Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein opened up about their introductions to the game while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in its SXSW Studio at South by Southwest on Saturday.
Based on the role-playing game, the film follows a group of thieves who steal a relic for an evil Red Wizard who uses it to create an army of the undead. The unlikely group teams up to stop the Red Wizard and save the world.
“I was first introduced to the game when I was an actor on Freaks and Geeks. I was 14 years old,” Daley told THR at the Austin festival. “My character is supposed to be a huge Dungeons & Dragons fan, so we did a small campaign with the cast then and it kind of opened my eyes to what made it so special and different.”
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Daley said that he believes Dungeons & Dragons is “the best game” because it “sparks creativity” and “creates this imaginative atmosphere for people who don’t even consider themselves storytellers.”
He added that they saw “potential” in the film, which they also co-wrote with Michael Gilio, “because we had played.”
Meanwhile, Goldstein shared that he played Dungeons & Dragons during his childhood. “I just remember really loving it,” he shared. While Goldstein hasn’t played the game recently, he said he loves that it allows players the freedom to “create the game as you go.”
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis and Hugh Grant.
While Daley doesn’t act in the film, he told THR that he tried to tap into the “vulnerability that you have as an actor” while directing.
“It is the most vulnerable position to put yourself in when you’re really kind of expressing yourself in front of people who are doing nothing but scrutinizing you,” he said. “I kind of kept that in mind when we were directing.”
Watch the full THR conversation in the player above.
