According to Variety, Craig Roberts (Red Oaks) has joined the cast of Tolkien starring Nicholas Hoult (Rebel in the Rye). Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski (Tom of Finland) will direct from a screenplay by David Gleeson. Lily Collins (Okja) plays Tolkien’s wife. Roberts will play Sam, who served with Tolkien in World War I.

The Fox Searchlight and Chernin Entertainment film’s subject is J.R.R. Tokien, the English writer best known for his epic fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The biopic focuses on Tolkien’s romantic relationship, as well as close friendships in college, with whom he finds artistic inspiration, shared community, and spiritual growth.

Tolkien published The Hobbit in 1937 and wrote The Lord of The Rings between 1937 and 1949. His books are among the best-selling and best-loved with more than 150 million copies sold, and have been turned into award-winning films, most recently by Peter Jackson.

Roberts had a breakout role in Richard Ayoade’s indie Submarine. He currently stars as David Myers in Amazon Studios’ third and final season of Red Oaks. He co-starred with Paul Rudd in Netflix’s The Fundamentals of Caring and has also appeared in 22 Jump Street, Bad Neighbors, Jane Eyre, and Being Human. His next project is the historical drama The Current War.

Tolkien is currently filming.