00:00Not to be full of myself, but the animators often took notes from me back in the animation where I
00:05was doing like, you know, hiccup, it was rough, I almost gave up.
00:08You know, there's times you've got to be careful about that and stay away from the cartoonishness and maybe any
00:12kind of caricature.
00:13And then there's moments you go, okay, these moments can be enjoyed.
00:16You know, the awkwardness between father and son.
00:18I got you, I know you, and he played it great too.
00:22I can't kill dragons, but you will.
00:31Y'all had said in the past that you hadn't yet been in contact with Jay in America.
00:35I was wondering if you have met them yet and talked to them.
00:38I haven't, I would love to.
00:39I have not, but I'd love to, because Jay did such an iconic performance of Hiccup and, you know, it
00:44was my childhood.
00:45I see a dragon and I have to just kill it, you know?
00:49We've kind of spoken to them through D.
00:50Yeah, yeah, it's been like an owl situation.
00:53But, I mean, they are like, oh my god, they're incredible.
00:56I don't even know what I would do.
00:57I don't know what I would say.
00:58Like, I would probably just, like, shake his hand and say thank you.
01:02I think we'd both go normal at that.
01:02In a dream scenario, what are you putting on Glover's hand?
01:06Uh, I cook a lot, so maybe a big, a lovely chef's knife.
01:09I think I'd like that, that chop-in action.
01:12Yeah.
01:13Um, maybe, maybe like a hand that could fire out.
01:17And, uh, if my children misbehave, I could just fire a spanking over, over at them.
01:22What is the one moment from the animated original that you were stoked on recreating?
01:31I think my favourite was, favourite, um, was when the trainees, like, we entered the arena.
01:38Yeah.
01:38And I remember, like, the two weeks we spent shooting there, and Nick Frost as well was playing
01:41Gobba there, and we were kind of all there.
01:43It was really cold, and we were all kind of, I could feel like we were all a little bit
01:47nervous, but really excited, and you could feel the energy, and, and the gate would come
01:51up.
01:51Yeah, and the gate, yeah, it was like a real heavy gate, and, you know, it would, I don't
01:56know, that, that, that for me was, yeah, yeah, yeah, and it was, like, cooler than I thought
02:01it would be, and I thought it would be so, like, it was, I thought I was cool, and I
02:06thought
02:06I could, like, be cool in a moment, and then that happened, and I was like, oh, no, no,
02:10no, no, no, this is cool.
02:11And it was also one of the first things that we shot as well, so it was, it really felt
02:14like
02:14the beginning of it, we're, like, entering this world, and it was literally us as we're,
02:18like, entering, entering the arena, was, like, yeah.
02:21And it was so big.
02:22It was so big, and it had, like, gouge, like, the level of detail in it, like, I would, like,
02:27I would almost want to pause each shot, and so you could, like, zoom in and see the amount
02:30of detail with the set designers, and the, and the people of, like, the gouges that are in
02:34the rock, like, it felt so real when you were walking there.
02:36Yeah, there's dragging claw marks in the concrete.
02:38Yeah.
02:39Of the, of the...
02:40You'd, like, kick a pit bull, and a sick dick would be like, mm, don't, don't, don't,
02:43yeah.
02:44Oh, sorry.
02:45I thought it was a special one.
02:46I mean, there were so many, you know, the animated is, is so iconic, and so many scenes
02:50that are also very iconic, and, you know, getting to do all of that in live action, and elevating
02:55it, it was, it was incredible, but a lot of, a lot of our stuff, just because, you know,
03:00it was the chemistry, and, and it's kind of where it all started, it was super fun for
03:03me, and then Test Drive.
03:05Yeah, I think a lot of the scenes of me and Mason one-on-one were really special, because
03:09they were very, those were all of the scenes that I auditioned with, and it was also
03:13the scenes that kind of got us the jobs, was the scenes that we did together in our chemistry
03:17read, and so it felt very, all of those scenes felt like a very big deal, because it felt
03:21super full circle to the whole kind of experience.
03:23I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon.
03:27First to ride one, though.
03:29The, the original animated movie is such a pivotal part of your career.
03:32Was revisiting it in this capacity an incredibly emotional experience for you?
