How To Train Your Dragon star reveals the one particular scene he did not have to act for

How To Train Your Dragon star Mason Thames reveals a scene from the new film where he didn't need to act in the conventional sense.

Thames was 15 when he was cast in the remake, and as someone who grew up loving the animated originals, he wanted to do justice to the role of Hiccup. Even as a teenager, he wanted to ensure his performance was as authentic as possible. That must have been particularly tricky for a live-action film that tries to replicate the magic of the animated films.

In animation, you can get away with showing some things that may be too difficult to perform in real life. One of these things is from the time Hiccup tries to bond with Toothless, the dragon, who behaves almost like a pet cat or a dog would. So, when Hiccup offers a fish as a peace offering, Toothless throws it up and naively offers half of it back to his new friend. For Toothless, that's the friendliest gesture he can make, but for Hiccup, that's not the case.

The regurgitated fish is bound to make someone puke. So, the same ought to happen to Hiccup. That's why Thames wanted that fish to be made of tuna. It was so disgusting that Thames didn't need to act, and his reaction was as authentic as it could get. During a recent conversation with The New York Times, the How To Train Your Dragon star shed light on the same topic.

"Oh, that was disgusting. About three days before, they were like, “OK, Mason, we have a fake fish head, and we’re going to fill it with either chicken — because we know you don’t like fish — or tuna.” Chicken sounded like the right option, but I went with tuna because I thought it would get a better reaction, which it did. It was so gross. When I took that first bite, I legitimately almost puked. It took me probably about 20 seconds to fully swallow it. Dean yelled “Cut,” and then he goes, “Perfect. I just need you to take a bigger bite.”"

Thames's commitment to his role at such a young age sounds commendable, and considering the response to the film, his efforts seem to have paid off.

Now 17 years old, the How To Train Your Dragon star is gearing up to star in Black Phone 2, a sequel to the 2021 horror film he starred in alongside Ethan Hawke. He is also going to star in Regretting You, a Colleen Hoover book adaptation, alongside Mckenna Grace and Allison Williams.

How To Train Your Dragon star also sheds light on building the chemistry with the dragon in the live-action remake.

F1® The Movie – New York City World Premiere - Source: Getty

Mason Thames plays Hiccup in the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon that utilizes a CGI-animated version of the dragons. So, when asked about building chemistry with this non-sentient partner, Thames told the NY Times,

"In pre-production in London, we met with a puppeteering team who took us through these drills, which were really strange at first. I had to steal a key from a tiger puppet and try not to get killed. Once I flew to [the film set in] Belfast, I worked with a giant foam Toothless head, and we would go through little sessions of trust where I would put a blindfold on and put my hand on Toothless. We’d walk around, and I would have to trust him not to run me into a wall. [The creature puppetry supervisor] Tom [Wilton] was so incredible. He was mainly my Toothless. We all wanted to call him Tomless."