You might be a massive fan of the Lord of the Rings series, whether the books or the film adaptations, but how well do you know the original novels' author, J.R.R. Tolkien? If your answer is "not very well," then the upcoming biopic about the writer's life, aptly titled Tolkien, needs to be on your must-watch list.

The film stars Nicholas Hoult as a younger version of the titular writer, who pulls inspiration for his stories from his formative years as an orphan, his tight-knit friendship with a group of fellow outcasts at school, his intense love of language, and his experience fighting in World War I. But it's his "beautiful romance" with Edith Bratt (Lily Collins) that truly shapes his now-iconic tale.

In an exclusive featurette from the film, which arrives in theaters on May 10, costars Hoult and Collins discuss what makes their characters and Tolkein's story so special all these years later (as well as the cool connection Collins has to Peter Jackson's film trilogy that you might not have realized). Check it out above!