- yesterday
The cast of the live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” (Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Nico Parker, Mason Thames, Julian Dennison, Harry Trevaldwyn, Bronwyn James, and Gabriel Howell) as well as writer/director Dean DeBlois sat down with CinemaBlend to talk about the new blockbuster! Watch us set up a meeting between Nico Parker and Mason Thames with the original Hiccup and Astrid, Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera. We also talk about how Gerard Butler was almost replaced for the new film, what the cast is most excited to tackle in the sequel, how Toothless is shamelessly meant to remind us of our dogs, and much, much more.
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00:00Not to be full of myself, but the animators often took notes from me back in the animation where I was doing like, you know, hiccup, it was rough, I almost gave up.
00:08There's times you've got to be careful about that and stay away from the cartoonishness and maybe any kind of caricature.
00:13And then there's moments you go, okay, these moments can be enjoyed.
00:16You know, the awkwardness between father and son.
00:18I got you, I know you.
00:20And he played it great too.
00:22I can't kill dragons.
00:24But you will.
00:30Y'all had said in the past that you hadn't yet been in contact with Jay in America.
00:35I was wondering if you have met them yet and talked to them.
00:38I haven't.
00:38I would love to.
00:40I have not, but I'd love to because Jay did such an iconic performance of Hiccup and, you know, it was my childhood.
00:45I see a dragon and I have to just kill it, you know?
00:49We've kind of spoken to them through deep in a way.
00:51It's been like an owl situation.
00:53But, I mean, they are like, oh my God, they're incredible.
00:56I don't even know what I would do.
00:57I don't know what I would say.
00:58Like, I would probably just, like, shake his hand and say thank you.
01:02I think we'd both go normal at that.
01:03In a dream scenario, what are you putting on Glover's hand?
01:06Uh, I cook a lot.
01:08So maybe a big, a lovely chef's knife.
01:09I think I'd like that.
01:11That chopping action.
01:12Yeah.
01:13Um, maybe, maybe like a hand that could fire out.
01:17And, uh, if my children misbehave, I could just fire a spanking over it over at them.
01:22What is the one moment from the animated original that you were stoked on recreating it?
01:29Uh, I think my favourite was Favit.
01:34Um, was when the trainees, like, we entered the arena.
01:38Yeah.
01:38And I remember, like, the two weeks we spent shooting there and Nick Frost as well was playing
01:41Gobba there.
01:42And we were kind of all there.
01:43It was really cold.
01:44And we were all kind of, I could feel like we were all a little bit nervous, but really
01:48excited.
01:49And you could feel the energy.
01:50And the gate would come up.
01:51Yeah.
01:51And the gate, yeah, it was like a real heavy gate.
01:54And, you know, I don't know.
01:56That, that, that for me was most exciting.
01:59Yeah.
01:59Yeah.
01:59And it was like cooler than I thought it would be.
02:02And I thought it would be so, like, it was.
02:04I thought I was cool and I thought I could like be cool in a moment.
02:08And then that happened and I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is cool.
02:11And it was also one of the first things that we shot as well.
02:13So it was, it really felt like the beginning of it, we're like entering this world and it was
02:17literally us as we were like entering, entering the arena was like, yeah.
02:21And it was so big.
02:22It was so big.
02:23And it had like gouge, like the level of detail in it.
02:26Like I would like, I would almost want to pause each shot and so you could like zoom in and
02:29see the amount of detail with the set designers and the, and the people of like the gouges
02:34that are in the rock.
02:35Like it felt so real when you're walking.
02:36Yeah.
02:36There's dragon claw marks in the concrete.
02:38Yeah.
02:39Of the, of the.
02:39Like squads.
02:40You're like, kick a pit bull and a sick dick would be like, mm, don't, don't.
02:43Yeah.
02:44Oh, sorry.
02:45That was a special one.
02:46Yeah.
02:46I mean, there were so many, you know, the animated is so iconic in so many scenes that are,
02:51also very iconic and, you know, getting to do all of that in live action and elevating
02:55it, it was, it was incredible, but a lot of, a lot of our stuff just because, you know,
03:00it was the chemistry and, and it's kind of where it all started with super fun for me
03:03and then test drive.
03:05Yeah.
03:05I think a lot of the scenes of me and Mason one-on-one were really special because they
03:09were very, those were all of the scenes that I auditioned with.
