In the upcoming HBO series adapting JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, will be played by Nick Frost, who gave Collider some insight into his approach to the character.
While promoting the upcoming live action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon, Frost said, “You get cast because you’re going to bring something to that. While I’m really aware of what went before me in terms of Robbie [Coltrane]’s amazing performance, I’m never going to try and be Robbie.”
Nick Frost in the trailer for Get Away – YouTube, IGN
His comments show a contemplative side of his process, which some fans may not have seen given his most popular works.
Frost has been known for playing the sweet affable and dimwitted sidekick to Simon Pegg in the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End) and their earlier TV show Spaced. But other elements of his comedic work, like Cuban Fury, have given him the opportunity to lead a movie and show some emotional range.
While sweet, affable, and dimwitted sidekick may sound like Hagrid, Frost has bigger plans for the role. These plans wouldn’t fit into a movie, but Frost believes it’s perfect for a TV show.
Hagrid in Harry Potter played by Robbie Coltrane – YouTube, Supercut Action
“I’m going to try and do something, not ‘different,’” he said, referring to Coltrane’s iconic portrayal. “I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there’s scope for minutia. I always read Hagrid as he’s like a lovely, lost, violent, funny, warm child. I think the beauty of being able to do a book a season means I get to explore that a lot more, and I can’t wait. He’s funny! I want it to be funny and cheeky and scared and protective and childlike. That’s what I’m planning on doing.”
In the interview he also talked a bit about the expected shooting schedule, though provided no insight on when it will begin. Frost said that they would be working “10 or 11 months a season.”
His work has actually already begun during preproduction, and he seems to be champing at the bit to go farther.
MIchael Gambon as Dumbledore in Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix – Max
“I’ve gone in to do head sculpts and have your hand stand and stuff,” he told Collider. “And they say, ‘Oh, have a look at this.’ And you’re like, ‘Wow. That’s the coolest thing.’ I love films. I’ve loved cinema my whole life, so to be part of that universe now and that they’re showing me, like, a dancing mushroom, it’s like, ‘That is so cool!’”
Even though Hagrid was instrumental to all the Harry Potter movies, the necessities of concise story telling meant that fans missed out on story beats and moments that rounded out the character in the novels. Like, for instance, his capacity for explosive power when he fought off a group of wizards alone, or his development as a teacher (which was only briefly seen in the movies).
Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Warner Bros. Pictures
Given the expanded time in a series, fans may even get to see flashbacks of his time trying to negotiate with a tribe of giants before the wizard war. Things like that may be what Frost means when he says, “there’s scope for minutia.”
For those fans still worried about how this series will be, take a word of wisdom from Hagrid himself, “No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it. What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.”
What do you think about Nick Frost as Hagrid in the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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Cool. I look forward to not seeing it!
The movies were great. This risks being to the Harry Potter books and movies what Rings of Power is to Tolkien and LoTR and the Peter Jackson films… an abomination.
And I even like Nick Frost!
With the pandering Snape casting, it’s already headed toward Rings of Power territory; and just like ROP the Potter series is about money, not creativity–neither series needed to be made in the first place…
If it’s “not the same” then it’s inherently different. Do they think we’re all stupid? Oh, what am I thinking? Of course they do…