In a surprisingly heartwarming episode of Real Ones, Deborah Ann Woll teaches Jon Bernthal how to play D&D. It’s so heartwarming.
There’s just something inherently healthy about someone learning how to role play. It’s almost always the same thing. You see someone taking tentative steps into their imagination and realizing, “Wait, I can do this?” like a fawn learning to maneuver its limbs across winter ground.
And before you know it, their eyes light up and they’re walking on clouds. Role-playing helps ignite a spark, as it does with any creative endeavor. And it’s especially rewarding when you see someone who’s really good at it teaching the lesson.
And that’s exactly what we saw on a recent episode of Real Ones, where Deborah Ann Woll, who is not only an amazing actress but also a talented D&D player/streamer, teaches Jon Bernthal, fresh off the set of Deadpool 3, how to play D&D. And you get an insight into how the game influences acting and can change the course of your life.
Deborah Ann Woll teaches Jon Bernthal D&D
Deborah Ann Woll introduces Jon Bernthal to Dungeons & Dragons. She explains the basics of the game, demonstrates character creation, and a simple scenario. Woll discusses how D&D influences her acting and serves as a creative outlet. The conversation explores the impact of the game on her life and career.
Over the course of an 8-minute video, Woll takes Bernthal into the world of a D&D adventure. And all it takes is a short description. After about a minute and a half, you see Bernthal slowly realizing, “Wait a minute, I have a bow, oh, that’s cool,” and it goes from there.
What’s really fun is that Woll immediately drops Bernthal into a sort of simplified D&D session. The best way to teach someone D&D is to just have them do it. And Woll kind of describes what kind of dice rolls they might make, since there are no real dice on hand. But you know what? It still works. Is that the way you might walk someone through their first session? No. But as an introduction that hooks someone? It really works.
Because Bernthal goes through all of these realizations. He starts playing his character. Try to find the moment when he gets that look in his eye that says, “Oh, now we’re in the thick of it, what’s going on with that owlbear?” From there, Woll finally helps Bernthal achieve the real goal of D&D:
“But is the goal to win?”
“NO.”
“What is the goal?”
“To tell a great story.”
Lessons we could all take to heart.
