Gerard Butler has had such a grand time working on both installments of “How To Train Your Dragon.” In fact, in a Q&A shared by Warner Bros., he noted: “The day that they ask you to play a lead in an animated movie marks a career milestone, because it means they’re not even looking at your face, they are thinking only of your voice. It is almost like your voice is being cast, not you. So when that happens, you go, ‘Alright, I’ve arrived!’”
In giving life to a Viking character, even an animated one at that, he said:
“Vikings are in our blood in Scotland. Everything that I’ve been given as an actor comes from my culture, my nation and through my blood. So the role was fantastic for me. There is a warrior mentality in Scotland. Even as I was doing [the 2007 film] ‘300,’ I would think of the hills in Scotland, I would think of my ancestors and what they’d been through. I used my passion for my country to play Leonidas in ‘300.’ I would almost hear his voice echoing through the ages. And it was the same with Stoick. My favorite three places on the planet are Scotland, India and Iceland. Whenever I think of those countries, my stomach starts churning in the best kind of way, just bristling with excitement. Scotland means the most to me, though, because it’s my life. I grew up in that country, wanting to make it as an actor and wanting to go to Hollywood. But it was always through the prism of me as a Scottish kid – a Scottish kid doing well.”
Still, working on the “How To Train Your Dragon” franchise also holds a deeper meaning to Butler.
“Yes, the theme of tolerance is something that I have a very strong opinion about. Both movies are about tolerance and the courage that comes with tolerance. The Vikings are learning to trust and they actually realize that dragons are beautiful. That is great because it’s often natural for mankind to fight instead of trusting (others). People go: ‘Kill, destroy, defend,’ whether it’s fighting between races or cultures or nationalities. But we can be brave and rise above that.”
He added, “One little kid [Hiccup] comes along and says, ‘Why don’t we just listen and pay attention and really see each other?’ You realize that these dragons have their own integrity and they’re as scared as we are.This new film shows how we can face people who are way less tolerant than us and come from a dark place.I think that is a great lesson for the world we live in right now.It’s hard to be able to say, ‘You know I don’t agree with you, but let’s not go to war. Let’s not kill each other.’If everyone would just pay a little more attention and be a little more tolerant, we would live in a far better place.”
“How To Train Your Dragon 2” opens in cinemas this month.
[Special thanks to Warner Bros. Philippines for the interview]
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