Defying tradition, Hiccup befriends a dragon and together, they navigate the delicate path toward peace and redefining what being a hero and leader is.
00:00Looking at the hundreds of Vikings around me and going, I'm responsible for them, and I control them, and I love them.
00:07Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you.
00:10And you can see he's going, this is, it was a huge pain in the ass, basically.
00:14Oh, that's beautiful.
00:22Hey, Gerard. My name is Aryan from Golden Screen Cinemas Malaysia.
00:26It's a pleasure to be speaking with you today.
00:28My first 3D movie experience was How to Train Your Dragon.
00:31My dad took me from school to the movies, and I got to experience this beautiful father-son relationship on screen with my dad.
00:39And I want to thank you for that.
00:40Oh, that's beautiful.
00:42So I just wanted to know, what were some of your most meaningful memories from working on the first film all those years ago?
00:48That was a long time ago.
00:50The experience is very different because in the live action, I'm really there.
00:54I'm dressed up in that incredible costume, and I'm living on those sets.
00:58Whereas the animation, I was only ever in a studio.
01:01But I do remember when Dean came on board, because Dean wasn't originally attached.
01:06The original production was kind of scrapped.
01:08We brought on Dean, and that's when it really took off.
01:11And I remember the scene when I'm playing a joke on Hiccup, when I actually think he's getting it together in my book, and I pretend that I'm angry with him, and then I go up.
01:21And that day, I remember just having such a blast doing that.
01:25And I realized after, I didn't know how much they used of my movements, because they had cameras in there.
01:31And it was later where they showed, the animator showed, what he animated, and then what I was actually doing.
01:38So when I'm going, Odin, it was rough.
01:41I almost give up on you.
01:42All these facial expressions, eyes and hands.
01:45And that made me all the more invested in Stoic.
01:49But that day, I remember having such a blast.
01:52You know, working with Dean, and you can see he's going, this is...
01:55Because that wasn't the original Stoic.
01:57He was much more general.
01:58Way, way back, it was a lot of speeches, and you didn't have the color that we now have with this character.
02:03How difficult was it to get into Stoic's wardrobe and actually give, like, such a grounded and powerful performance?
02:09I feel like the craft of kind of transforming through hair and makeup and costume is something I've had the opportunity to do over the years now quite a bit.
02:19And I've learned to use it to my advantage.
02:21So, one, it was a huge pain in the ass, basically.
02:24You know, hours every day.
02:25It was uncomfortable.
02:26The costume was heavy.
02:28But I also knew that spending that amount of time in hair and makeup, I could watch myself transform and start to feel those aspects of Stoic.
02:37I would think about what I was about to do.
02:40I could feel it happening.
02:41And then stepping onto set, feeling three times the size that I was as a normal human being.
02:47Feeling that power, that, you know, like a chieftain.
02:50And then looking at the hundreds of Vikings around me and going, I'm responsible for them.
02:56And I control them.
02:57And I love them.
02:58But wearing all of that, and especially that nightmare of a beard, really helped me kind of just metamorphosize, if that's a word, into Stoic.
03:08You still had that same effect like 15 years ago on me.
03:12Is there something you didn't get to do in this film that you hope you get to do in the sequel?
03:15Well, that's a very leading question.
03:18I mean, I didn't get to ride dragons in this film.
03:20Well, I did, but it was off camera.
03:22You know, I tell Hiccup at the end, well, I came back with a dragon.
03:26But in the second movie, I get to ride dragons.
03:30And it's with great anticipation and some hesitation.
03:35Because I know that took a lot of work when I'm on the gimbal getting used to help.
03:40Because the whole point with riding these dragons was, as they said, it's not just going to be up and down.
03:45How would it move?
03:47How did the shoulders move?
03:48And therefore, so everything about that gimbal apparently was counterintuitive and quite uncomfortable.
