Hagrid Talks Harry Part Two

By: CHRIS WYATT
Date: Sunday, November 25, 2001

British actor Robbie Coltrane is a veteran performer, having appeared in films like HENRY V, FLASH GORDON and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. He's now featured in one of the biggest films of his career though, playing Hagrid in HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE. In part one of CINESCAPE's interview with Coltrane, the actor discussed his respect for the Harry Potter series, as well as what it took to perform in such a fantastical story. As Coltrane explains in the second part of our interview, audiences can expect to see him again soon in the next Potter film.

Coltrane is currently signed only to the first two Harry Potter films. "Two is fine," he says. "I wouldn't want to be Hagrid for the rest of my life. I wouldn't want to get stuck in Hagrid, that's for sure. I reserve the right to play an alcoholic pimp tomorrow." But the actor isn't too afraid of being stereotyped in the role. "I don't think that I will, simply because he's so unrecognizable."

Coltrane hopes that part of the reason the stories have been so successful overseas is because of the "Britishness" of them. "I think that the Americans tend to be bemused by a lot of British behaviors... it's interesting having people from the outside noticing what you're up to. It's quite refreshing."



Some of the film's humor, unfortunately, didn't make it into the final cut. "There's all sorts of wonderful jokes that you will never see," Coltrane reports. "The props guys were just hilarious. As you go down Diagon Alley there are all these tiny little signs that you will never see [on screen]. They say things like, 'Established in four hundred B.C.,' and things like that."

It's well known that adult actors tend to be reluctant to work with children, but Coltrane says that the child cast of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE were very professional. "[Problems?] Not at all with these kids. The kids were great, and I have to say, as much as it goes against [an actor's] grain to be nice about a director, Columbus is wonderful with children."

Coltrane goes on to comment that Columbus's skill is evident on the screen. "You can tell from seeing it," Coltrane explains. "He really knows how to get the best out of them because they were doing a lot of really subtle stuff, weren't they? Normally, kids in movies are either being cute or they're just being ghastly, aren't they? He managed to get all sort of subtleties." Coltrane attributes Columbus' success in part to the closeness that he develops with actors. "He... [achieved] a sort of intimacy. It's hard to think of intimacy on a ten million dollar set, but it was really."

Like many others, Coltrane feels that the Harry Potter phenomenon has arrived with perfect timing. "It's an optimistic film and I think that's probably exactly what people need right now." This optimism is something that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling infused into the project. Coltrane admires the way that Rowling was able to hold out until she believed the film would be made properly. "She got offered millions of pounds," Coltrane mentions, "and you wouldn't believe the list of directors that wanted to do thiswho were turned down."

When Coltrane heard that a film was being made based on the Harry Potter books he was initially somewhat dubious. "I must confess that I thought, 'How are they going to do the Quidditch?' It's a three dimensional thing, but they bloody did it, didn't they? What was so wonderful is that you really thought that you were up there. You didn't feel that you were observing it. You felt that you were up there, which was the real clever part of it."



Coltrane also found himself to be a fan of the troll scene. "What I really liked about the troll scene was that it managed to be absolutely hilarious and scary at the same time. That's no mean trick!"

Another effects element that appealed to Coltrane was his character's flying motorcycle. "That's a pretty good entrance, I have to say. I've made some interesting entrances in movies, but on a Triumph 500, which is one of my favorite bikes..." Coltrane jokes about all the safety wiring he had to wear. "It's not that they love you, it's just that if you fall off, they can't film the next day."

If flying a Triumph is the upside of getting to play Hagrid, then the action figure is the down side. "It doesn't look like me," complains Coltrane. "And that's because Warner [Brothers Studio, which is releasing the film] doesn't want to pay us any money, and I'm pissed off about that... because they have a model that looks nothing like me with my photograph stuck in front of it to let them know that it's meant to be me. I think that it's kind of naughty... I think that it was a misjudgment on their part," he opines, "Kids are really, really detailed mad, you know."

Action figures are only one element of the Harry Potter craze. Coltrane expresses some degree of concern for what all the attention could do to the lives of the children who act in the film. "I've been famous for awhile, and there is absolutely nothing in your life that prepares you for it. It's like, 'I saw you while I was walking down the road and I'm going to come and talk to you while you're having lunch with your wife.' What's hard about being famous is that people start behaving in a way where they don't behave in any other situation."

Coltrane feels that it will be a particular problem for Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the famous boy wizard. "He'll change quite a lot, sure, and the tabloid press will be praying that he ends up as a druggie or something."

The adventure elements in the Harry Potter books remind Coltrane of the reading that he himself did as a child. "When I was eight, I read the LONE RANGER. I wanted to be a knight at one time because [of] IVANHOE. [I wanted to be] ZORRO, with one of those swords..."



One thing that Coltrane wasn't reading in his youth was the LORD OF THE RINGS series, which is why he doesn't consider the film version to be a rival for Harry Potter's audience. "I was in high school in the sixties," says Coltrane, "and a lot of the serious dope smokers used to go into their language and talk to each other, do you know what I mean? I could never get into it. When everyone is into something, you think, 'Well, I'll give it a shot,' and I just didn't. I was like, 'Is it me?'"

It makes sense that Coltrane isn't a huge RINGS fan, because, after all, it isn't the fantasy elements of Harry Potter that appeal to him the most. More important for Coltrane are "the way the friendships develop... the way you didn't like Hermione in the beginning, but... you come to realize that she's great."

It's this human sense that explains the power behind the Harry Potter stories, according to Coltrane. "[Harry Potter] encapsulates all the good elements of drama and particularly children's drama... [Children] wonder what life is about, and a lot of times, they wish that they had new parentsbut not really. It's that whole thing about them wanting to be scared, but not really."

For Coltrane the Harry Potter books reflect life. "The thing is that you want to be popular, but you want to be yourself. There's always that tension and peer group pressure... You have to discover [your]... individuality. Then, there's your relationship with authorityyou want to be a good boy, but you don't want to be too good. You want to get on at school, but you don't want to be the pet. [In the books, Rowling] gets that absolutely right!"

Coltrane sums up his feelings this way: "They're just great stories... Great stories!"