Summary
The cast for the live-actionHow to Train Your Dragonmovie has been formed, but how does each actor look in comparison to their animated counterparts? The announcement of alive-actionHow to Train Your Dragonmoviecame as somewhat of a surprise to many. While Disney has tried its hand at replicating animated classics with real actors, sets, and stories, other studios have been reluctant to do so. That said, Dreamworks is following in Disney’s footsteps after the immense success of the manyHow to Train Your Dragonmovies and TV shows.
In 2025, thepowerful dragons ofHow to Train Your Dragonwill come to life in a unique way, with returning director Dean DeBlois hopefully capturing the spirit of what made the original trilogy so beloved. However, not only will the titular dragons come to life, butHow to Train Your Dragon’s human characters will too. While some actors reprise their roles from the original films, others are completely new to the franchise, begging the question of how the live-action actors ofHow to Train Your Dragoncompare to their characters' prior iterations.
8Mason Thames as Hiccup
Date of Birth: July 26, 2025
Actor:Mason Thames will bring Hiccup to life, an up-and-coming American actor born in Dallas, Texas.Thames' breakout role came in Scott Derrickson’sThe Black Phone, in which he played the lead character Finney. This led to Thames' casting inHow to Train Your Dragon, as well as other upcoming movies such asIncomingandMonster Summer. Notable TV roles for Thames include Daniel Stevens in AppleTV+‘sFor All Mankindand young Walker in CW’sWalker.
Walker
Young Walker
Character:Thames’ character is the lead of the film, Hiccup, taking over fromHow to Train Your Dragon’s Jay Baruchel. Hiccup is a scrawny, un-Viking-like boy in the midst of a town of very Viking-like Vikings. With this in mind, Thames' casting is pretty much perfect. Thames' young age means he does not exactly have the stockiest of builds, meaning he fits Hiccup’s smaller stature well. Similarly, Thames' has long, ginger-brown hair, fitting with how Hiccup looked in the originalHow to Train Your Dragontrilogy.
7Nico Parker as Astrid
Date of Birth: June 25, 2025
Actor:Nico Parker is the daughter of director Ol Parker and actor Thandiwe Newton, and was born in London, England.Parker’s breakout role came in 2019’sDumbo, another live-action remake, directed by Tim Burton. Since then, Parker has appeared in several movies, includingReminiscenceandSuncoast, with 2025 seeing her star inHow to Train Your DragonandBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.Another notable role for Parker was that of Sarah in HBO’sThe Last of Us.
How to Train Your Dragon
Astrid
Character:Nico Parker will play Astrid inHow to Train Your Dragon’s live-action remake, an expert in dragon training and Hiccup’s rival-turned-love-interest. In terms of visual comparisons, Parker looks more different from Astrid’s animated model than Thames does with Hiccup. Parker has darker skin and hair than Astrid, who was shown in the original trilogy as a blonde. Unfortunately, this has drawn deplorable criticisms of the movie based on skin tone, despite the first look at Parker as Astrid being yet to be released. WithHow to Train Your Dragonhaving wrapped filming, hopefully, a glimpse of Parker as Astrid will be provided soon.
6Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast
Date of Birth: June 25, 2025
Actor:Gerard Butler is a Scottish actor, born in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Butler’s smaller roles in the 1990s saw him star in movies likeMrs. Brown,Tomorrow Never Dies, andTale of the Mummy. Despite appearing in some bigger movies in the early 2000s,Butler’s breakout role came in Zack Snyder’s300.This saw Butler gain worldwide recognition, leading to roles in movies likeOlympus Has Fallen, Gods of Egypt, Geostorm, Greenland, Copshop,andPlane. Butler also voiced Stoick in the originalHow to Train Your Dragontrilogy, thus far the only actor to reprise his role in live-action.
300
Copshop
Bob Viddick
Character:Stoick the Vast is the chief of Berk, as well as Hiccup’s father. As mentioned, Stoick was played by Gerard Butler in the original movies, meaning the voice of the character will be identical between iterations. Concerning physical appearance, Stoick the Vast is much more, well, vast than Gerard Butler due to the exaggerated body types animation can allow. That said, Butler can certainly bulk up for the role, and will likely look near-identical to his animated counterpart thanks to costuming and makeup.
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5Nick Frost as Gobber
Date of Birth: June 15, 2025
Actor:Nick Frost is a British actor born in Hornchurch, England. Frost has been a longtime actor in many British comedy projects, notably the sitcomSpaced. This show was acollaboration between Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, along with director Edgar Wright. This trio reunited for a trilogy of films titled theThree Flavours Cornettotrilogy.Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz,andThe World’s Endcan be counted as Frost’s breakout roles, more notably the former released in 2004. Since then, Frost’s career has grown, leading to many other notable movie and TV show appearances.
