Ferrera as feisty girlfriend

MANILA, Philippines - America Ferrera stars alongside Jay Baruchel in How To Train Your Dragon 2, the second film in the animated 3D trilogy about a young Viking called Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless. As the thrilling story unfolds, Hiccup has an unexpected meeting with an extraordinary woman who shares his passion for dragons — his mother Valka (Cate Blanchett). Also starring in the film are Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller and Craig Ferguson.

Baruchel voices the story’s intrepid hero while Ferrera plays his feisty girlfriend, Astrid.  Five years on from the original 2010 film from DreamWorks Animation, we find Hiccup enjoying life as an explorer. But his dad, Stoick, the mighty Chieftain of Berk (Gerard Butler), thinks his son needs to shape up and take his responsibilities as a future leader more seriously. There is currently peace on Berk, where humans and dragons are living happily.

 â€œIt is so exciting to play a great female character both boys and girls will be watching. It is wonderful that they will be seeing a male and a female character as equals in their capabilities and their excitement. Astrid likes to be a leader and Hiccup is a bit of a loner. He’s flying around and discovering new territories, exploring with Toothless. Astrid doesn’t look like me. She’s Nordic, blonde and blue eyed and so I thank them for not typecasting her and going for the essence of the character. Astrid is great, she is kicking butt and she is a natural born leader who is probably better suited to being the future Chieftain of Berk than Hiccup is. She is winning the tournament racing (with Stormfly, her dragon),” adds Ferrera.

There are challenges ahead for Hiccup. Together with Toothless, he has to defend his village from a terrible army of dragon trappers, led by Drago (Djimon Hounsou), a mad genius and self-proclaimed  “Dragon God,” who strikes fear into the hearts of even the bravest Vikings.

Ferrera further describes her character’s evolved relationship with Hiccup now that they’re grown-ups. “Their relationship is still very playful and competitive, but they match each other in their lust for life and adventure. What is fun is that our characters are more grown up now. Because there is a romantic aspect to their relationship, there are more tender moments between them. In the first film, she was thinking: ‘Who is this guy? Why should he get to be chief of Berk when I’ve worked hard my whole life?’ But this time, she’s his No. 1 supporter because she sees that he’s special and totally capable of leadership. She is a partner in his adventure.”

How To Train Your Dragon 2 opens in cinemas on June 11.