03:37Revisiting my own stories is sort of a bizarre, surreal experience, because I thought I'd put
03:42it to bed, and, and here we were going back into it.
03:46It did open up opportunities, however, to, to kind of deepen the mythology, you know,
03:51and enrich certain characters that were kind of underserved in the animated version just
03:55due to time and whatnot, and get really immersive with action scenes as well, using all of the,
04:00all the bells and whistles of live action.
04:02So, so it did take you back to the booth then, you had that kind of nostalgia?
04:05It did take me, it did take me back to the booth, yeah.
04:08Don't take me back to the booth!
04:11Yeah, you prefer.
04:13No, I, the booth was amazing, but getting a chance to put on that costume and step into
04:19that world, it's like a kid, you know, I mean, you take the responsibility seriously,
04:23but also you're like, how'd I get to do this?
04:25Yeah.
04:25You know, how'd I get to step in here and really, I've always loved fantasy.
04:29I love living in my dreams, and this is kind of like a dream world, and you go in there,
04:34but fortunately, we have a great story that we can tell as well.
04:37Great characters to get involved in, but we're living in this enchanted, magical world,
04:42and I think that's one of the amazing things.
04:44Like, there's times I've seen the screening and the tears coming down people's eyes,
04:48and it's just because they're overwhelmed by the beauty of what they're seeing, you know?
04:52It's just kind of those moments of wonder, pure wonder and adventure are awesome.
04:56That's what I keep saying, there's like always a tear hiding behind, like the entire movie, you're like,
05:01it's coming up.
05:02I know, I know, and tears for different reasons.
05:04Sometimes it's because of breaking your heart, sometimes it's because it's uplifting you,
05:07other times you're just overpowered by wonder.
05:10Watch out!
05:11Pitch up!
05:15There was a chance that you may not have been able to do it, you know?
05:18Yeah.
05:18If that is how it had worked out, would there have been this kind of empty, raw kind of bitterness?
05:24Yeah.
05:25That's a good question, actually.
05:26I don't know if I would say bitterness, at least not on camera.
05:32But I would have been sad.
05:33Definitely sad, and probably have picked apart whoever played it, you know, being like,
05:38yeah, that was good.
05:38But, I would have.
05:39It's just like in the movie, you know, when Stoic, when Hiccup comes in, he pulls the knife,
05:43and I go, I'd have chosen a hammer.
05:46I'd probably have been like that.
05:48Every time I look into Toothless' sad eyes, I would see my puppy.
05:52That's what I love so much about, you know, Toothless, is you can really put your pet in and,
05:57God, it gets you.
05:58Like, it's not fair.
06:00It pulls at heartstrings.
06:00To be honest, it's messed up.
06:02Like, they should not be allowed to mess with my heart like that.
06:04I know, it really does.
06:05It's so, oh my God, every time.
06:07But not even just sad, when Toothless, like, sits like a dog, it makes me want to kill people.
06:13Like, it doesn't even have to be a sad scene to see Toothless, and you just want to cry.
06:17It's just, I can't either.
06:19Oh, that's adorable.
06:20And we get to work with him again?
06:21Oh my God, are you kidding?
06:22I was wondering, with Toothless, was there ever a moment where people were trying to steer it
06:26in a direction away from the animated version, and you had to, like, fight for that?
06:29Yeah, we steered it.
06:30I was part of that committee that we were trying to think backward.
06:34Like, if Toothless was a simplified version of a real creature, then what did that real creature look like?
06:39And the more exploration we did, the more we realized that there are certain proportions that make him iconic.
06:46And so we tried making his eyes smaller, because no animal on Earth has eyes that big, not even a
06:50blue whale.
06:51But as we did, we lost his personality.
06:54And we tried making his mouth smaller, and as we did, we lost his personality.
06:57And so there are just stitch-like proportions to Toothless's head that are just who the character is.
07:05That scene where you all come flying in on dragons to save the day, essentially, right?
07:10Well, I'm wondering if at this age, in those moments, you're thinking like,
07:14I'm gonna remember this for the rest of my life.
07:16Yeah. Well, we did it all alone, those bits.