Shaun of the Dead
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Nevers
Declan Orrun
Character:Gobber is Berk’s blacksmith, Stoick’s best friend, and a mentor to Hiccup inHow to Train Your Dragon. The original trilogy portrays Gobber as a stout, one-footed, one-handed, larger man with misshapen teeth and a long blonde beard. While Frost’s inevitable fake loss of limbs will be managed via CGI or prosthetics, the rest of the look matches quite well. Frost is a fairly large figure, matching the stout yet stocky nature of Gobber well. While Frost is admittedly nicer to look at than Gobber, the actor feels more like a perfect fit than looks like one.
4Julian Dennison as Fishlegs
Date of Birth: July 22, 2025
Actor:Julian Dennison is an actor born in Wellington, New Zealand. Beginning acting in 2013,Dennison’s various movie and TV rolesbegan with films likeShoppingandPaper Planes. However,Dennison’s breakout role came in 2016’sHunt for the Wilderpeople, which led to him being cast in big Hollywood movies likeDeadpool 2, The Christmas Chronicles 2,andGodzilla vs. Kong.Dennison’s upcoming movies includeY2Kand the live-actionHow to Train Your Dragon.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Fishlegs
Character:In the originalHow to Train Your Dragon, Fishlegs is another of the children from Berk who trains to fight dragons alongside Hiccup and Astrid. Fishlegs is somewhat of a know-it-all concerning dragons, having learned a lot about most species. Fishlegs, similar to Gobber, is a bigger character though without the muscled strength of Stoick. Dennison has a similar build, meaning he will fit the visual appearance. Similarly, Dennison’s roles have shown him to be a quick speaker, capable of rattling off the many facts and tidbits Fishlegs does inHow to Train Your Dragon.
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3Gabriel Howell as Snotlout
Date of Birth: Unknown
Actor:Gabriel Howell is a British actor, though admittedly not much is known about him. Howell is an up-and-coming actor, with minimal roles in the mainstream circle outside ofHow to Train Your Dragon. Howell’s other credits includeThe Fence,Bodies,and the upcoming BBC seriesNightsleeper.
Snotlout
Character:Howell will play Snotlout in the live-actionHow to Train Your Dragonfilm. In the original, Snotlout is a bullish, more masculine child of Berk. Snotlout often feigns confidence in everything he is doing to impress those around him, most notably Astrid, and serves as the primary bully of Hiccup early in the film. Admittedly, Howell does not have the stout, stocky build of Snotlout from the animated film, though reports indicate a change will be made that sees Snotlout become Hiccup’s cousin in the live-action movie, with Howell looking similar to Thames in that way.
2Bronwyn James as Ruffnut
Date of Birth: 1994
Actor:Bronwyn James is a British actor who began working in the mid-2010s.James’breakout role came in the British period dramaHarlots,leading to roles in TV shows likeCheatersandLockwood & Co.In terms of feature films, James' breakout theatrical role will likely come in 2024’s film adaptation ofWicked,before she appears in the live-actionHow to Train Your Dragonin 2025.
Ruffnut
Character:Ruffnut is another of Berk’s child warriors seeking to become a frontline fighter by enrolling in dragon training alongside Hiccup, Astrid, and the others. Ruffnut, like her twin brother, is incredibly obnoxious, loud, and annoying, and is often shown bickering with those around her, notably her brother. As a talented actor, James will undoubtedly be able to bring this annoying quality to Ruffnut even if she does not quite match the tall, spindly frame of Ruffnut from the originalHow to Train Your Dragontrilogy.
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1Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut
Date of Birth: July 22, 2025
Actor:Harry Trevaldwyn is a British actor born in Oxford, England. Trevaldwyn has more credits to his name than James or Howell before him, with his earlier work coming in Netflix’sThe KingandThe Bubblein 2019 and 2022 respectively. Since then, the actor’s main works have come in the realm of TV,with Trevaldwyn’s breakout role arguably being the Prime Video comedyTen Percent. Trevaldwyn has also appeared in the BBC’sThe Outlaws, as well as two episodes of theStar WarsTV show,The Acolyte.
Tuffnut
Character:The character Trevaldwyn will bring to life in theHow to Train Your Dragonlive-action remake is Tuffnut. Tuffnut is the twin brother of Ruffnut and has a similar personality in that he is loud, overbearing, and irritating to those around him. Tuffnut has a similar build to Ruffnut in the original frame, that being a taller, more gangly-looking Viking than the stout strength of Stoick or Snotlout. Trevaldwyn somewhat matches this appearance, withThe Acolyteespecially highlighting his more lanky characteristics that should translate well to the live-actionHow to Train Your Dragon.
Cast
How to Train Your Dragon, released in 2025, depicts the story of Hiccup, a young Viking who defies tradition on the isle of Berk by befriending Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their friendship uncovers the true nature of dragons, challenging entrenched Viking perceptions and societal norms.
