JOE MANGANIELLO: What
is Dungeons and Dragons?
I mean, that's a game that
was really the predecessor
for video games.
And you go into a video game,
and you create a character,
and then you take
that character out
into this pregenerated world.
It's just that
when we were kids,
the technology wasn't
available to do that.
So I mean, you got to play
the game in your mind.
I'm Joe Manganiello,
and I'm obsessed
with Dungeons and Dragons.
How obsessed am I?
I have a dungeon in my house.
Yeah, it was a wine cellar
when we moved into the house.
My wife wanted to change
it into a little Pilates
studio, or a dance studio.
I said I need this room.
I got to take this room.
So I have big dragon
heads mounted on the wall,
and a beholder
hanging from a chain.
I've been playing Dungeons
and Dragons and other tabletop
games since I was a kid.
It was my creative
outlet as a kid.
I loved telling
stories, I always have.
And that's really
what the game is.
It's a mix of really complex
math mixed with character
development.
And then this like craps
table gambling element.
You know, when I was
a kid, it wasn't cool.
You didn't want to say
you were into tabletop
roleplaying games.
Probably in the
'80s, there was more
of the division between
the jocks and the nerds.
I was both.
I just think that people
are trained to think
that if you're one of
those, you're not the other.
I remember being at
my 15-year reunion,
and I bumped into
one of my friends
who played Dungeons
and Dragons as a kid.
And his wife came over.
She said oh, you talking
about that stupid game again?
I said, oh that stupid game,
I do that for a living.
She's like what?
I said yeah, I play a guy who
turns into a wolf on a show
about fairies and vampires.
It's the number
one show on cable.
I've had a lot of
fun speaking out
publicly, and just
saying publicly
that like I like this thing.
I like doing this thing.
I have fun doing it.
I can't tell you how
many people come up to me
and say thanks for
changing the game.
Or thanks for changing people's
perception of this thing.
My wife is supportive
of whatever I do.
She knows I love it,
and I have fun doing it.
You know, if I start talking
about Dungeons and Dragons,
she'll interrupt
me and say do you
want me to go into the closet
and get my tray of earrings,
and explain them to you
for the next half an hour?
All right, fine.
What's the best thing
to show off my obsession
with Dungeons and Dragons?
I make Dungeons and Dragons
merch with my streetwear
company Death Saves.
I'm too obsessed with
Dungeons and Dragons
that I now write for them, and
work for them as a consultant.
So I basically tracked down a
part time job that was the job
that I wanted when I was a kid.
The main character
that I just retired,
his name this Arcon The Cruel.
He's a red dragon on
two legs without wings.
Dungeons and Dragons brought
me on to write a storyline
for him.
So my character, that
I've played four years,
has now ascended, and will
become part of D&D canon, which
is you know, I mean, come on.
I mean, as the 10-year-old
kid that started playing
Dungeons and Dragons, that's--
what's better than that?
Nothing.
