Mason Thames embraces 'strange' new job after 'How to Train Your Dragon' fame
In just under a month, Mason Thames turns 18 and can legally saddle up on a mechanical bull in his native Texas. But he’s already rode the next best metal beast.
As inventive Viking teen Hiccup in the live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” (in theaters now), Thames dives, swoops and soars over mountains on the flying dragon Toothless. Those immersive, awe-inspiring scenes were filmed with Thames sitting on a hydraulic rig. “In reality, it was just me on a giant mechanical bull with wind machines and blue screen. So much less glamorous,” Thames quips.
“It was definitely like, wow, my job is really strange.”
Thames is a rising star in Hollywood who broke out in the horror hit “The Black Phone” and has moved on to big-time remakes, Colleen Hoover adaptations and hanging out with rock stars. He’s also impressing costars like Gerard Butler, Thames’ “Dragon” dad. “He’s very talented, very hard-working and very humble,” Butler says. “That's a very strong three ingredients.”
Here’s what new fans need to know about Thames:
Mason Thames has always been a ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ fan (like a huge fan)
Thames watched the original 2010 animated film around age 5 and a couple of years later, he was dressing up as Hiccup for Halloween. “That movie and that world is so special to me,” he says, so much so that the first time wearing his movie Viking gear, “it was crazy seeing me as my childhood hero.”
To create his own version of Hiccup, Thames was inspired by Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and he’s already found fans of his take. At a “How to Train Your Dragon” event, where he got up close with his costume and axe on a mannequin (“I was like, ‘It’s OK, it’s mine’") a boy around 6 or 7 asked Thames if he was in the movie. The kid's eyes went wide when Thames told him he was Hiccup.
“He's like, ‘Can you say something in the voice?’ And I was like, ‘Welcome to Berk!’ It was the biggest smile on his face,” Thames recalls. “The fact I can have that effect on a kid is everything.”
New ‘Dragon’ star falls back on his ballet days in his acting
Born in Dallas, Thames has loved movies for as long as he can remember and always wanted to be an actor. But first, he was a dancer: His sister was a ballerina so he followed suit for four years touring Texas, but didn’t love the training. “Ballet itself wasn't really my thing, but I liked the performing aspect,” says the youngster, whose parents got an agent for him in Texas and sent him on auditions before heading to LA to find more work.
“Ever since then, I’ve just been going with the flow of things,” Thames says. While his first on-screen role was space drama “For All Mankind” in 2019, he came on Hollywood's radar as a kidnapped middle-schooler who communicates with ghosts and matches wits with a masked killer (Ethan Hawke) in 2022's “The Black Phone.”
So far, his ballet background has “helped me tremendously in this industry,” Thames says, “especially as an actor with taking direction and just physical things.” Like, for example, riding dragons.
Next up: Mason Thames takes on Colleen Hoover, hangs with Green Day
Just in time for Halloween, Thames reprises his role as Finney and enjoyed getting to “step back into his shoes” – plus take on Hawke’s Grabber again – in “Black Phone 2” (in theaters Oct. 17). He also just finished filming the drama “Regretting You” (Oct. 24), based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel and costarring Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace and Dave Franco.
Thames gets to showcase his musical side in the coming-of-age film “New Year’s Rev,” about a rock group driving cross-country to open for Green Day at a New Year’s Eve show in LA. The story is inspired by the punk trio’s early days of “going on tour and their insane adventures,” Thames says.
His character Tommy is based on front man Billie Joe Armstrong, and he gets to sing four original songs written by Armstrong and his son. “Which was quite daunting, but it was fun and a cool excuse to learn guitar.”
Thames watched a ton of footage and interviews, plus spent time with Armstrong to learn his mannerisms and unpredictable musical presence. “Billie’s such a down-to-earth guy and he's super chill, which is so funny because once you see him on stage, he's an animal,” the actor says.
“The way he strums his guitar even, it's not like anybody else. He really puts his whole arm into it. I really wanted to get that down as well.”