- 3 minutes ago
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
00:05was doing like, you know, hiccup, it was rough, I almost gave up.
00:08You know, there's times you've got to be careful about that and stay away from the cartoonishness and maybe any
00:12kind 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, and he played it great too.
00:22I can't kill dragons, but you will.
00:31Y'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, I would love to.
00:39I have not, but I'd love to, because Jay did such an iconic performance of Hiccup and, you know, it
00:44was 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 D.
00:50Yeah, yeah, it'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.
01:02In a dream scenario, what are you putting on Glover's hand?
01:06Uh, I cook a lot, so maybe a big, a lovely chef's knife.
01:09I think I'd like that, that chop-in 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, over at them.
01:22What is the one moment from the animated original that you were stoked on recreating?
01:31I think my favourite was, favourite, um, 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, and we were kind of all there.
01:43It was really cold, and we were all kind of, I could feel like we were all a little bit
01:47nervous, but really excited, and you could feel the energy, and, and the gate would come
01:51up.
01:51Yeah, and the gate, yeah, it was like a real heavy gate, and, you know, it would, I don't
01:56know, that, that, that for me was, yeah, yeah, yeah, and it was, like, cooler than I thought
02:01it would be, and I thought it would be so, like, it was, I thought I was cool, and I
02:06thought
02:06I could, like, be cool in a moment, and then that happened, and I was like, oh, no, no,
02:10no, no, no, this is cool.
02:11And it was also one of the first things that we shot as well, so it was, it really felt
02:14like
02:14the beginning of it, we're, like, entering this world, and it was literally us as we're,
02:18like, entering, entering the arena, was, like, yeah.
02:21And it was so big.
02:22It was so big, and it had, like, gouge, like, the level of detail in it, like, I would, like,
02:27I would almost want to pause each shot, and so you could, like, zoom in and see the amount
02:30of detail with the set designers, and the, and the people of, like, the gouges that are in
02:34the rock, like, it felt so real when you were walking there.
02:36Yeah, there's dragging claw marks in the concrete.
02:38Yeah.
02:39Of the, of the...
02:40You'd, like, kick a pit bull, and a sick dick would be like, mm, don't, don't, don't,
02:43yeah.
02:44Oh, sorry.
02:45I thought it was a special one.
02:46I mean, there were so many, you know, the animated is, is so iconic, and so many scenes
02:50that are also 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, it was super fun for
03:03me, and then Test Drive.
03:05Yeah, I think a lot of the scenes of me and Mason one-on-one were really special, because
03:09they were very, those were all of the scenes that I auditioned with, and it was also
03:13the scenes that kind of got us the jobs, was the scenes that we did together in our chemistry
03:17read, and 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?
03:37Revisiting 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.
03:46It 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, yeah.
04:08Don't take me back to the booth!
04:11Yeah, you prefer.
04:13No, I, the booth was amazing, but getting a chance to put on that costume and step into
04:19that world, it's like a kid, you know, I mean, you take the responsibility seriously,
04:23but also you're like, 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,
04:42and I 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,
04:48and it'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.
04:56That's what I keep saying, there's like always a tear hiding behind, like the entire movie, you're like,
05:01it's coming up.
05:02I know, I know, and 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!
05:11Pitch 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.
05:25That's a good question, actually.
05:26I don't know if I would say bitterness, at least not on camera.
05:32But I would have been sad.
05:33Definitely sad, and probably have picked apart whoever played it, you know, being like,
05:38yeah, 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'd have chosen a hammer.
05:46I'd probably have been like that.
05:48Every 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 and,
05:57God, it gets you.
05:58Like, it's not fair.
06:00It pulls at heartstrings.
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 it
06:26in 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 creature look like?
06:39And the more exploration we did, the more we realized that there are certain proportions that make him iconic.
06:46And so we tried making his eyes smaller, because no animal on Earth has eyes that big, not even a
06:50blue whale.
06:51But as we did, we lost his personality.
06:54And we tried making his mouth smaller, and as we did, we lost his personality.
06:57And so there are just stitch-like proportions to Toothless's head that are just who the character is.
07:05That scene where you 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,
07:14I'm gonna remember this for the rest of my life.
07:16Yeah. Well, 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.
07:24Yeah, yeah.
07:25We wanted all our dragons, and so it was, we did so much of it together, and so much of
07:30it was about being together.
07:31And then the dragon stuff was solo, and so it was-
07:33And kind of all at the end as well.
07:34And all at the end, and like, I think even, you may have gone home at that point.
07:38And so it was even seeing us together, like, is actually, I found it quite moving.
07:43Yeah.
07:44That's like the finale that we didn't get to actually shoot, really.
07:47Yeah.
07:47Because I think it was, because every other scene, it was basically all of us all together.
07:52So it was, yeah, it was quite weird at the end, it was kind of like, it was the one
07:54thing that 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.
08:02We weren't together.
08:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:04Being a part of something that is like, so nostalgic and like, important for, I think all of us, like,
08:11we 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 gonna
08:19watch this.
08:20And 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 gonna 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, 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, but 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.
09:11There's moments in the movie where, like, punching dragons.
09:14Where, like, I feel like if somebody told me that's gonna be in the live action movie, I'd be like,
09:18I don't know if that's gonna 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 gonna hit this thing with a hammer?
09:28Yeah, I remember when we were preparing our stunts and moving around and they're going, you're gonna hit it, then
09:32you're gonna 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.
09:43Watching 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!
09:48What are you most excited to tackle for the sequel?
09:51God, I mean...
09:51Be honest, we 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.
09:59That'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...
10:05I'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...
10:14I don't know.
10:15It'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
10:26all accustomed to.
10:27And I don't like the trend.
10:28Like, as an animator, I don't like seeing animated classics being replaced by, you know, lesser than live action films,
10:36which is often the case.
10:38So this whole thing put my convictions to the test, because I thought if I'm going to do it, then
10:43I have to try to preserve the heart and the personality and the grandeur and the wish fulfillment of it,
10:48or die trying.
10:50The End
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