I’ve Seen Gerard Butler Having A Blast In The The New How To Train Your Dragon Live Action Movie, But His Comments About How He Defied Aging To Return Crack Me Up

How To Train Your Dragon premiered at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this month, and lots of fans of the original Dreamworks pic raved about the new movie bringing some big animated moments to life. Among its differences is an (almost) entirely new cast, though the live action remake did bring back Gerard Butler to play Stoick the Vast. And I have to say, he seemed to be having the best time doing it.

Butler came onstage ahead of the premiere along with director Dean DeBlois to promote the summer 2025 movie release. The actor opened up about re-joining the franchise at CinemaCon 2025, joking that Stoick hadn’t aged—and there’s a very 2025 reason the Viking zaddy looks so good in live action.

Butler: "The franchise has been part of my life for 15 years, but he [Stoick] hasn’t aged a bit."

Director Dean DeBlois: "The magic of movies."

Butler: "and Ozempic."

Butler (also joking): "…I just can’t think of any other actor who could do it justice."

Unlike a lot of the then-younger actors like America Ferrera and Jay Baruchel, who have aged out of their roles (both are in their forties now), Butler was 41 when he played Stoick the first time on the big screen, voicing the character in the animated 2010 film. Now he’s 55, but conceivably looks like he could still be in the correct age range to be Hiccup’s dad. Per the actor, it’s the “Ozempic” that’s really been helping.

I’m honestly glad the studio got Gerard Butler back for the new movie and brought him to Universal's CinemaCon 2025 event. The characters are obviously all still familiar, regardless of being played by new actors. However, it’s really nice for that connective thread to be there to usher the franchise into this new era.

I also know Butler was joking when he said onstage he “can’t think of any other actor” who would be a fit for the role, but there’s still a germ of truth to that. Stoick was probably a fun character to voice back in 2010, but getting to wear the big beard and the Viking helmet and play the over-the-top character again looks like it was a blast. ... a blast of hot dragon air that is.

In all actuality, Butler previously said the whole getup in live action was like the "five pieces of hell," which is a little surprising given how much fun he's having onscreen (and onstage). His whole take kind of reminds me of a time when the late Ray Stevenson also wore a similar getup for a Marvel movie and he told me once in an interview he had to wear an ice pack to keep cool.

Look, it's hard being a bearded wonder, but the good news is that while Universal and Dreamworks already announced a second live action movie in the works, there's already a blueprint for that second movie, and that means Butler won't have to hang onto the fur coat and Viking beard forever.