Gerard Butler jokes he had to get out of his pyjamas for live-action dragon film
The film star, 55, voiced Chief Stoick the Vast in the animated film How To Train Your Dragon
Gerard Butler in Angel Has Fallen
(Image: Lionsgate )
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."
Article continues below
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.
Article continues below
"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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
The Fringe show charting 20 years of Scottish pantomimes
McKnight will not only be in full panto dame costume throughout the performances of his show 'She's Behind You,' but will be venturing off stage for audience interaction, and reinventing some of his favourite material for the Fringe. Read more: The show, which will see McKnight revive his hugely-popular Dorothy Blawna-Gale character, will explore Scotland's enduring love affair with panto and how it can be traced back to the country's music hall traditions. It will also examine the dramatic changes the writer, director and performer has seen in the material performed on stage, audience tastes and attitudes, and how roles are cast. Johnny McKnight is appearing in the National Theatre of Scotland show She's Behind You. (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) She's Behind You will also be partly autobiographical as McKnight his own personal relationship with his on-stage alter egos. The late-night Traverse show, which has been jointly commissioned with the National Theatre of Scotland, has evolved from a talk delivered at Glasgow University less than 18 months ago. Johnny McKnight is the star of the Fringe show She's Behind You. (Image: Ian Georgeson) He had been invited to take part in a new lecture series instigated by former student John Tiffany, who would go on to become one of British theatre's most successful theatre directors, in honour of his former lecturer Alasdair Cameron. McKnight recalled: 'When John and I started talking, the lecture was really going to be about the history of pantomimes. I started doing a lot of digging, but when I was about half-way through it just felt that it wasn't something that I would do. 'We really started off again and it became about my own history as a pantomime dame. 'I wanted to look back over the last 20 years at how Scotland has shifted, how comedy has shifted and how panto looks now compared to 20 years ago. 'The show is about being a panto dame and what panto has meant to me. It's become autobiographical and a theatrical show set in the world of panto. 'It's a bit of a surprise to both of us that it is even happening given that the original lecture was only meant to be a one-off thing.' McKnight, who was brought up in Ardrossan in Ayrshire, can trace his panto story back to his first experience as an audience member when he was taken to the [[Ayr]] Gaiety theatre as a child. He said: 'I remember being absolutely terrified when the dame come out in the audience. 'My favourite thing about panto is doing audience interaction stuff and terrorising people. 'There is something definitely weird that a therapist should probably to me about in that the thing I was most terrified about is the thing I love most about panto. 'I can still remember that feeling of danger of suddenly being part of the show.' McKnight, who studied at the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, got his first panto work at the Carnegie Hall, in Dunfermline, working with Scottish comedy writer and performer Tony Roper, who was directing its annual production. He recalled: 'Tony was brilliant. We had 10 days to rehearse and he taught me everything. I really took it for granted at the time. 'After the first preview, he pulled me aside and said: 'I'll be back in a week. Don't you be saying these same words. You listen to the audience. Don't care about the rest of the actors on stage. This is for the audience. Keep it alive. Don't stick to the script.' 'I just assumed that's what you were meant to do in panto. He taught me so much.' McKnight can recall the 'cultural appropriation' in the first versions of Aladdin he performed in and the male-dominated casts he appeared in, but also the impact on pantos of key political decisions, such as the legalisation of gay marriage in Scotland. Tiffany, who started his theatre career working at the Traverse, said he had first developed an interest in Scottish pantomimes while he was studying in Glasgow He said: 'I grew up in Yorkshire. Every year we would get on coach and go with my dad's company to see one of the big commercial pantos in Manchester. 'There would always be folk off the TV in them, like Cannon and Ball, or Little and Large. 'It was always great fun, but it was only when I moved to Glasgow, started studying theatre and went to the pantos at the King's Theatre with actors like Gerard Kelly that I realised it was an art form alongside the ones I was learning about. 'The pantos felt political – they punched up, instead of down. I became really interested in it as an art form.' McKnight has worked extensively on the pantos at the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling and the Tron [[Theatre]] in Glasgow over the last 20 years. He said: 'We take panto seriously in Scotland. Theatres that don't produce anything throughout the whole year still want to make a panto which is specific to their panto. Audiences that don't come out the rest of the year will all come out for that show. 'I think it comes down to the fact that our theatre history in Scotland is music hall, it's not Shakespeare. 'It feels like panto is embedded in our culture. It comes back to the fact that you're guaranteed a good night out. Good will triumph. 'The audience are there to have a laugh, they're there to have a good night out and have the previous year reflected back at them. 'The people on stage are there to make them laugh about crap stuff like the fear of welfare bills getting cut and sort of find a punchline for stuff that might be unbearable. 'I read so many articles about people saying had their night at the theatre ruined by people singing. When did we get so po-faced in a theatre so that singing has become a joyless activity? In panto, you want people to join in and shout out. You want it to feel anarchic and fun. 'I did an Adele song one year and the weans would all join in. I felt like Robbie Williams at Knebworth, although I didn't sound like him! The audience sing along because they love it, not because they're bored.' Tiffany, a regular collaborator with the National Theatre of Scotland since he directed one of its first productions, Black Watch, is back working on a Traverse festival show for the first time since the award-winning play Gagarin Way - by the same writer, Gregory Burke, in 2001. He said: 'I've taken work to a lot of festivals around the world since then. But there is just nothing to touch Edinburgh. 'When we knew there was going to do a three-week run of She's Behind You I said to Johnny that I wouldn't only do it if he actually learned the script! 'We're kind of taking all the accoutrements and transposing them into the world of the Fringe. There will be songs, call and response, shout outs, terrible old jokes and a lot of audience interaction. 'We have gone for a late-night slot. A slightly merry Traverse audience is going to be perfection for us.' To purchase tickets, please click here
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Vittorio Angelone on Kneecap, the Troubles and the Edinburgh Fringe
The Irish-Italian comedian is no stranger to voicing his own opinion, having made a name for himself online with nearly 500,000 followers across social media. He made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2022, where he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the [[Edinburgh]] Comedy Awards. This year, Angelone returns with his brand new show, "you can't Say Nothing any more", which plays on three main themes: The concept of offensive comedy, growing up in the wake of the Troubles, and the responsibility on comedians to be activists. (Image: Rebecca Need-Menear) On the third point, Angelone has been frequently vocal about his support for Palestine, and has frequently defended Irish rap group Kneecap, who are known for their pro-[[Palestine]] views. The trio were recently axed from Glasgow's TRNSMT festival, with organisers citing "police concerns". Reflecting on the decision to remove Kneecap from the line-up, Angelone said: "I think it's pathetic that they thought it's going to cause some kind of riot because Kneecap are performing. READ MORE: I'm performing at the Fringe but fear I won't be allowed to re-enter the US "It's a bit cowardly, especially on a weekend in Glasgow where there's far more hateful events taking place," he adds, referring to the more than 50 Orange Walks which took place in the city ahead of the festival. He continued: "From my experience at Kneecap gigs, it's not about anybody getting hurt, it's just about high energy and expressing ourselves and having a good time. "Maybe it does come down to Palestine and speaking out about it. But that's part of running events: You have to have a bit of balls and put the thing on, people want to see it." In his Fringe show – which has mostly sold out – Angelone considers the "guilt" that he felt for not being around during the Troubles. The comedian reflected on growing up in Belfast, which he described as "a peaceful place that was very recently a violent and dangerous place". He told The National: "There is a feeling of guilt in that most adults that I grew up around are deeply traumatised, and we're sort of standing on their shoulders. "I think there's also a bizarre, I hesitate to use the word jealousy – but that is what it feels like, especially when you're 19 or 20 – of the people who were involved in the violence. "You just want a cause. You've got so much energy and such a lack of your own identity, you have so little self worth that I think somebody grabbing you by the arm and going, 'this is where you should point all your energy, this is the right thing to do' – it solves a lot of the problems that young people face." (Image: Rebecca Need-Menear) Angelone has previously described himself as "always Irish, sometimes Northern Irish, but never British". So where does he stand on Scottish independence? "With Ireland, it feel very obvious because it's one island, and then Scotland, it isn't," Angelone told The National. "I think we can all admit that being Scottish is a very distinct thing from being English, unless you're in Edinburgh," he joked. READ MORE: I was homeless and using drugs. Now I'm playing at the Edinburgh Fringe He went on: "Even though I grew up on the Catholic side in Belfast, I try to take a step back from the tribal element. I don't think the Republic of Ireland's a perfect place, and I don't believe in us being absorbed into the Republic of Ireland as it currently stands." Angelone added that any political solution for both Ireland and Scotland had to be about "whatever gets the people a bigger say". He told The National: "Scotland has a legitimate cultural reason, and arguably the economic feasibility, to be an independent place where everyone would have a bigger voice in how they're governed. "I can see that as a positive." 'I've got some plots and schemes to make very stupid things happen' Angelone's Monkey Barrell has already sold out – leading him to announce two extra shows at McEwan Hall, the historic graduation hall at Edinburgh University. (Image: Connall McHugh) "I've never been in McEwan Hall, and I'm quite excited. My cousins graduated there, and they're annoyed that it took them four years of hard work to get there," he told The National. "But I would argue it's probably taken me four years of hard work – this is my fourth year at the Fringe. I'm sort of graduating from the Edinburgh Fringe." With the venue being so much bigger – at a capacity of more than 1000 people –Angelone implied that he had "some plans, plots and schemes to make very stupid things happen", particularly given his first show happens to coincide with Oasis's return to Edinburgh. READ MORE: 'Joy, celebration and warmth' of Palestinian art to be showcased at Edinburgh Fringe "I might have to do a little nod to the Gallaghers," he hinted. "If you had a Venn diagram of Oasis fans and Edinburgh Fringe-goers, it would be two separate circles for the most part. "My gig is at 11pm. I'm not sure what time Oasis are due to finish at Murrayfield, but I hope it's late enough that none of them can come to my show." Vittorio Angelone: you can't Say Nothing any more is at Underbelly's McEwan Hall venue on August 8 and 22 at 11pm. The show's Monkey Barrel run is sold out.
