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Tom Felton, interpreter of Draco Malfoy in “Harry Potter”, sent yesterday (30) to the site E! News an essay in honor of Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) on his 73rd birthday.
Felton remembered the actor, who died last October, as “endlessly playful”, “constantly cheeky” and “always kind”.
Read the full essay below:
Tom Felton’s Homage to Robbie Coltrane Thursday, March 30, 2023 – E! News In the early days of Harry Potter, the cast consisted of two distinct groups: children and adults. Emma Watson was 9 when we started filming, Dan Radcliffe was 11, I was 13. Maggie Smith and Richard Harris, by comparison, were in their sixties and seventies. Do the math: were you one of the kids or one of the adults.
Unless you were Robbie Coltrane.
Somehow, Robbie managed to be an adult and a child at the same time, keeping one foot in both camps.
His knowledge of the world was astonishing. He was well-versed in any topic you care to mention, from engineering to geography, history to travel – and that meant he had something to contribute to any adult conversation that might be taking place on set. You could tell the older actors valued and respected his experience.
But we kids didn’t have much time for these things. We just wanted to be, well, kids – naughty and mischievous and lively. But Robbie too. He had more mischief in him than a common room full of Slytherins. He could play with the best of us. He may have had the mind of an adult, but he really had the heart of a child.
Robbie was always looking to lighten the mood and make us laugh. My earliest memory of him was at the reading table before the first movie started shooting. It was intimidating, 40 or 50 of us were sitting around a huge table reading the script for the first time together.
Before we started, we all introduced ourselves: “I’m Dan and I’m playing Harry Potter.” “I’m Tom, and I’m playing Draco Malfoy.” Robbie and Emma were sitting side by side. When it was their turn, he convinced her to switch characters. “I’m Emma and I’m playing Rubeus Hagrid.” “I’m Robbie and I’m playing Hermione Granger.” We all laughed with our scripts when that huge, friendly, charming, smiling man reminded us with that little quip that we should approach this endeavor with a sense of fun. We were just making a movie. We weren’t saving lives.
That’s not to say he wasn’t a true professional. Robbie knew how important it was to know your lines, be on your schedule and act for the camera. We learned our craft by watching it. He set a great example for all of us on getting the basic skills of being on set right, but never in a boring or patronizing way. Though he routinely had to deal with an insane amount of hair, makeup, suits, and stilts, he still managed to create an environment that allowed us all to enjoy ourselves.
And Robbie was endlessly playful. He was constantly cheeky. Above all, he was always kind. He never took himself too seriously – and those traits were at the heart of it all, I think, because if Robbie took himself too seriously, if he forgot what it meant to be kind, there would be no Hagrid.
Without Hagrid, there is no Hogwarts. And no one could, would or ever would play this gentle half-giant as well as my late friend Robbie Coltrane.
(+) Several actors from the “Harry Potter” cast have published tributes to Robbie Coltrane, who was also remembered in Globo’s 2022 Retrospective and Oscar 2023.
