Scottish actor Gerard Butler has joked it was fun to “get out of my pyjamas and actually put on a costume” to star in the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon.
The film star, 55, who voiced Chief Stoick the Vast in the animated films, has reprised his role as the Viking for the new version, which follows the same narrative as the 2010 film inspired by Cressida Cowell’s book series.
Speaking to the PA news agency at a photocall for the film, he said: “It felt really, really good going from the animation into the live action.
“It was cool because up until that point I was just a voice wearing my pyjamas.
“I had to get out my pyjamas and actually put on a costume … so that was fun.
“It felt great to be able to step into the (How To Train Your Dragon) world … and have a chance to get my teeth into the character and actually deal with Vikings all around me.”
Butler praised the performance of Hot Fuzz actor Nick Frost who made his debut as Stoick’s friend Gobber, a role that was previously voiced by Craig Ferguson.
Butler told PA: “I have to say, I came out the film the other day, I wrote him, because I hadn’t seen him for a bit, I wrote him the longest text because he’s so good in the movie.”
He added: “It was a great script to play with. You put on that costume, you step into that world, and it was really like, just going and playing in the sandbox.
“And I felt like there’s a big version of Stoick that in the movie, a lot of time, it was pontificating in speeches, but here you can give a lot of different colours in that.”
In the film, Hiccup (Mason Thames), the overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast defies centuries of tradition when he befriends a dragon called Toothless – challenging the foundations of Viking society.
The film will arrive in cinemas on Monday June 9.
