Daniel Radcliffe Shares Sweet Memories With Late Hagrid Actor Robbie Coltrane

Daniel Radcliffe is looking back on the good times with the late Robbie Coltrane on the set of the Harry Potter movies. The 33-year-old actor, who originated the role of the Boy Who Lived when he was just 12 years old, celebrated Coltrane, who played Rubeus Hagrid, while talking to Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at the New York City premiere of his new film, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn on Tuesday,

“Honestly, just Robbie was incredibly funny, and when you’re a young kid on a set you can get bored, and I think Robbie just recognized that we needed to kind of be entertained a little bit, at first,” recalled Radcliffe, who added with a smile, “He was incredibly funny, with accents, impressions, and just, he was lovely with us.”

Coltrane passed away on Oct. 14 at a hospital near Falkirk in his native Scotland after a number of years of illness. Radcliffe issued a statement in remembrance of his late co-star at the time: “Robbie was one of the funniest people I’ve met and used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set,” he said at the time. “I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on Prisoners of Azkaban, when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut and he was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up. I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the films, paid tribute on Instagram to Coltrane after his death. “Robbie was like the most fun uncle I’ve ever had but most of all he was deeply caring and compassionate towards me as a child and an adult,” the actress wrote. “His talent was so immense it made sense he played a giant – he could fill ANY space with his brilliance. Robbie, if I ever get to be so kind as you were to me on a film set I promise I’ll do it in your name and memory.”

“Know how much I adore and admire you,” Watson continued, addressing Coltrane directly. “I’ll really miss your sweetness, your nicknames, your warmth, your laughs and your hugs. You made us a family. Know you were that to us.” She concluded, “There was no better Hagrid. you made it a joy to be Hermione.”