Gerard Butler says the emotional heart of How to Train Your Dragon is linked to his rescue dog Shushka.

The 55-year-old actor, who plays the Viking warrior Stoick in the upcoming live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon, said he relates more to his character's son, Hiccup - portrayed in the new film by 16-year-old Mason Thames - than to the dragon-hunting chief he plays on screen.

Talking about making the film during an appearance on the Today show, during which he held up a picture of his rescue dog, the actor said: "This is actually the day I met Shushka. We were in the middle of nowhere in Bulgaria and I found this stray dog who was pretty ill and just immediately fell in love with her."

How to Train Your Dragon, based on the DreamWorks animated franchise, follows Hiccup as he defies his community's tradition of hunting dragons.

Instead, he befriends a wounded Night Fury, Toothless, helping the creature heal and eventually shifting the beliefs of his entire village.

Gerard went on about rescuing his new pet: "It was an untrained dog, maybe from a pack of hunting dogs that got left out there.

"So that story of Hiccup and Toothless feels very similar to me when we started bonding with this dog and learning a whole new language - hers, not mine - but a whole new language between us."

Gerard, who voiced Stoick in the original animated dragon trilogy, said: "I think that's what's great about this movie - everybody feels a connection from many different angles.

"That's great when you tell a story like that that's affecting you in many ways and definitely reminds me of my relationship with my beloved Shushka."

In a 2019 interview with Cineplex, Butler recalled finding Shushka while filming on location.

He said: "We were at the bottom of this mountain and we found this stray dog.

"We were in the middle of nowhere and she was starving, just a beautiful dog. Just so present, right in your face, will just sit and look at you.

"And I thought, 'What am I going to do, just leave her?'"

The dog's name also has cinematic roots.

Gerard said: "There was an assistant director on the movie, going, 'Hey, Shuska, Shuska,' and I thought, 'That's a great name for a dog'.

"And she seems like a Shuska, but I've since found out that Shuska actually means nothing. It's kind of like, 'Hey there, hey there.' So my dog is called 'hey there.'"

In May, Butler posted a photograph with Shushka on Instagram, writing: "Eight years ago in Bulgaria, I came home with more than just a movie - I got Shushka. She's still the real star."