Gerard Butler on Painful ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Stoick Transformation! (Exclusive)

Gerard Butler sat down with “Extra’s” Terri Seymour to dish on the new live-action “How to Train Your Dragon.” 

After previously voicing Stoick in the 2010 animated movie, Gerard said actually transforming into him was “painful.” 

“That costume was 90 lbs. and I had it on all day, and there's not really a break from it because it took so long to take off and then put back,” he explained.

Gerard did, however, find the costume helpful for getting into character.

“I felt so transformed when I put all that hair, makeup, and costume and then stepped into that world…It wasn't hard to forget about me and step into the mind and soul of Stoick, and therefore I felt I could go way deeper which, ultimately, I think is what is brilliant about this movie.”

Butler called the storyline “powerful stuff,” praising the “emotional complexity of watching this story between father and son and the son and the dragon.”

He talked about how they filmed some of the action using puppet dragons that he would actually smash his hammer against it. 

Gerard shared, “Most of the time was spent with the puppeteers and with these built dragons… because the difference between swinging and there's nothing there and swinging and hitting something makes such a difference.”

Butler added, “I know it sounds weird, but I think everybody felt the same thing. You kind of felt like you were dealing with a living being, a creature.”

He recalled, “My scene towards the end where I kind of really break down and I'm looking into the eyes of Toothless, it was incredibly emotional and thank God, because doing that to a tennis ball… You might pull it off, but you're not going to get the same richness and depth and feeling which therefore also transfers to the audience.”

Gerard also spoke about finding Stoick’s voice, explaining, “It actually changed a lot when I put on the costume because suddenly it was like, ‘Well, wait a minute, now I feel this way.’”

The actor also shared the funny experience he has every time a parent asks him to do the voice for their child.

“I can't tell you over the last 15 years, probably a hundred times a parent has stopped next to me with their kid and they've gone, ‘Look , it's Stoick!’ and the kid's, like, looking at me like, ‘Yeah, you're not Stoick,' you know? So they're just looking at me confused, and I'm like, 'Hello.' And then I go, 'Oh, Hiccup, we're gonna fight till Odin!'... And they kinda go, I know this, and I know that's coming from him, but he doesn't... Yeah."

Terri also spoke with Mason Thames and Nico Parker about their roles as Hiccup and Astrid.

They dished on being longtime fans of the franchise and recalled the first times they saw themselves in costume, which Mason says was “one of the greatest moments of my life.”

Nico and Mason recalled watching the movie together and with an audience for the first time in Brazil, with Nico sharing, "I think we were both kind of surprised at how much people were enjoying our dynamic. They kept applauding when me and Mason would do anything, like, when we would do anything together."

Mason chimed in, "I remember right before the big kiss, we were just like, "Oh, sh*t, it's about to get real."

Nico added, "I turned to Mason, I was like, 'They're gonna think it's amazing.' He goes, 'They're gonna eat this up!' And then it got a big applause."