Nick Frost “manifested” playing the role of Hagrid in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, the actor has said.
Frost told The Guardian that he watched all eight Harry Potter movies on TV and wrote the name ‘Hagrid’ 7,000 times by hand.
“I’ve seen all the films,” he told the newspaper. “We go through them all as a family during Christmas every year. We start on December 20 and finish a week and a half later.
“Before I was cast as Hagrid, my partner suggested trying to manifest it. So last Christmas, I watched all the films back to back on the Sky Harry Potter channel, while writing out the word ‘Hagrid’ 7,000 times.”
Previously, the Hot Fuzz actor praised the performance of the late Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the movies, but told fans that his own take on the character might have some subtle differences.
“I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there’s scope for minutia,” he told Collider. “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.”
Last year, however, Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter movies, questioned the logic behind making a TV show after seeing photos of Frost as Hagrid.
“So, I’m seeing these photographs … and [Frost is] wearing the exact same costume that we designed for Hagrid,” he said on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. “Part of me was like: ‘What’s the point?’ I thought the costumes and everything was going to be different, but it’s more of the same. It’s all going to be the same.”
Around the same time, Columbus told The Standard that he’d recently seen Frost and explained to him that it felt “surreal” and “bizarre” to see another actor playing Hagrid, as he and Coltrane – who died aged 72 in 2022 – were close friends.
Warwick Davis, meanwhile, said earlier this month that the TV series is “very faithful” to the books. The actor, who appeared in the movies, is reprising his role as Professor of Charms and Head of Ravenclaw Filius Flitwick in the show.
He added: “I can’t really tell you anything other than we’re retelling those wonderful stories but with more depth and detail than has been seen before … We’re obviously telling the same story so there are similar moments that we’re experiencing as actors on the set. But it’s weird being back in the same studios again, doing it all again, because Leavesden is where we shot the films.”
The new version of the hit fantasy series will adapt the seven novels over a mammoth 10-year period, with each book receiving its own season on HBO. The first season is expected to arrive in early 2027.
Alongside Frost and Davis in the cast are Dominic McLaughlin playing Harry, Arabella Stanton portraying Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout taking on the role of Ron Weasley. John Lithgow is playing Professor Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu will play Severus Snape, and Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall.