Mark Addy as Hagrid Could Have Been Brilliant… Was HBO’s Casting a Missed Opportunity?

[Dumbledore]

There’s one piece of HBO’s new Harry Potter casting that I keep coming back to, and the more I think about it, the more it feels like a missed opportunity. Mark Addy was reportedly considered for Hagrid before Nick Frost was cast in the role, and honestly, I can see exactly why fans have started wondering what might have been.

 

 

Addy is one of those actors who can bring warmth and humour to a character without making them feel silly. He has that slightly gruff, instantly likeable quality that would have suited Rubeus Hagrid incredibly well. You only have to look at his work as Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones to see that he can completely fill a screen with his presence. Hagrid needs that. He isn't just the big friendly giant who introduces Harry to the magical world. He's one of the first adults Harry genuinely trusts, and there is a lot more going on underneath the jokes and the beard.

 

Nick Frost is obviously a very different choice, and that's what makes the casting so interesting. Frost has a natural comic warmth and an incredibly recognisable personality, so I can understand why HBO wanted him. The early footage has already given us a glimpse of his version of Hagrid, and there is plenty of time for him to make the character his own.

 

Still, Mark Addy would have brought something quite different.

 

 

One of the things I liked about Addy's performances is that he can make a character feel lived in. There is a tiredness and roughness to him that could have worked beautifully for Hagrid, especially as the television series has the advantage of spending much more time with the character. Hagrid isn't supposed to look like someone who has simply wandered onto a film set wearing an enormous coat. He's a man who has lived on the edge of the wizarding world for years, has been treated as an outsider and has a complicated relationship with Hogwarts and the Ministry.

 

Addy could have brought that slightly battered, world weary quality to him while still giving us the warmth that makes Hagrid so important.

And then there's the voice.

 

HERE IS AN AI MARKUP OF HOW MARK ADDY WOULD LOOK AS HAGRID!

 

This is probably where I think the casting becomes particularly interesting. Robbie Coltrane's Hagrid is one of the most beloved performances in the original films, and replacing him was always going to be incredibly difficult. His voice, laugh, physical presence and delivery are so closely connected to how millions of fans imagine Hagrid that whoever took over was never going to escape comparisons.

 

That means HBO didn't really need to find another Robbie Coltrane. They needed to find their own Hagrid.

 

Mark Addy could have been fascinating because he wouldn't have simply been trying to recreate the same performance. His version could have been warmer in some scenes, rougher in others and perhaps a little more vulnerable. The books give Hagrid plenty of moments that the films couldn't spend much time on, from his relationship with Harry and his love of dangerous creatures to his worries about his own background and his tendency to get himself into trouble. A television series gives all of that more room. Of course, we shouldn't write Nick Frost off before we've actually seen the finished season. We've only had brief glimpses so far, and trailers are designed to give us a particular impression of a character. Frost may end up being fantastic. In fact, he could surprise everyone once we see Hagrid interacting with Harry, Ron and Hermione properly. But that's what makes the Mark Addy possibility so frustrating.

 

It's not that I think HBO made some terrible casting decision. It's that Addy represents one of those alternate versions of a character that you can suddenly picture once someone mentions the idea. You start imagining him sitting in the hut, telling Harry about Hogwarts, getting far too excited about some enormous creature and then immediately realising he's probably said too much. It just works. And perhaps that's the real problem with recasting Harry Potter after the original films. Fans aren't simply comparing actors. We're comparing the possibilities. We already have an image of Hagrid in our heads, and now every new actor has to prove that their version can stand beside that memory without simply copying it.

 

Nick Frost has the chance to do exactly that. But if Mark Addy really was in the conversation, I can't help thinking HBO may have missed the chance to give us a Hagrid who felt completely different from the one we already know.

 

Maybe Frost will prove me wrong.

 

I actually hope he does.

 

Because ultimately, I don't want HBO to give us the Hagrid we already had. I want to meet a new one.

 

What do you think? Would Mark Addy have made a brilliant Hagrid, or are you happy with Nick Frost in the role? And if you could have chosen any actor to play Hagrid, who would you have picked?