How To Train Your Dragon Live-Action Movie Cast vs. Animated Characters: Comparison

Summary

• The How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake has assembled its cast, drawing comparisons to the animated characters.
• Mason Thames fits the character of Hiccup well, as does Gerard Butler, who reprises his role as Stoick the Vast.
• Nico Parker, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howel, Nick Frost, Bronwyn James, and Harry Trevaldwyn make up the remainder of How to Train Your Dragon’s characters.

The cast for the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie has been formed, but how does each actor look in comparison to their animated counterparts? The announcement of a live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie came 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 many How to Train Your Dragon movies and TV shows.

In 2025, the powerful dragons of How to Train Your Dragon will 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, but How 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 of How to Train Your Dragon compare to their characters’ prior iterations.

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How to Train Your Dragon Live-Action Actors	How to Train Your Dragon Movie Characters
Mason Thames	Hiccup
Nico Parker	Astrid
Gerard Butler	Stoick the Vast
Nick Frost	Gobber
Julian Dennison	Fishlegs
Gabriel Howell	Snotlout
Bronwyn James	Ruffnut
Harry Trevaldwyn	Tuffnut

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8 Mason Thames as Hiccup

Date of Birth: July 10, 2007

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• Active Since: 2017

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’s The Black Phone, in which he played the lead character Finney. This led to Thames’ casting in How to Train Your Dragon, as well as other upcoming movies such as Incoming and Monster Summer. Notable TV roles for Thames include Daniel Stevens in AppleTV+’s For All Mankind and young Walker in CW’s Walker.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
The Black Phone	Finney Blake
Incoming	Ben
Monster Summer	Noah
How to Train Your Dragon	Hiccup
For All Mankind	Daniel Stevens
Walker	Young Walker

Character: Thames’ character is the lead of the film, Hiccup, taking over from How 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 original How to Train Your Dragon trilogy.

7 Nico Parker as Astrid

Date of Birth: December 9, 2004

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• Active Since: 2017

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’s Dumbo, another live-action remake, directed by Tim Burton. Since then, Parker has appeared in several movies, including Reminiscence and Suncoast, with 2025 seeing her star in How to Train Your Dragon and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Another notable role for Parker was that of Sarah in HBO’s The Last of Us.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
Dumbo	Milly Farrier
Reminiscence	Zoe
Suncoast	Dorris
The Last of Us	Sarah Miller
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy	Chloe
How to Train Your Dragon	Astrid

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Character: Nico Parker will play Astrid in How 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. With How to Train Your Dragon having wrapped filming, hopefully, a glimpse of Parker as Astrid will be provided soon.

6 Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast

Date of Birth: November 13, 1969

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• Active Since: 1992

Actor: Gerard Butler is a Scottish actor, born in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Butler’s smaller roles in the 1990s saw him star in movies like Mrs. Brown,Tomorrow Never Dies, and Tale of the Mummy. Despite appearing in some bigger movies in the early 2000s, Butler’s breakout role came in Zack Snyder’s 300. This saw Butler gain worldwide recognition, leading to roles in movies like Olympus Has Fallen, Gods of Egypt, Geostorm, Greenland, Copshop, and Plane. Butler also voiced Stoick in the original How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, thus far the only actor to reprise his role in live-action.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
The Phantom of the Opera	The Phantom
300	King Leonidas
How to Train Your Dragon	Stoick the Vast
Olympus Has Fallen	Mike Banning
Den of Thieves	Nick O’Brien
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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5 Nick Frost as Gobber

Date of Birth: March 28, 1972

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• Active Since: 1998

Actor: Nick Frost is a British actor born in Hornchurch, England. Frost has been a longtime actor in many British comedy projects, notably the sitcom Spaced. This show was a collaboration between Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, along with director Edgar Wright. This trio reunited for a trilogy of films titled the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End can 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.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
Spaced	Mike Watt
Shaun of the Dead	Ed
Hot Fuzz	Danny Butterman
The World’s End	Andy Knightley
Snow White and the Huntsman	Nion
Fighting with My Family	Ricky Knight
Into the Badlands	Bajie
The Nevers	Declan Orrun

Character: Gobber is Berk’s blacksmith, Stoick’s best friend, and a mentor to Hiccup in How 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.

4 Julian Dennison as Fishlegs

Date of Birth: October 16, 2002

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• Active Since: 2013

Actor: Julian Dennison is an actor born in Wellington, New Zealand. Beginning acting in 2013, Dennison’s various movie and TV roles began with films like Shopping and Paper Planes. However, Dennison’s breakout role came in 2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which led to him being cast in big Hollywood movies like Deadpool 2, The Christmas Chronicles 2, and Godzilla vs. Kong. Dennison’s upcoming movies include Y2K and the live-action How to Train Your Dragon.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
Shopping	Solomon
Hunt for the Wilderpeople	Ricky Baker
Deadpool 2	Russell Collins/Firefist
The Christmas Chronicles 2	Belsnickel
Godzilla vs. Kong	Josh Valentine
Y2K	Danny
How to Train Your Dragon	Fishlegs

Character: In the original How 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 in How to Train Your Dragon.

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3 Gabriel Howell as Snotlout

Date of Birth: Unknown

• Active Since: 2021

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 of How to Train Your Dragon. Howell’s other credits include The Fence, Bodies, and the upcoming BBC series Nightsleeper.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
The Fence	Dennis
Bodies	Elias
Nightsleeper	TBC
How to Train Your Dragon	Snotlout

Character: Howell will play Snotlout in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon film. 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.

2 Bronwyn James as Ruffnut

Date of Birth: 1994

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• Active Since: 2015

Actor: Bronwyn James is a British actor who began working in the mid-2010s. James’breakout role came in the British period drama Harlots, leading to roles in TV shows like Cheaters and Lockwood & Co. In terms of feature films, James’ breakout theatrical role will likely come in 2024’s film adaptation of Wicked, before she appears in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon in 2025.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
Harlots	Fanny Lambert
Cheaters	Natalie
Wicked	ShenShen
How to Train Your Dragon	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 original How to Train Your Dragon trilogy.

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1 Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut

Date of Birth: February 11, 1994

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• Active Since: 2019

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’s The King and The Bubble in 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 comedy Ten Percent. Trevaldwyn has also appeared in the BBC’s The Outlaws, as well as two episodes of the Star Wars TV show, The Acolyte.

Notable TV Shows & Films	Character
The King	Dartmouth
The Bubble	Gunther
Ten Percent	Ollie Rogers
The Outlaws	Stan
The Acolyte	Mog Adana
How to Train Your Dragon	Tuffnut

Character: The character Trevaldwyn will bring to life in the How to Train Your Dragon live-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, with The Acolyte especially highlighting his more lanky characteristics that should translate well to the live-action How to Train Your Dragon.

How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

How to Train Your Dragon is a live-action adaptation of the 2010 film of the same name. Co-director of the first film, Dead DeBlois, is returning to direct the live-action treatment, with Nico Parker starring as Astrid and Mason Thames as Hiccup.

Director Dean DeBlois Release Date June 13, 2025 Writers Dean DeBlois Cast Mason Thames , Nico Parker

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