Edinburgh Reporter
4 hours ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Fringe 2025 – Athens of the North ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A delivery driver. A student. A confused elderly lady. You might not think these three would have much in common. But on a single day in Edinburgh their paths will intersect. In Athens of the North, writer and solo performer Mark Hannah brings all three characters richly to life; their struggles, their foibles, their small, important, pleasures are laid before us in this accomplished show. First up is Alan He's a delivery driver for Sound Asleep, and we first meet him as he studies the menu in a curry house. He's a typical (aging) lad, full of beer and bravado. His riff on the menu's 'a la carte' section had the audience in fits just two minutes into the show. Hannah is a remarkably versatile actor; he not only inhabits all three of his characters, but even acts out Alan doing an impression of his annoying teetotal boss Brian. It's not the same since Brian's Dad went – back then they used to have fun. But today Alan is in a hurry. If he doesn't get to his daughter Erin's concert at St Giles' Cathedral there'll be hell to pay with his ex-partner. So he rushes off to do his last delivery, only to find it brings back childhood memories he'd rather forget. As Alan floors it back to get to the cathedral by 12, the audience holds its breath, and for more reasons than one. We are holding our collective breath as we see the van charging into the crowded Old Town. What happens next? You'll need to see the show to find out, but let me tell you your emotions will be pulled in every which way as Hannah threads the past and the present together to reveal the man beneath the macho swagger. Hannah's second character isn't from Edinburgh at all. Liam's a working class London boy on a scholarship to study Meteorology at university. He's fascinated by his subject, but when he goes on a last minute holiday to Zante with his friends (cue hilarious description of their 'budget' hotel) he's also fascinated by the Scottish girl he meets there. Meteorological observations, the Beaufort Scale, the humidity; Liam still has time to notice these even as he enjoys their first kiss. When his new love tells him he 'should see the weather in Edinburgh' he takes her at her word. Back in London he takes the train to Waverley on a whim. Hannah gives us a great sketch of a Londoner looking for CockburnStreet and later seeing Stockbridge ('like Disney!') for the first time – but although there's humour, Liam's impressions of Edinburgh are interspersed with lyrical moments too. He looks up at the castle and imagines his 'princess' waiting for him; he watches the Water of Leith, 'it just flows, no calculation, it just is.' And on his way to meet his princess, he walks straight into a man running towards St Giles' Cathedral. Does Liam disappear into the happy ever after with his dream girl? Or does he end up sitting on the top deck of a bus with a rambling old lady? I'm not saying – but again, Hannah ends the piece on a beautifully optimistic note. Cameo three isn't anything like the other two. For this one Hannah needs a handbag, as he morphs into Maureen, an old lady and long time resident of Annandale Street. We first meet Maureen having a crafty fag in her strictly non-smoking care home. She's chatting with her carer, Ross. She likes him better than her son Peter, who's sold her flat and put her – quite unnecessarily in her opinion – into West Edinburgh Residential Care. Hannah creates a convincing study of a woman slowly descending into dementia. Maureen has a mouth like a sewer (she could beat Alan hands down in a swearing match) and some sharp words to say about a lot of things. She reluctantly accepts that she's been forgetting why she went out shopping, but she still remembers all the boxes from her house sale, and she gives a priceless and instantly recognisable description of the buyer, all set to gentrify her home of sixty years. It's easy to imagine this guy's face when Maureen, in characteristically salty terms, puts him right about his chances of staying very long in her flat. But Maureen mostly lapses into memories, weaving in and out of reality as she tells us Alec (her deceased husband) will be coming in soon. She sees him at the end of her bed, imagines he's asking her to go home with him. Soon she's taken herself to the bus stop – and when, on the top deck, a sad young Londoner asks her if she's ok, she's convinced he's Peter. And no, she's not pleased to see him. Although it's certainly not necessary to know Edinburgh to enjoy this show, some references will particularly hit home with locals. Maureen's thoughts on the St James's Shopping Centre raised a lot of laughs with Saturday's audience, as did Alan's opinions on a prawn curry. And again, the ending of Maureen's story is poignant rather than tragic. As she reaches the last part of her eventful life, she's happy reliving her memories with Ross. He looks after her ('better than Peter'!!!) Athens of the North is a very entertaining show, and one that's full of humanity. It's not only the rich and famous who have a story to tell; people are endlessly fascinating, and Mark Hannah brings these three vignettes of 'ordinary' people's lives to the stage with tremendous warmth and skill. The audience loved the show, and so did I. Athens of the North is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street (Venue 30) at 3.15pm every day until 9 August, then on alternate days (starting with 11 August) until 23 August. Like this: Like Related
