Most young actors get one break. Mason Thames got two big ones, in two very different genres, before he was old enough to vote. He was the terrified, quietly brave kid in The Black Phone, and then he was Hiccup, carrying Universal's live action How to Train Your Dragon on his shoulders. He turned 19 in July 2026, and the question around him has changed. It's no longer whether he'll make it. It's what kind of actor he wants to be now that he has.
The clue to his appeal is that he didn't start out as an actor at all.
The Facts in Brief
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Mason Thames |
| Born | July 10, 2007, in Dallas, Texas |
| Age | 19 (as of October 2026) |
| Star sign | Cancer |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | About 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Eyes and hair | Brown eyes, light brown hair |
| Parents | Chad Thames and Elizabeth Thames |
| Sibling | Older sister Brooke-Madison Thames |
| Acting since | 2017 |
| Best known for | The Black Phone, How to Train Your Dragon (live action) |
| Lives in | Los Angeles, California |
| Net worth | About $4 million (Icon Polls estimate) |
| @masonthames |
Prosper, Pliés and a Big Sister
Thames was born in Dallas and grew up in the McKinney and Prosper area of North Texas with his parents, Chad and Elizabeth, and his older sister, Brooke-Madison. It was Brooke-Madison, a trained ballerina who went on to study at the Colburn Dance Academy in Los Angeles, who pulled him into dance.
He stuck with it for about four years, performed in productions of The Nutcracker, and was the youngest member of an international ballet company. That's not a trivia footnote. Watch him in The Black Phone and you see a kid who knows exactly what his body is doing, even when the character is falling apart. Ballet teaches stillness as much as movement, and stillness is what horror needs from its leads.
Small Parts, Then a Black Phone
His screen debut came in 2017 with a short film, After Omelas. Two years later he had a recurring role in Apple TV+'s For All Mankind, and in 2020 he landed a part in the series Evel alongside Milo Ventimiglia. Useful work, but the sort that rarely changes a career.
Then, in 2021, he was cast as Finney Blake in The Black Phone, opposite Ethan Hawke's masked kidnapper. Finney is shy and bullied, and the film asks him to be the emotional anchor of a story built on dread. Thames pulled it off without overplaying a single scene. The film grossed more than $161 million worldwide, a huge return for a modest horror picture, and it made him one of the most talked about young actors in Hollywood almost overnight.
To keep up with filming, he switched to online schooling after his freshman year of high school, and the family eventually relocated to Los Angeles.
2024 Was the Warm Up. 2025 Was the Test.
He kept busy in 2024 with the Netflix comedy Incoming and the family adventure Monster Summer. Neither was a career maker, but both showed he could be lighter and looser than Finney.
2025 was the real exam. He played Hiccup in Universal's live action How to Train Your Dragon, a role millions of viewers already had firm opinions about thanks to the animated films. Remakes like that can swallow young leads whole. He came out of it as the face of a franchise. In the same year he returned as Finney in Black Phone 2 and appeared in Regretting You. Three releases, three tones, one actor who hadn't yet turned 18 for most of it.
What He's Worth, Roughly
There is no official figure, and his salaries have never been disclosed. Icon Polls estimates his net worth at around $4 million in 2026. That's an educated guess built on his run of studio work: a breakout horror hit, a lead in a major franchise remake and a returning role in a sequel.
Brand interest is starting to follow. He's been seen at a Louis Vuitton event, which is usually the first sign luxury labels are paying attention. Our honest read is that the $4 million figure is likely to look small within a couple of years. Franchise leads tend to get paid a lot more the second time around.
Five Foot Ten, and Why That Matters
He's about 5 ft 10 in (178 cm), most of it gained in a growth spurt between roughly 14 and 17. Fans tracking his height across films aren't imagining things. It's a useful height for an actor in his position: tall enough to read as a young adult lead, not so tall that he towers over co-stars. That flexibility matters as he moves out of teenage roles.
What Comes After the Dragon
The next stretch looks deliberately varied. He's been cast in Caine, the John Wick spinoff, alongside Donnie Yen and Dacre Montgomery. He's also attached to New Years Rev, a comedy inspired by Green Day. And a How to Train Your Dragon sequel is widely expected to bring him back as Hiccup.
Action, comedy and a franchise return. If he lands even two of those well, he'll have escaped the "kid from that horror movie" label for good. He hasn't won a major industry award yet, but at 19 that says more about awards bodies than about him.
Off the Clock
Thames keeps his private life private, and we'll respect that. What's public is fairly wholesome: he skateboards, plays guitar, games and watches a lot of films. He shares some behind the scenes moments on Instagram and TikTok under @masonthames, but he's noticeably more guarded than many of his peers.
Think he belongs in the conversation with Hollywood's biggest leading men? Have your say in our Most Handsome Man in the World 2026 poll and vote for your pick.
Quick Answers
How old is Mason Thames?
He's 19. He was born on July 10, 2007, so he turned 19 in July 2026.
Did Mason Thames really do ballet?
Yes. He trained for about four years, performed in The Nutcracker and was the youngest member of an international ballet company before he started acting.
Is he related to actor Byron Thames?
No. They share a surname, but Byron Thames is a separate American actor and musician from Mississippi with no family connection.
