Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Harry Trevaldwyn, Bronwyn James, Julian Dennison and Gabriel Howell from the cast of the new live-action take on 'How to Train Your Dragon' sat down with The Hollywood Reporter's Tiffany Taylor to chat all about the film that is now playing in theaters. The actors discussed how they brought the film's famous dragons to life and what it was like filling the shoes of the beloved animated characters. Plus, they shared what DreamWorks Animation movie they think should get the live-action treatment next.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00It was amazing. It was really fun. I mean, some of that stuff, because we filmed all of the
00:04dragon riding stuff at the end of the shoot, and that was truly kind of, you know, it felt like
00:10something that we had all been building up to, because that's such a huge part of the film,
00:15specifically for Mason. I mean, he's on the dragon half the time anyway.
00:19The live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon flies into theaters this weekend.
00:24Ahead of its release, the cast spoke to The Hollywood Reporter all about the new film.
00:28Mason Thames stars in the live-action take on the 2010 animated film as Hiccup,
00:33a misfit Viking boy who befriends a Night Fury dragon named Toothless.
00:37So many of your scenes are just you and Toothless. How did you film those scenes? Were you looking
00:43at a ball on a stick, or was there a puppet? How did you bring it to life?
00:46I mean, I was terrified that it was going to be, you know, just a tennis ball, and it's going to
00:51be pretty sad most of the time, because I was informed that there were going to be actual dragons,
00:55but that was not true.
00:57Couldn't get to it, because his contract didn't tell you.
00:59No, he's a diva, so we had to go a different route. But yeah, no, we had an amazing puppeteering team,
01:04led by Tom Wilton and many other amazing puppeteers, but we had this foam head with eyes,
01:10and the mouth could move, and that's something I could touch and act with and look at, which helped a lot.
01:15And then, you know, they also had like a giant foam body that I could lay on and touch whenever,
01:19you know, the scene needed it. But yeah, they made it very easy working with a fake co-star,
01:26so that was nice.
01:27Nico Parker co-stars as Astrid, a Viking girl who takes no nonsense, and a character who's widely
01:32considered an early example of a strong female lead in animation.
01:36How did you bring her tenacity and strength to the screen?
01:39I don't know.
01:40The cartwheels.
01:41The cartwheels, the axe work.
01:45Everything.
01:45All of it in abundance. I mean, I think, you know, she's such a kind of,
01:49specifically, you know, for all young kids, but for young girls, I mean, I remember she was so
01:54badass and cool to me, and I think that she's so, you know, not just like mentally strong,
02:00also just physically so capable of something that's really special to see in a female lead.
02:05It was also, you know, to get to play with childhood heroes, an absolute dream come true,
02:09so it was very, very cool.
02:11She killed it.
02:11Meanwhile, Gerard Butler, who voices Hiccup's dad, Stoic the Vast, in the animated films,
02:16returns to play the character in live action.
02:19The father-son relationship between Stoic and Hiccup is really at the heart of this movie.
02:23He just wants to make his dad proud.
02:25Yeah.
02:25What was it like working with...
02:26So we should.
02:27Yeah.
02:28I'm done. I've worked hard.
02:30Hey, son, now it's your turn.
02:32What was it like working with Mason as a young actor, and how did you build that father-son relationship?
02:38There was such a weight of responsibility on him to fill those boots, you know, as Hiccup.
02:44He's a phenomenal young actor, and it made those scenes, you know, it felt like a great team.
02:49It felt like theater, especially those scenes.
02:52Me, him, and they were always very powerful scenes, even when they were funny or awkward or super emotional.
02:59And they required a lot of skill if you were really going to ring out all the story that you could.
03:05And we watched it in Brazil the other night, and my buddy was filming me, and he kept tapping me.
03:10And he's like, he's like the next Tom Cruise.
03:12I'm like, oh, Greg, yeah, he's amazing.
03:14And he's like, he's like Timmy Chalamet.
03:16And I'm like, yeah, yeah, no, he's amazing.
03:19He's a huge star, and nobody deserves it more because he works hard.
03:23He's very talented, and he's incredibly sweet and humble.
03:29I think it's time you learn to fight dragons.
03:31What?
03:33No, you go first.
03:34No, no, no, you go first.
03:36How to Train Your Dragon marks the first movie from DreamWorks Animation to get the live-action treatment.
03:41What's another DreamWorks animation movie that you think should be made into a live-action movie?
03:45I have a genuine, non-like, sarcastic answer for this.
03:48And I don't know if it is DreamWorks, so I may be embarrassed.
03:50El Dorado.
03:51It is.
03:52El Dorado is sick.
03:54It's an old one, The Road to El Dorado.
03:56The, like, London brown-haired guy, they, like, find a treasure map.
03:59Yes, yes, yes, I do know, I do know, yeah.
04:01To, like, yeah.
04:03Fun.
04:03That.
04:04Yeah.
04:04Kung Fu Panda.
04:05That would kind of be freaky, though.
04:07No, he's high-action, but everyone's just in, like, onesies of the animals.
04:10Yes, yeah.
04:11What if he was just, like, paint, like, face-painted, like a dude.
04:13And I want to say, like, it's direct just because I'm always happy to see Cameron Diaz in something.
04:17Yeah.
04:19Sorry.
04:19For more on how to train your dragon, go to THR.com.
04:23For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.