The director of live-action Dragons defends the casting of Nico Parker as Astrid

He explains that his film does not aim to “represent a historical fact, but to create a fantasy.”

As for Halle Bailey in Little Mermaid Or Rachel Zegler in Snow Whitethe cast of Nico Parker – revealed in The Last of Us – to play Astrid in the live-action version of Dragons is being talked about on the networks. In question? The color of her skin, different from that of Astrid in the animated films. So the director Dean DeBlois steps up to the plate and defends his choice by explaining that Dragons is not a film based on “historical facts“.

The actress's daughter Thandiwe Newton and the British director Ol Parker is mixed race. That Dean DeBlois fully assumes, since Astrid's voice, for the cartoon, was that of'America Ferrera, Latin American from Honduras. Via an Instagram publication, the director tries to calm things down and justifies:

“We auditioned many actors for the roles, including actors who resembled their animated counterparts. But in the end, we chose the actors who best embodied the spirit and personality of the characters, because the tribe of this version is made up of the descendants of the best dragon fighters from every country the Vikings traveled to (which historically was very far and wide – the Vikings mixed with many cultures).”

He goes on to explain that his film does not, in any case, aim to “represent a historical fact, but to create a fantasy. And then we are not doing a shot-by-shot remake of the animated films. We just stuck to key moments to honor the original – something I remain very proud of.”

At the casting, Nico Parker will respond to Mason Thames And Gerard Butlerwho will play Harold and his father Stoick the Brute.

Dragons will be released in June 2025 in cinemas in France.