The Harry Potter Cast Confirms What We Suspected All Along About Robbie Coltrane's On-Set Behavior
According to the stars of the film franchise, one of the most beloved characters in "Harry Potter" is just as warm and kind off-screen as he was on-screen.
HBO Max rang in 2022 with an incredible release for fans, debuting a "Harry Potter" reunion special featuring all of your favorite actors and plenty of reminiscing about what it was like to make this epic eight-film franchise. In particular, the younger set of actors who grew up on the set — including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, and more — had a lot of revelations about what it was like to work with the adult cast members, many of whom are some of the most decorated performers in British film and television history.
From Maggie Smith to Helena Bonham Carter to actors who sadly passed away like Richard Harris, Richard Griffiths, and Alan Rickman, the then-child actors had the opportunity to work with some of the best living actors of their time. When it comes to Robbie Coltrane, who played the friendly Hogwarts groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid, you probably won't be surprised at what the young actors had to say about him. Here's what it was really like to work alongside Coltrane on the "Harry Potter" films.
Robbie Coltrane is basically Rubeus Hagrid in the real life
"I don't think any of the kids had the capability of understanding the gravity of who they were dealing with at the time," Chris Columbus, director of the first two "Potter" movies, tells audiences during the reunion. "The British royalty of the acting world." Among those giant names, one person got a ton of shoutouts — Coltrane, who shared a ton of scenes with Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint in particular.
"The adult actors came in and were, like, the mischief, in a funny way" Watson recalled, before specifically mentioning Coltrane. "He was such a kid," Grint agreed. "So immature and just... so much fun."
"He loved making us laugh, and he was incredibly good at it," Radcliffe said, accompanied by a video of Coltrane doing a super-silly voice. After that, the reunion brought Watson and Coltrane together, who shared a hug and snapped a photo before reminiscing about their time on set. As Watson pointed out, the two spent a lot of time together filming in Hagrid's hut, and Coltrane even admitted that he probably saw the trio more than his own children.
Even after twenty years, the bond between Coltrane and the trio was as strong as ever, and his, as Watson points out, "warmth and kindness" made all of the difference for the young actors. All of Hagrid's best moments in the original series, as well as the reunion, are streaming on HBO Max now.
Daniel Radcliffe played a prank on Coltrane on set
Daniel Radcliffe felt so comfortable on the "Harry Potter" sets with Robbie Coltrane initially that he decided to prank his co-star. When appearing on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" in the early aughts, Coltrane told the talk show host about how Radcliffe got a hold of his phone and made some adjustments, so he had no idea how to work it (via YouTube). A very young Radcliffe was there as the story was told and couldn't help but chuckle. "[Radcliffe] turned the language on my cellular phone into Turkish," Coltrane remembered. He then laughed that it would have been easy to switch it back to English, but you must know Turkish to do that. According to Hollywood.com, Radcliffe felt terrible about the prank afterward and wrote Coltrane a note to apologize.
These types of interviews and the HBO Max "Harry Potter" reunion special proved just how special the late Coltrane was to the rest of the cast and the fans of the franchise. "The legacy of the movies is that my children's generation will show them to their children, so you could be watching it in 50 years' time, easy," Coltrane said. "I'll not be here, sadly, but Hagrid will."