‘How To Train Your Dragon’ star Mason Thames calls live-action role “A love letter to the original”

Mason Thames could also be main the new How to Train Your Dragon film — however he’s been a fan since day one.

“That was my childhood, rising up with these motion pictures,” the 17-year-old actor tells People, reflecting on what it means to now play Hiccup in the live-action remake of the beloved animated franchise. “The truth that I get to be part of this world and do that is madness to me.”

Thames, greatest identified for his breakout role in The Black Cellphone, admits he was fully hooked from the very first time he noticed the authentic 2010 DreamWorks movie. “I bear in mind after I watched the first film as a child, there was a lot surprise and magic to it. I love all the pieces about it, particularly Toothless, as a result of he’s so cute.”

For Thames, the emotional core of the sequence wasn’t simply the dragons — it was Hiccup himself. “Hiccup as a personality, he was my hero rising up. There’s a lot about him that I might relate to,” he says. “Particularly my journey changing into an actor jogged my memory quite a lot of Hiccup. All he needed was to be a Viking, and in his village they appeared down on him and sort of forged him out. As soon as [Hiccup] accepted he was totally different and realized he was totally different, that’s the place he really turned Hiccup. I associated to him loads.”

Touchdown the role wasn’t only a huge deal — it was a full-circle second. “That was certainly one of the greatest moments of my life,” Thames recollects of the casting name from director Dean DeBlois, who additionally helmed the animated trilogy. After a London chemistry learn, weeks handed with no phrase — till he acquired a shock name.

“Really, we solely have one query,” DeBlois stated. “Would you want to play Hiccup in our film?”

Thames’ response? “I stood up. I jumped out of my chair and broke my mild,” he says with fun. “That was a really particular second. My household, they had been actually happy with it.”

Taking on the role as soon as voiced by Jay Baruchel was no small process. “They’re very huge footwear to fill,” Thames says. “Hiccup — that character is my childhood. I actually needed to do the followers proper. Additionally for myself, as a result of I’m a fan.”

That zeal helped ease his nerves. “If you care about motion pictures a lot and also you hear that they’re going to be making it in a live-action format, you get sort of nervous that it’s not going to be the identical, that it’s going to be soulless,” he admits. “That’s one thing I used to be frightened about till I met with Dean… It is best to see the love he has for these characters and this world and this film. I feel it actually reveals in the ultimate product.”

Whereas the live-action reboot doesn’t intention to substitute the authentic trilogy — which earned Oscar nods for all three of its movies — Thames sees it as a celebration.

“The unique film is, for my part, a masterpiece,” he says. “It wasn’t a factor of what can we alter or make higher than the originals. It was how can we increase upon this world and increase these characters. Bringing it to a brand new era in a live-action format was quite a lot of enjoyable.”

And for a lifelong fan-turned-star, it couldn’t be extra private. “This movie, to me, appears like a love letter to the authentic.”

How to Train Your Dragon, which additionally stars Gerard Butler, Nico Parker, and Nick Frost, is now enjoying in theaters.