Final flight
Baruchel ready for life after ‘Dragon’
Jay Baruchel knows it’s time to say goodbye. Friday’s animated “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Kingdom” is the third time Baruchel, 36, has voiced stalwart Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the kindly Viking hero of this franchise.
“Hidden Kingdom” sees Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless, go through unexpected, major life changes, which gives this entry an unexpected, bittersweet, sweetly romantic spin.
“I think this is the natural progression where the saga was headed,” Baruchel said.
“The ending of this is the only conceivable one that would be right. What I dig most about this movie is it forces Hiccup to rethink everything he thinks about, namely a utopia where dragons and humans can co-exist.
“Now, he has to ask if that’s good for either group.”
Many fantasy films refer not so subtly to the present, but “Hidden World” isn’t about dragon discrimination or other social issues.
“It has real-world applications,” Baruchel said, “but in a personal, emotional sense. One of the big takeaways of this film is the idea that with anything important, it comes with difficulty.
“Change is inherently scary but not to be avoided; it needs to be embraced to grow.”
Baruchel, who began acting professionally as a child in his native French-speaking Montreal, has succeeded in a profession that is built on change.
He couldn’t have known that one of his first jobs as a kid would lead to Hiccup.
“At 12 or 13, I would dub French cartoons or TV shows into English. It was archaic — and the best way to train for voice work. If you can do dubbing,” he said, “you can do anything.”
Baruchel has now branched out — co-writing, starring in and directing “Random Acts of Violence,” a horror movie that co-stars “Fast and Furious” icon Jordana Brewster.
“We shot it last summer for $3.5 million U.S. and I’m now editing it in my basement. Hopefully the world will get to see it this fall.”
At the Toronto International Film Festival?
“That would be the dream! Jesse Chabot, my writing partner, and I adapted this graphic novel seven years ago — and we’ve been fighting tooth and nail to get it made ever since.
“That includes turning down options that weren’t quite right.”
Maybe he should have called Toothless.