Harry Potter Let Hagrid's Robbie Coltrane Do Something He'd Never Done Before
It's been said before, it'll be said again: so much of casting involves typecasting, where an actor lands a part not just for their ability but for their looks and overall vibe. Many's the occasion where a director has picked an actor for a role after just holding a general meeting with them or even after seeing them merely walk into an audition room.
Of course, for the actor, this can be a double-edged sword. Actors need to work, no doubt, yet they also want to be fulfilled by the work and not feel like they're doing the same thing over and over again. One such actor was the late Robbie Coltrane, who began his career proving his versatility on stage as well as in the alternative comedy series "The Comic Strip Presents." That versatility led to further roles in film and television, particularly as characters who were highly colorful; in other words, the baddies.
When the opportunity to portray the character of Hagrid in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" came Coltrane's way, it would seem at first glance a natural pairing, given Coltrane's physically imposing demeanor. Yet playing Hagrid allowed Coltrane to have an experience he'd not had before: getting to portray an out-and-out "good" person.
Coltrane hearts Hagrid
Portraying any character over the span of eight movies, one theme park ride, and ten years would inure most actors to them, but it seems that Coltrane especially enjoyed playing Hagrid in the "Harry Potter" franchise. So much so that he made a point of explaining why during a press-conference interview in 2011 with IndieLondon (via Insider):
"The great thing about Hagrid was that he was a thoroughly good man. It was the first time in my entire career I've played a thoroughly good man. I've played gangsters and prostitutes, transvestites, murderers, everything you can imagine but it's the first time I've played a man who was thoroughly good."
One of the reasons Coltrane was so enamored with Hagrid is no doubt due to the massive effect the "Harry Potter" films have had on pop culture and their enduring longevity, with Hagrid being one of the core beloved characters of the series. As Coltrane said in the HBO Max special "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" (via Entertainment Weekly), "The legacy of the movies is that my children's generation will show them to their children. You can be watching it in 50 years' time, easy. I'll not be here, sadly. But Hagrid will."
Hagrid's possible Shakespearean ancestor
The key word in Coltrane's description of Hagrid is "thoroughly," as it's a little erroneous to claim that the actor never played a "good" character during his career. Still, his point is taken when it comes to describing Hagrid as "thoroughly good," seeing as how the half-giant is such a stalwart confidant and companion to Harry and his other Hogwarts pals.
Although the character can't necessarily be called "thoroughly good," Coltrane did previously portray another boisterous man with a heart of gold who had a predilection for imbibing alcohol. In 1989, Coltrane played the role of John Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry V." The film, as with the play that it's adapted from, is set toward the end of Falstaff's life, when his friendship with King Henry V a.k.a. Hal (Branagh) is firmly in the past.
Despite the character's history as a corrupt petty criminal, he's often seen as a thief with a good soul, inspiring Hal to become a better King both because of and in spite of him. Coltrane's innate warmth as an actor comes through in his few scenes in the film, as he reminisces about his days palling around with a young Hal, and it's not hard to theorize that "Philosopher's Stone" director Chris Columbus recalled this performance when casting Hagrid. In any case, let's be thankful that Coltrane eventually had a big chance and a large canvas to demonstrate his ability to play through goodness on screen before he passed.