One of the leading actors of the new flick Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves says playing the likes of Diablo and classic JRPGs like Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy are what "forged" him into an actor.
Speaking to Polygon, Regé-Jean Page - who you may recognise from Bridgerton and The Gray Man - explains the games he spent his childhood playing informs how he considers and leans into parts, which includes Honor Among Thieves.
"What that background gave me was knowing that Dungeons & Dragons isn't about dragons or magical swords," he says. "Yes, that's all there, but it's about the feeling you have when you're gathered around a table with your friends and this crazy stuff happens that no one outside of that room will ever understand again, but that you're laughing and talking about it for weeks afterward. If you get that feeling in the audience, that's what we're shooting for."
Out of the games mentioned, Page seems most enamoured with Diablo, calling it "the crack of my day". Page goes on to say that he admires Diablo as he adores "things that free up my mind and my imagination." There's even a link between his time with the action-RPG and the D&D movie as he plays a paladin in both.
"I liked that mix between support classes and hero classes," he says. "I liked that I could do a little bit of healing, a little bit of support, a little bit of buffs, but also I could kind of run out in my armour and do a little bit of hack-and-slash. I like to have my cake and eat it."
Of course, it wasn't all about Diablo for Page, just mostly. He also tells Polygon that he lost plenty of hours to Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, and the Final Fantasy games. "just whatever I could get my hands on," he says. "These are the hours of my youth. This is what forged me."
Speaking of a good JRPG, Square Enix's most-elusive one is finally getting more accessible.
