Gerard Butler's Emotional Tribute to Late Mother in 'How to Train Your Dragon'

Published: June 13, 2025

Gerard Butler is expressing his gratitude for the way the live-action film 'How to Train Your Dragon' dedicated the movie to his late mother, Margaret Butler, who passed away in February at the age of 81.

In an interview with Magic Radio, the Scottish actor shared how touched he was by the director's decision to dedicate the film to his mother, saying, "If Stoick had a mum, that would have been my mum." Butler voiced Stoick the Vast in the franchise's animated films and reprises the role for the 2025 live-action film.

Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast in 'How to Train Your Dragon'

Butler also shared how his mother knew since he was a kid that he wanted to be an actor. He said, "She was an amazing woman, but she was strong, she was fiery and she was graceful and she was beautiful."

DIRECTOR Dean DeBlois shared with The Hollywood Reporter that he brought the idea to Universal Pictures to surprise Butler with the dedication.

DeBlois said, "I knew that the loss of his mother was a deeply felt wound and that he was having a tough time recovering from it. So to honor her with a dedication in the credits just seemed like the right thing to do in that moment."

The live-action film follows Hiccup (Mason Thames), the son of Butler's Stoick, who has grown up in a society that hunts and kills dragons. But when he happens upon Toothless, an injured Night Fury dragon, he nurses the creature back to health, forming a close friendship with him that ends up changing his village forever.

The film also stars Nico Parker as Astrid, Hiccup's love interest, and Nick Frost as Gobber the Belch, the village blacksmith and Stoick's friend.

'How to Train Your Dragon' is out in theaters Friday, June 13.

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