Harry Potter Stars Pay Sweet Tribute To Big Friendly Giant Robbie Coltrane
Stars of the “Harry Potter” movies have paid tribute to Robbie Coltrane — aka Hagrid in the hit films— following the news of his death aged 72.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis and other actors who were just children when they filmed with Coltrane remembered him as a fun presence and caring influence on their formative years.
Coltrane was “one of the funniest people I’ve met” who “used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set,” Daniel Radcliffe, who played boy wizard Potter, said in a statement to the Press Association news agency.
“I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on ‘Prisoner Of Azkaban,’ when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut and he was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up,” Radcliffe added. “I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”
Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, described Coltrane as “like the most fun uncle I’ve ever had but most of all he was deeply caring, and compassionate towards me as a child and an adult.”
“His talent was so immense it made sense he played a giant ― he could fill ANY space with his brilliance,” she wrote on Instagram stories. “Robbie, if I ever get to be so kind as you were to me on a film set I promise I’ll do it in your name and memory.”
Tom Felton, aka Draco Malfoy, recalled Coltrane “effortlessly” looking after and caring for everyone on set during one particular night shoot.
“He was a big friendly giant on screen but even more so in real life. Love you mate — thank you for everything xx,” he wrote on Twitter.
Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom, recalled Coltrane’s nickname for him: “Space Boy.”
“We shared a love of the final frontier,” he tweeted. “He didn’t give a fuck and it always made you smile. A giant, in more ways than one. We had some times x.”
Warwick Davis, who played Professor Filius Flitwick, said Coltrane always brought “warmth, light and laughter to any set he walked on to.”
James and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley, recalled Coltrane’s encouragement on set and at one of the premieres:
“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, meanwhile, praised Coltrane as an “incredible talent, a complete one off, and I was beyond fortunate to know him, work with him and laugh my head off with him.”