HBO’s Harry Potter reboot continues to transform London into the wizarding world. Fans in Borough High Street near London Bridge witnessed filming for the Leaky Cauldron sequence, where Nick Frost’s Hagrid escorts young Dominic McLaughlin’s Harry Potter into the magical realm for the first time. The shoot briefly brought traffic to a standstill — but it also gave us our clearest look yet at this new era of Hogwarts.
McLaughlin, just 11 years old, looked every bit the Boy Who Lived with his round glasses, wide-leg jeans, and a colorful rain jacket, his rucksack slung across his shoulders, looking even tinier than he is, thanks to the costumers ensuring he appears to be wearing his cousin Dudley’s hand-me-downs. Walking beside him, Frost — best known for Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead — donned Hagrid’s signature long curls, beard, and rugged coat-and-boots ensemble. The size difference between the pair already sells the dynamic, though in some photos Frost wore a partial facial covering with tracking dots, a telltale sign of visual effects work that will enlarge him to Hagrid’s towering 11’6” stature.
Nick Frost Isn’t Daunted By Playing Hagrid
Speaking exclusively to Collider’s Steve Weintraub while promoting How to Train Your Dragon, Frost explained how he’s balancing reverence for the late Robbie Coltrane with his own take on the role:
“You get cast because you’re going to bring something to that. 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. I’m going to try and do something, not ‘different,’ I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there’s scope for minutia. 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. He’s funny! I want it to be funny and cheeky and scared and protective and childlike. That’s what I’m planning on doing.”
The scale of the project hasn’t deterred Frost, even though he revealed the production is designed to be a marathon:
“I’m just so excited to get going. I’ve gone in to do head sculpts and have your hand stand and stuff, and they say, ‘Oh, have a look at this.’ And you’re like, ‘Wow. That’s the coolest thing.’ I love films. I’ve loved cinema my whole life, so to be part of that universe now and that they’re showing me, like, a dancing mushroom, it’s like, ‘That is so cool!’”
The HBO series is filming at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden as well as on location, with Frost leading alongside McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. Rounding out the adult cast are John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Snape, and Janet McTeer as McGonagall.
Harry Potter will premiere in 2027.
via Collider