Vin Diesel has spoken before of his love of Dungeons and Dragons as a teenager, but speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon he has revealed that he was always interested in the works of Tolkien.

Diesel describes a childhood in New York where him and lots of other children were particularly interested in fantasy. When Diesel played Dungeons and Dragons he played as a character named Melkor. He reveals:

There was a character named ‘Melkor’ at one point. […] I went into the glossary of The Silmarillion […] It was the book that came after The Lord of the Rings, but nobody read it – don’t worry about it!

He goes on to say that he wouldn’t have become the actor he is today had it not been for those experiences.

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About the Author: Shaun Gunner

Shaun is the Chair of The Tolkien Society. First elected in 2013, Shaun has overseen the Society's expansion from 600 to 3,500 members. Shaun regularly speaks about adaptations of Tolkien's works and the future of Tolkien scholarship whilst passionately believing the Society needs to reach out to new audiences. In his spare time he can be found playing video games and Lego, or on Twitter. He also chairs another charity, Mankind, and is a local councillor.