.
He confessed, "I was surrounded by pills, and I was messed up on medication.
I sat up and looked at this mess in front of me and thought, 'This could have been it.'
I could have accidentally taken the wrong cocktail of stuff mixed with alcohol, mixed
with where my head's at and that could have been it."
Despite their difficult breakup, Monaghan said that he was grateful for the time they
shared together and for how their relationship -- and eventual breakup -- shaped him as a
person.
Although he'd "broken up with girls before," and understood that things simply would never
work out, his split with Evangeline impacted him differently.
When things started to get difficult in their relationship, he simply thought, "This is
fine.
The little things that, you know, we're working on, we will figure out."
When he realized that things between him and Lilly were over for good and there was no
possible way to fix what had been broken, he had to come to terms with what he had lost.
He shared, "And I think like, losing that potential was super sad.
But it also got me to where I am as a person.
So, I'm very happy that it all happened."
The actor has remained pretty tight-lipped about his personal life, especially his other
relationships.
However, when it comes to finding love again, he hasn't let his broken heart stop him from
finding love again.
In fact, Dominic shared that when it comes to love, adding it's "the Number one thing
that I'm the most positive about in my life."
As for Evangeline, she's been committed to her long-term partner Norman Kali since 2010.
Norman was actually a production assistant for Lost, which is most likely how the pair
had met.
After all the publicity around her split from Dominic, Evangeline made sure to keep things
between her and Norman as far from the spotlight as possible, which in Hollywood is an incredibly
difficult thing to do.
However, she and Norman have been able to maintain their privacy around their relationship.
In 2011, the actress was spotted with a baby bump, and she later confirmed that she and
Kali would be welcoming their first child together.
Evangeline gushed, "I'm one of the lucky women who just had a blissful pregnancy, but I wanted
to adopt four.
My partner and I have really been through the ringer in the adoption world and it's
hard...
Life is magically beautiful, and it brings you what is perfect."
While she and Norman had made an attempt to adopt, it turned out to be a lot more difficult
than they expected.
Evangeline gave birth to their son in 2011.
Four years later, the couple celebrated the birth of their second child in 2015.
The actress shared, "We are the laziest parents ever."
Despite all their years together, Evangeline had explained that marriage wasn't on the
cards for her and Norman.
She shared that while some young women might have wanted to look at bridal magazines, she
"could not have been more bored with the notion."
She explained, "Emotionally, neither of us really feels the need for it.
We love each other today, and we hope we'll love each other tomorrow."
Perhaps it's because of her previous failed marriage along with her turbulent relationship
with Dominic that she also said, "I don't believe in forever promises.
I don't think it's realistic."
Whatever the reasons may be, it seems that she and Norman are very happy together and
are blissfully enjoying their time as parents away from the spotlight.
It must have been terribly heartbreaking for Dominic to have faced rejection from a woman
that he had loved so much.
However, he's been able to look back and understand that there were things that he needed to work
on and change in his life in order for him to be the best version of himself and be in
a happy and healthy relationship.
We only wish him the best for his future and hope that he'll find the happiness that he
deserves.