16 Celebrities Who Play 'Dungeons & Dragons'
The Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPG is finally garnering the recognition it deserves, cropping up in modern pop culture marvels like Stranger Things and even getting another movie soon (supposedly). Surprisingly, there are a ton of high-profile celebrities who play Dungeons & Dragons, from Felicia Day to Joe Manganiello, who runs a campaign filled out with plenty of surprising stars.
D&D debuted in 1974, and since then, many kids who grew up playing the game have graced the silver screen, become sports superstars, or created incredible films. Some have managed to keep their love for D&D a secret, while others have embraced it.
It might surprise you to learn that some of your favorite celebrities love pastimes like Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, while others may seem pretty obvious. Though most people might think a person has to fit the classic definition of a nerd to love D&D, these celebrities all but dispel that myth. You may have sat around playing this game with your friends years ago, but many of the world's most famous stars still break out their dice bags for a taste of adventure whenever the mood strikes.
Vin Diesel is the poster child for celebrities who love Dungeons & Dragons. You would never think it to look at him, but he's got some serious nerd cred. Not only is he the voice behind Groot and the Iron Giant, but he's also been playing D&D since he was a kid. He even wrote the foreword for the book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons.
What's more, the YouTube channel Geek & Sundry hosted a show called D&Diesel with Vin Diesel where he played the game with friends and members of Critical Role (a D&D troupe comprised of voice actors).
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Mike Myers is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, the Austin Powers movies, and for providing the voice for Shrek. He also enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons. He participated in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day in 2006.
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Those who watch his show know Stephen Colbert is a tried and true The Lord of the Rings fan. He's more of a LotR scholar, so it should come as no surprise to learn he loves Dungeons & Dragons. Like Vin Diesel, Colbert was also featured in the book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons.
Colbert even credits his time playing D&D for helping to bolster his character development and improvisational skills.
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Wil Wheaton has shifted his image from being the kid in the striped sweater on the deck of the Enterprise to an ambassador of nerd culture with a specific focus on tabletop role-playing games. He even created the online series Tabletop, where he sits with celebrities and game designers to play some of the best board games in the industry.
While he hasn't played Dungeons & Dragons on the show, Wheaton is a fan of the game and even took part in a celebrity game testing for the latest edition of D&D at PAX Prime in 2011.
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Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave took up a position as Kimathi Stormhollow, a mountain dwarf champion, in Joe Manganiello's DnD campaign, and even introduced Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss to the table.
Morello compares DnD to "high-stakes poker" because of how seriously everyone involved in the adventure takes their role.
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Vince Vaughn is notable for his comedic acting chops in films like Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball, but he also proved he can pull off a dramatic performance when he starred in 1998's Psycho and 2016's Hacksaw Ridge.
Vaughn joined Joe Manganiello's DnD campaign after Tom Morello introduced him to the game. His character is called Kasin, and he is a human divine soul sorcerer.
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Felicia Day garnered attention as a nerd wunderkind thanks to her web series The Guild. The show was about a group of friends playing an unnamed online MMORPG, which stemmed from her love of World of Warcraft.
Day is also the founder of the website Geek & Sundry, which pays tribute to all things geeky. In 2007, she wrote a blog post about playing Dungeons & Dragons.
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Retired basketball legend Tim Duncan isn't the type of guy you would imagine sitting down to play Dungeons & Dragons, but that's what he does in his off time. The 15-time NBA All-Star and five-time NBA Champion is one of the biggest nerds in sports, and he adores D&D.
An ESPN TrueHoop columnist reached out to readers for supporting evidence of Duncan's nerdy hobbies. The article mentions his love for Arthurian lore, video games, paintball, and of course, Dungeons & Dragons. He even has a tattoo of Merlin, so you know he must have a preference for the magic class.
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Kevin Smith started as an independent filmmaker with his breakout hit Clerks, and from there he's cemented himself as an original creator and a talented director. Smith is a regular guest at conventions and has written numerous comic books over the years. He has also worked on Comic Book Men, a TV series centered around a comic book store Smith owns.
Another of Smith's favorite pastimes is to host podcasts, which he's done countless times. His podcast Crimson Mystical Mages centers around him and his friend Jason Mewes playing Dungeons & Dragons.
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Joe Manganiello recruited Paul "The Big Show" Wight from WWE wrestling to join his campaign while Wight was shooting an unnamed TV show in LA. According to Manganiello, Wight jumped at the opportunity, even bringing his own dice to the table.
Wight's character is Ullac Jotunn, a half-stone giant psychic warrior. He recalls the first time he walked into Manganiello's dungeon and was so impressed he regretted not pouring all his money into DnD.
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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood. He's a muscular jock nobody in their right mind would ever think of as being interested in Dungeons & Dragons. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson plays D&D.
Dan Harmon also claims he invited Johnson to appear on HarmonQuest (a series where Harmon plays Pathfinder, an RPG based on D&D, with celebrities), but Johnson turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. He was even in talks to star in a Dungeons & Dragons movie, though the project never made it out of the development phase.
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Joss Whedon got his big break by capitalizing on nerd culture, creating original programs like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. His contributions to the nerdy zeitgeist were expounded thanks to his work on Agents of SHIELD, The Avengers, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
But back in college, Whedon was merely an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons, according to Joss Whedon: The Biography.
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Curt Schilling is a six-time Major League Baseball All-Star and three-time World Series Champion, but his true love might be gaming. Schilling told The Huffington Post he's been an avid gamer since he was a kid, having played Dungeons & Dragons, as well as many other role-playing games, for years.
Schilling isn't just limited to games on pen and paper, either, as he also adores MMORPGs and even founded a video game development company, 38 Studios.
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Jon Favreau is the man who brought the MCU into the limelight when he helmed 2008's Iron Man. And his love of nerd culture and gaming is evident in his work. He even directed a movie all about a board game, Zathura: A Space Adventure, in 2005.
Favreau is also a lover of Dungeons & Dragons. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Favreau was asked about his love for D&D, and he stated, “…it gave me a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, (and) understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance.”
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If you ever question Joe Manganiello's love for Dungeons & Dragons, his series CelebriD&D with Joe Manganiello on Nerdist should put that doubt to rest. Manganiello has taken part in various events honoring the game, always making sure to show off his barbarian character, Randy the Savage.
He even has a clothing brand, Death Saves, inspired by the game.
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Dan Harmon's biggest claim to fame these days might be his work on Rick and Morty, and his dedicated fans know all too well about his love for Dungeons & Dragons. He even created a series, HarmonQuest, all about Harmon and his friend Spencer Crittenden playing Pathfinder with different celebrity guests.
Pathfinder is an RPG based on Dungeons & Dragons, but manufactured by a different company. Harmon is also the creator of Community, which dedicates an entire episode to a game of D&D. The episode perfectly illustrates the fun and creativity that goes into a campaign.
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