We’ve all seen the Harry Potter movies a million times by now, right? The enchanting films, which are based on J.K. Rowling’s seven-part book series, are among the most beloved films of all time, so it’s only natural that we’ve seen them so many times!
But of all characters in the movie, one really stands out the most, and sometimes, we wonder how is it even possible! In the Harry Potter films, Robby Coltrane played Hagrid, one of the most lovable characters in the Harry Potter novel and a key part of the narrative since his entrance in the first chapter of Philosopher Stone. Hagrid is a giant but is he so in real life?
Of course, the world of cinematics comes with a lot of amazement and secrets that we’ve never known. With that said, here are some things about Hagrid that you may not have guessed.
Hagrid is described as being twice as tall as the typical man and nearly five times as wide in Philosopher’s Stone, however, he is shown as being 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) in the film and three times as wide in later books. Hagrid’s thick West Country brogue is well-known. In real life, Robbie Coltrane is 6’1″. After doing the math of how tall the character should be, the movie’s official height for Hagrid is 8’6″. Obviously, one character can’t be enough to do the trick. The crew search for a stuntman who would suit the character and they found Martin Bayfield who played Hagrid’s double. He came in the scenes that needed to make Robbie look bigger. Martin didn’t look that big until you get up close and see how enormous he is.
During filming, two outfits for Hagrid were designed, one for Coltrane and the other for 6’10” England rugby star Martin Bayfield, who played Hagrid in sequences when he was required to be greater than the surroundings around him. The suit is big, flexible, and soft-body. The suit was prepared without anyone knowing about it.
Another thing to wonder about is whether Hagrid’s face real? This behind-the-scenes look is fascinating since it reveals how the life-sized version of Hagrid was made, as well as the fact that his face is entirely robotic. Martin Bayfield, the person inside the outfit, also tells about the preparations for getting inside the costume.
The suit was definitely an amazing one. When they started out, the head was what they called a ‘dead head’, a mixture of fiberglass and silicone to make it look like Hagrid’s face but in the second movie, they went animatronic with the face. So the new feature is there’s eye movement, mouth movement, and the head has life! In the third film, they inserted voice activation into the head so that Martin would be able to say his lines and the mouth would move.
This film depicts Bayfield’s preparation for his role as Hagrid. The suit is heavy for sure and makes one feel hot. Because Martin had to wear the padded suit for lengthy periods of time, the designers included water tubes to keep him cool. And that Hagrid mask threw us for a loop! It’s no surprise that no one discovered he had a stunt double in the movies. They also prepared gigantic director chairs for Martin to sit on!
To set up the suit isn’t a piece of cake. Crews are needed to assist Martin whenever he puts on the suit. There’s a couple of dressers who would get Martin into the suit, an animatronic engineer to connect the wiring and electronics, and also control the radio control which gives movement to the face.
Despite the fancy suit and robotic head, one can’t bring the character straight up to the screen. Here’s where the camera does the trick. Sometimes, they use a camera to widen the lens, get closer to the actor, and leave the background further away. Another trick is using a green or blue screen. They could then superimpose film or simply his body onto other sequences – scaled up, of course, to appear larger. Hagrid appears to be much taller than Coltrane.
All these tricks had to be carefully worked out as they wouldn’t want anyone to notice the real deal. Besides technology and suit, illusion plays a neat game in making Hagrid look gigantic. In the movie, everything that Hagrid possesses from cutlery to bed, they are enormous in size!
Overall, Harry Potter was a wonderful movie with lots of magic on its own. So now you know the tricks behind the scene!
Sources: Pajasek99, Answers-Short, Harry Potter Wiki