THE geeks really have inherited the earth.
Take former EastEnders star Rob Kazinsky, who you may remember as the evil Sean Slater on the BBC1 soap.
He was a classic Albert Square psychopath who I thought was going to go on to great things when he left in 2009.
Rob fell into a bit of a funk though and, despite being a cracking actor, retreated to his bedroom of all places.
He was getting pelters in the street because he was such an effective baddie – he once got punched in the head and even had rocks thrown at him.
No wonder it made him a bit scared of going outside.
But now we can add Rob to the list of British soap actors – including Michelle Ryan and Anna Friel – who have gone on to make their mark in Hollywood.
It was in his bedroom, he told me, that he became an expert in the computer game Warcraft.
Out of the millions of players, Rob was in the top 100 in the world.
He credits the game with saving his life – and it has, believe it or not, helped turn him from recluse into a global superstar.
Rob has a starring role in Warcraft: The Beginning, a movie based on the game.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he told me. “I’ve been living out here for six years now with two dogs and a perfect girlfriend.
“And now I’m in a movie about my favourite game I’ve ever played. Life is great!”
You might be wondering . . . what on earth is a Warcraft?
I don’t imagine you rushed down to your local multiplex to take in Warcraft: The Beginning when it was released earlier this month.
It looks a bit like a Lord Of The Rings knock-off, the type of movie for lads that like to roll 52-sided dice and hoard gallons of Clearasil.
However, it didn’t get great reviews, and didn’t have a great opening weekend. So – a textbook Hollywood flop, then?
Not quite. The movie landscape is changing, you see.
Warcraft started breaking records in China. The game is insanely popular in the Far East, and the fans there have flocked to see it.
And with the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Yen flowing into the box office, don’t be surprised if Rob is back for the sequel… and the next one… and the next one…
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