Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost has revealed how he manifested himself getting the part of Hagrid in HBO’s new Harry Potter TV series: by writing the name “Hagrid” down 7,000 times while binging the franchise’s movies.
Frost will take on the role of Hagrid in HBO’s ambitious TV project that’s set to adapt all seven Harry Potter books over the coming decade. The star of Spaced, Hot Fuzz and Paul was announced as playing Hagrid last year, taking on the baton from the late Robbie Coltrane, who played the Hogwarts groundskeeper throughout the previous film series.
Speaking to The Guardian, Frost said he was already familiar with the Harry Potter universe as his family watches all eight movies as a regular ritual each Christmas. It was during Christmas 2024’s rewatch, however, that he also attempted to get himself cast.
“I’ve seen all the films,” Frost said. “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,” he continued. “So last Christmas, I watched all the films back to back on the Sky Harry Potter channel [a UK channel that plays just the Harry Potter movies and nothing else], while writing out the word ‘Hagrid’ 7,000 times.”
Clearly, it worked. The revelation also provides some insight into how long the casting process was for his role — which was finally announced publicly in April 2025, as filming on the series began. Shortly after, Frost was seen filming in public around London alongside Dominic McLaughlin, the young actor now playing Harry.
Frost also revealed we’d see Hagrid knitting in the series, and that he had recently taken lessons to learn how. Hagrid does indeed knit in the first Harry Potter book, when he and Harry take the train to London and the half-giant is described as “knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent” to pass the time.
“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,” Frost previously said, describing his approach to playing Hagrid that would try and avoid directly copying what viewers had seen before. “I’m going to try and do something, not ‘different,'” he continued, “I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there’s scope for minutia.”
Frost will share the screen with John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essidu as Severus Snape and Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley. Sherlock actress Louise Brealey has now been spotted as Quidditch teacher Madam Rolanda Hooch, while Game of Thrones’ Anton Lesser portrays legendary wandmaker Garrick Ollivander. Alongside all the new faces, one familiar actor will return: Star Wars and Willow actor Warwick Davies is back as Professor Flitwick.
Filming for HBO’s series began last year, with various glimpses spotted by fans including work on fresh scenes not from the prior movies or books. This month brought news that the show’s soundtrack will be scored by Hans Zimmer, the award-winning composer behind Interstellar, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Gladiator and countless other blockbusters. The show, including Frost’s knitting skills, is scheduled to debut in 2027.
Image source: Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
