“It’s just work,” the star says

Aug 7, 2010 09:04 GMT  ·  By
Dominic Monaghan says kissing Megan Fox in Eminem’s video was “just work”
   Dominic Monaghan says kissing Megan Fox in Eminem’s video was “just work”

The other day saw the release of one of the most anticipated videos of the summer, that for Eminem and Rihanna’s duet “Love the Way You Lie.” Playing Eminem himself in the video is “Lost” star Dominic Monaghan, while Megan Fox takes on Kim, Em’s former wife. While kissing her may seem like a dream job, it wasn’t really like that, Dominic explains for E! Online.

The video, as we also informed you the other day, depicts the story of an abusive couple, mirroring the lyrics of the song almost word for word. It’s not just Dom’s character that is abusive, though, since Megan’s Kim also gets to throw a couple of punches, making this clearly a dead-end and destructive relationship. However, the love scenes included in it are also very passionate – again, mirroring the song. Getting to kiss Megan was sweet enough, Dominic says, but it was all part of a day’s job.

“It’s work. You have to understand that cameras are being pointed at you and they’re in your face and people are telling you to move this way or move that way,” the actor says for E! when asked what it’s like to do what every man on this planet must dream of doing: getting to lock lips with Fox, arguably the most beautiful actress around. “It’s not terrible work, but it is work,” he adds, not wanting to look like he’s complaining. On a more serious note, Monaghan says both he and Fox did their best at trying to present the terrible effects of this type of relationship, with him even asking the stunner to call him Slim throughout the shoot.

“I think the message in the video is that in this type of relationship, regardless of the intensity of the positive, it’s ultimately damaging. We tried very hard and made a very conscious effort not to glorify violence. The violence in the video is not meant to be seen as something cool like you see in a Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone movie. You try to make it as real as possible. I tried as hard as I can to find things that would press her buttons and use those to get her angry. I wanted her to be on me and smack the hell out of me, which she proceeded to do. I busted myself up punching the walls, punching the mirror and all that kind of stuff,” the actor says.

At the end of the day, he adds, he went home tired but content for a job well done and not, as some may believe, happy that he got to kiss and make up with a cute girl. To see just what Dominic means, below is the official video for Eminem ft. Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie.” *Discretion is strongly recommended for strong and violent imagery, and graphic language.

Follow me on Twitter @ElenaGorgan