Written by Simranpreet Kaur, Staff Writer
Mason Thames has not only become a familiar face to many people on social media but he’s also begun his steady climb in Hollywood. The 17 year old is most remembered for his iconic performance in The Black Phone (2021) where he starred alongside icon Ethan Hawke and his younger co-star Madeleine McGraw. This not only boomed his career quickly as the movie was given an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and became a fan favorite that was extremely popularized through social media at its time but it also brought attention to the star’s remarkable talent.
In our current year three movies have been released where Thames had been a leading actor if not main character of these movies, if unfamiliar he played Hiccup in the already beloved live action How to Train Your Dragon movie released this June, Miller Adams in book adaptation Regretting You released October, and returned as Finney Blake for the sequel Black Phone 2 also this October. Not only is it extremely unlikely for actors especially of this young age to be booked in a movie, let alone play the lead role, but to be in three is entirely phenomenal and we hope to provide more insight on who this actor is, and why he might become a household name in the near future.
In 2019 at the age of 12 years old, Thames was cast as Finney Blake in Blum House Productions, The Black Phone, a paranormal horror movie that was not only suspenseful but showcased entirely unexpected performances from all of the actors involved leaving audiences wanting more and was even a box office success grossing over $161 million dollars against an $18 million budget. This being the first movie the actor ever appeared in is not only absolutely insane by Hollywood’s standards but the odds that any actor’s first movie is a complete above the charts success is a once in the lifetime draw of luck.
This was only the beginning for Thames though, after the movies success he was quickly signed with DreamWorks and IMAX to produce the live action film of the beloved cartoon movie How To Train Your Dragon in which he plays main character Hiccup Horrendous, directly after this he reprised his role as Finney Blake for Black Phone 2 where audience members claim was better then the original some claiming it was so good they even cried. All of these movies received raving reviews and have become films that have caught global attention. During this time Thames was also cast as Miller Adams for a book adaptation movie of Regretting You a young adult romantic comedy that touches on themes of grief while also exploring the difficulties of the teen experience. All of these movies hit a very significant box office milestone, by starring in three No.1 movies in the same year! Something that had not been accomplished since Jim Carrey in 1994.
This accomplishment not only displays that Mason Thames will surely be cast in many other upcoming films that many are positive will be great successes but that the young actor has already reached significant milestones in his career that most actors and actresses reach well into their careers. Jim Carrey hit this same milestone when he was 32 years old, Mason Thames has done the same at 17 years old! Not only does the diversity of each genre highlight that the actor will not be typecasted anytime soon as he is able to successfully step into any role that finds him but also that we will surely be seeing more of this talent very soon. His work has been nothing but great and everyone has been waiting to see what new movie Thames will be a part of next.