03:12And it was also the scenes that kind of got us the jobs was the scenes that we did together
03:16in our chemistry.
03:17And so it felt very, all of those scenes felt like a very big deal because it felt
03:21super full circle to the whole kind of experience.
03:23I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon.
03:27First to ride one though.
03:29The, the original animated movie is such a pivotal part of your career.
03:32Was revisiting it in this capacity an incredibly emotional experience for you?
03:36Revisiting my own stories is sort of a bizarre, surreal experience because I thought I'd put
03:42it to bed and, and here we were going back into it.
03:45It did open up opportunities, however, to, to kind of deepen the mythology, you know,
03:51and enrich certain characters that were kind of underserved in the animated version just
03:55due to time and whatnot and get really immersive with action scenes as well, using all of the,
04:00all the bells and whistles of live action.
04:02So, so it did take you back to the booth then you had that kind of nostalgia.
04:05It did take me, it did take me back to the booth.
04:08Yeah, you prefer, no, I, the booth was amazing, but getting a chance to put on that costume
04:18and step into that world.
04:20It's like a kid, you know, I mean, you take the responsibility seriously, but also you're
04:24like, how'd I get to do this?
04:25Yeah.
04:25You know, how'd I get to step in here and really, I've always loved fantasy.
04:29I love living in my dreams and this is kind of like a dream world and you go in there,
04:34but fortunately we have a great story that we can tell as well.
04:37Great characters to get involved in, but we're living in this enchanted, magical world and
04:42I think that's one of the amazing things.
04:44Like there's times I've seen the screening and the tears coming down people's eyes and
04:48it's just because they're overwhelmed by the beauty of what they're seeing, you know,
04:52it's just kind of those moments of wonder, pure wonder and adventure are awesome.
04:57That's what I keep saying, there's like always a tear hiding behind, like the entire
05:00movie, you're like, it's coming.
05:02I know, I know.
05:02And tears for different reasons.
05:04Sometimes it's because of breaking your heart, sometimes it's because it's uplifting you.
05:07Other times you're just overpowered by wonder.
05:10Watch out!
05:11Pick up!
05:15There was a chance that you may not have been able to do it, you know?
05:18Yeah.
05:18If that is how it had worked out, would there have been this kind of empty, raw kind of bitterness?
05:24Yeah, that's a good question actually.
05:26I don't know if I would say bitterness, at least not on camera.
05:29But I would have been sad, definitely sad, and probably have picked a part, whoever played
05:37it, you know, being like, yeah, that was good.
05:38But I would have.
05:39It's just like in the movie, you know, when Stoic, when Hiccup comes in, he pulls the knife
05:43and I go, I would have chosen a hammer.
05:46I'd probably have been like that.
05:47Every time I look into Toothless' sad eyes, I would see my puppy.
05:52That's what I love so much about, you know, Toothless, is you can really put your pet in
05:56and God, it gets you.
05:58Like, it's not fair.
06:00To be honest, it's messed up.
06:02Like, they should not be allowed to mess with my heart like that.
06:04I know, it really does.
06:05It's so, oh my God, every time.
06:07But not even just sad, when Toothless, like, sits like a dog, it makes me want to kill people.
06:13Like, it doesn't even have to be a sad scene to see Toothless and you just want to cry.
06:17It's just, I can't either.
06:19Oh, that's adorable.
06:20And we get to work with him again?
06:21Oh my God, are you kidding?
06:22I was wondering, with Toothless, was there ever a moment where people were trying to steer
06:26it in a direction away from the animated version and you had to, like, fight for that?
06:29Yeah, we steered it.
06:30I was part of that committee that we were trying to think backward.
06:34Like, if Toothless was a simplified version of a real creature, then what did that real
06:39creature look like?
06:40And the more exploration we did, the more we realized that there are certain proportions
06:44that make him iconic.
06:46And so we tried making his eyes smaller because no animal on Earth has eyes that big, not even
06:50a blue whale.
06:51But as we did, we lost his personality.
06:54And we tried making his mouth smaller.
06:55And as we did, we lost his personality.
06:57And so there are just stitch-like proportions to Toothless's head that made, that are just
07:03who the character is.
07:05That scene where y'all come flying in on dragons to save the day, essentially, right?
