Meet How to Train Your Dragon's Mason Thames: the 17-year-old plays opposite Nico Parker, and came to prominence in The Black Phone starring Ethan Hawke – but which of his co-stars is he dating?
When he was only seven years old,
Mason Thames dreamed of one day portraying his hero Hiccup, from the animated series How to Train Your Dragon (HTTYD). Now at the age of 17, his dream has come true, with Thames starring as Hiccup in the new, top-grossing live-action film of the same name, and quickly becoming one of Hollywood's most sought-after young actors.
'I never thought that I'd be given the chance to step into his shoes and maybe affect kids the way Hiccup affected me,' said Thames in an interview this month with The Hollywood Reporter.
Hiccup, portrayed by Mason Thames, riding Toothless in the new live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon. Photo: Universal Pictures/TNS
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HTTYD, which hit theatres in the US on June 13, is a remake of the 2010 animated version, and tells the story of a 15-year-old Viking who goes against his family's centuries-old dragon-hunting tradition and befriends a dragon instead.
Thames made his screen debut in the Apple TV+ show For All Mankind when he was 11, and shot to fame in the 2021 supernatural horror film The Black Phone, starring opposite
Ethan Hawke . He also had roles in the 2024 films Monster Summer and Incoming.
Here's everything to know about Mason Thames.
His breakout role: The Black Phone
Mason Thames' breakout role was as 13-year-old Finney Blake in The Black Phone, also starring Ethan Hawke. Photo: Universal Pictures
Mason Thames made his mark on Hollywood as Finney Blake, a 13-year-old boy held captive in a soundproof basement by a sadistic, masked killer (played by Hawke) in The Black Phone. He will reprise the role in the film's sequel, due to be released in October.
Interestingly, it was Thames' performance in The Black Phone that led to him earning the role of Hiccup. HTTYD's director Dean DeBlois watched the supernatural horror on a plane, and was so impressed by the young star that he long listed him for the role of the 15-year-old Viking in his own film, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Mason Thames is a trained ballet dancer
Mason Thames toured with a professional ballet company in The Nutcracker as a child. Photo: @masonthames/Instagram
Thames began training in ballet at the age of five with his sister, Brooke-Madison Thames, who is now a professional ballerina. He toured with a professional ballet company from 2013 to 2016, performing in The Nutcracker.
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