Rooting for Mason Thames

Mason Thames answers our video call from his audition studio in Texas. Framed by a grey backdrop and studio lights, he props up his phone on his table to angle himself in shot. Born and raised in the Lone Star State, he’s spent the few quiet moments ahead of the How to Train Your Dragon press tour hanging out with his grandparents, catching up with old friends and finishing season two of Severance. Thames is instantly likeable — his laid-back enthusiasm endearing and his presence, albeit virtual, gentle. “I love [How to Train Your Dragon] so much, I could just talk about it for hours,” says Thames, whose role as Hiccup in the film is a childhood dream come true.

In this live-action reimagining of his 2010 release, director Dean DeBlois once again follows Hiccup, an outcast in his Viking village, as he unexpectedly befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. The duo’s friendship challenges everything the village believes about dragons, and what it means to be brave. “It’s just so weird. So weird. I’m soaking up as much as I can,” grins Thames, as he recalls the first time he saw himself at a How to Train Your Dragon screening. He distinctly remembers the film’s impact on him when he watched it as a child, and hopes the effect on the audience watching him will be just as profound. “You make one magical moment, and it lasts forever,” he says.

A message Thames wants the audience to take home? Being different is cool. “I wouldn’t want to be like everybody else. You know, it’s boring. Be yourself,” he says. The actor explains that his connection to Hiccup is deeply personal. “His whole village rejects him because he’s different,” Mason says. “When I was a kid, I would tell everyone I wanted to be an actor, and they just laughed at me. Nobody thought it would happen. I didn’t think it was ever going to happen.” Thames reflects that things began to feel right once he embraced his differences. “That’s what happened with Hiccup. All he wanted was to be a normal Viking, to kill a dragon. But once he realised he couldn’t and that he was different, he had to accept it. That was something I really related to in my journey to becoming an actor.”

If Thames had his own dragon, he would name it Baryshnikov, or ‘Brish’ for short. This is the same name his sister, a ballerina eighteen months his senior, gave their family dog in honour of the legendary ballet dancer, actor and choreographer, Mikhail Baryshnikov. Incidentally, Thames’ journey into acting began after trying his own hand at ballet. One day, while accompanying his mother to pick up his sister from class, her teacher suggested he try it. He ended up studying ballet for four years.