07:20That was all shot separately over, I think it was a week each?
07:24Something like that.
07:24Yeah, yeah.
07:25We wanted all our dragons, and so it was, we did so much of it together, and so much of
07:30it was about being together.
07:31And then the dragon stuff was solo, and so it was-
07:33And kind of all at the end as well.
07:34And all at the end, and like, I think even, you may have gone home at that point.
07:38And so it was even seeing us together, like, is actually, I found it quite moving.
07:43Yeah.
07:44That's like the finale that we didn't get to actually shoot, really.
07:47Yeah.
07:47Because I think it was, because every other scene, it was basically all of us all together.
07:52So it was, yeah, it was quite weird at the end, it was kind of like, it was the one
07:54thing that we kind of did separate.
07:55Obviously we didn't, but because we were on the same dragon.
07:58But yeah, so it was, it was, it was so lovely seeing that.
08:01Yeah, the thing together.
08:02We weren't together.
08:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:04Being a part of something that is like, so nostalgic and like, important for, I think all of us, like,
08:11we all kind of grew up on this film.
08:14And kind of being a part of it and being like, oh, maybe like, one day my own kid's gonna
08:19watch this.
08:20And then they'll do a remake of the remake.
08:22Yes.
08:23And then the cycle continues.
08:25Wow.
08:26And that's America.
08:27And that's show business.
08:28And that's show business, baby.
08:29So you're all gonna live forever.
08:31Yes.
08:31Yeah.
08:31That is the plan from this film.
08:33That's the moral.
08:34As you know, you've become something of an unexpected gay icon.
08:39A la the Golden Girls or the Babadook.
08:41And I'm wondering if you've heard the fan theories about Gobber's gayness.
08:47I think, I think it's true.
08:49I don't think it's a theory, right?
08:51Has it been, I don't think Dean has confirmed, but yeah, I think potentially Gobber is gay, which is great.
09:00I think he'd have a lovely gay dragon as well.
09:02But then, you know, we've been greenlit for two.
09:04So, again, this is an aspect of Gobber's personality that we will start to see, hopefully, bloom.
09:11There's moments in the movie where, like, punching dragons.
09:14Where, like, I feel like if somebody told me that's gonna be in the live action movie, I'd be like,
09:18I don't know if that's gonna work.
09:19And then you see it and you're like, somehow it works, you know?
09:22Yeah, that's funny.
09:23I had the same questions myself.
09:24Like, really?
09:25Am I gonna hit this thing with a hammer?
09:28Yeah, I remember when we were preparing our stunts and moving around and they're going, you're gonna hit it, then
09:32you're gonna headbutt it.
09:33And I was like, really?
09:35And then you see the movie and it really, it works, you know?
09:38Yeah.
09:38Yeah.
09:38He's just a maniac.
09:40It's such a great introduction to Stoic, especially in this movie.
09:43Watching him fight these dragons that are, like, five times the size of him.
09:46And he doesn't care.
09:47He's like, come on!
09:48What are you most excited to tackle for the sequel?
09:51God, I mean...
09:51Be honest, we know what you want.
09:53I want the armor.
09:55I want the armor and I want my fire sword.
09:57Mason only wants the suit.
09:59That's all I'm there for.
10:00I'm just there for the zipline.
10:01I don't know.
10:01I just think the fact that we even get to do another one is ridiculous.
10:04So I don't...
10:05I'm not sure what part of it is the most exciting to me.
10:08But I think the second movie, honestly, as a child, was my favorite film.
10:11Agreed.
10:12And so I think just to get to do...
10:14I don't know.
10:15It's very exciting.
10:16There's a fantastic response to the trailer.
10:18Were you afraid of living up to that expectation?
10:20I was afraid of any response, honestly, because I didn't want to be one of those disappointing remakes that we're
10:26all accustomed to.
10:27And I don't like the trend.
10:28Like, as an animator, I don't like seeing animated classics being replaced by, you know, lesser than live action films,
10:36which is often the case.
10:38So this whole thing put my convictions to the test, because I thought if I'm going to do it, then
10:43I have to try to preserve the heart and the personality and the grandeur and the wish fulfillment of it,
10:48or die trying.
10:50The End
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