07:10Well, I'm wondering if at this age, in those moments, you're thinking, like, I'm going to
07:15remember this for the rest of my life.
07:16Yeah.
07:17Well, we did it all alone, those bits.
07:20That was all shot separately over, I think it was a week each?
07:24Something like that.
07:24We wanted all our dragons.
07:26And so it was, we did so much of it together and so much of it was about being together.
07:31And then the dragon stuff was solo.
07:33And so it was-
07:33And kind of all at the end as well.
07:34And all at the end.
07:35And like, I think even, you may have gone home at that point.
07:37Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:38Because you did it first.
07:38And so it was even seeing us together, like, is actually, I found it quite moving.
07:43Yeah.
07:43Because that's like the finale that we didn't get to actually shoot, really.
07:48Because I think it was, because every other scene, it was basically all of us all together.
07:51So it was, yeah, it was quite weird at the end, it was kind of like, it was the one thing
07:54that we kind of did separate.
07:55Obviously we didn't, but because we were on the same dragon.
07:58But yeah, so it was, it was, it was so lovely seeing that.
08:01Yeah, the thing together, we weren't together.
08:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:04Being a part of something that is like, so nostalgic and like, important for, I think
08:11all of us, like, we all kind of grew up on this film.
08:14And kind of being a part of it and being like, oh, maybe like one day my own kid's going
08:19to watch this and be like.
08:19Like, and then they'll do a remake of the remake.
08:22Yes.
08:23And then the cycle continues.
08:25Wow.
08:26And that's America.
08:27And that's show business.
08:28And that's show business, baby.
08:29So you're all going to live forever.
08:31Yes.
08:31Yeah.
08:31That is the plan from this film.
08:33That's the moral.
08:34As you know, you've become something of an unexpected gay icon.
08:39A la the Golden Girls or the Babadook.
08:41And I'm wondering if you've heard the fan theories about Gobber's gayness.
08:47I think it, I think it's true.
08:49I don't think it's a theory, right?
08:51Has it been, I don't think Dean has confirmed.
08:55But yeah, I think potentially Gobber is gay, which is great.
09:00I think he'd have a lovely gay dragon as well.
09:02But then, you know, we've been greenlit for two.
09:04So again, this is an aspect of Gobber's personality that we will start to see hopefully bloom.
09:10There's moments in the movie where, like, punching dragons, where, like, I feel like if somebody told me that's going to be in the live action movie, I'd be like, I don't know if that's going to work.
09:19And then you see it and you're like, somehow it works, you know?
09:22Yeah, that's funny.
09:23I had the same questions myself.
09:24Like, really?
09:25Am I going to hit this thing with a hammer?
09:26It's going to, yeah.
09:28I remember when we were preparing our stunts and moving around and they're going, you're going to hit it.
09:32Then you're going to headbutt it.
09:33And I was like, really?
09:35And then you see the movie and it really, it works, you know?
09:38Yeah.
09:38Yeah.
09:38He's just a maniac.
09:40It's such a great introduction to Stoic, especially in this movie, watching him fight these dragons that are, like, five times the size of him.
09:46And he doesn't care.
09:47He's like, come on!
09:49What are you most excited to tackle for the sequel?
09:51God, I'm not.
09:51Be honest.
09:52We know what you want.
09:53I want the armor.
09:55I want the armor and I want my fire sword.
09:57Mason only wants the suit.
09:58That's all I'm there for.
10:00I'm just there for the zipline.
10:01I don't know.
10:01I just think the fact that we even get to do another one is ridiculous.
10:04So I don't, I'm not sure what part of it is the most exciting to me.
10:08But I think the second movie, honestly, as a child, was my favorite film.
10:11Agreed.
10:12And so I think just to get to do, I don't know, it's very exciting.
10:16There's a fantastic response to the trailer.
10:18Were you afraid of living up to that expectation?
10:20I was afraid of any response, honestly, because I didn't want to be one of those disappointing remakes that we're all accustomed to.
10:27And I don't like the trend, like I, as an animator, I don't like seeing animated classics being replaced by, by, you know, lesser than live action films, which is often the case.
10:38So it, this whole thing put my convictions to the test because I thought if I'm going to, if I'm going to do it, then I have to try to preserve the heart and the personality and the grandeur and the wish fulfillment of it or die trying.
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