Hugh Grant made a memorable appearance at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday (21 July), where he cracked a risqué joke about Dungeons & Dragons.
The actor is starring in a new movie based on the game, called Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, alongside Michelle Rodriguez and Chris Pine.
At the convention, Grant, 61, quipped that he used to be a Dungeon Master (the player who organises the game and creates some of the story and challenges), according to Entertainment Weekly.
“Well, I was a Dungeon Master,” he told fans, deadpan. “But it was more S&M and less D&D. It’s the English version.”
His shocked co-star Rodriguez responded with: “I wasn’t expecting that!”
At a panel later in the day, after the moderator joked that he had heard Grant was a lifelong D&D fan, Rodriguez corrected him, saying: “I think you mixed it up with S&M.”
“She’s not wrong,” said Grant. “I’ve been an enthusiastic Dungeon Master for some years now. That’s a British pastime, [a] national sport almost. I believe that’s why the Jonathans [directors Daley and Goldstein] thought of me for this, my reputation.”
In the new film, the star of The Undoing will play primary antagonist Forge Fletcher.
Based on the hugely popular fantasy role-playing game of the same name, the Dungeons & Dragons movie has been described as a subversive take on the game and will feature a large ensemble cast.
Dungeons & Dragons was first adapted for the big screen in 2000, with a film starring Jeremy Irons, Marlon Wayans and Thora Birch. It debuted to poor box office takings and was also widely panned by critics.
