Hagrid is as well known as any of the Golden Trio. We could not imagine the Harry Potter series without the friendly and significant presence of Rubeus Hagrid. Although he was gentle, he didn’t look it at first sight.
He was towering over most characters, but how tall was he really, and how did he grow so tall?
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How Tall is Hagrid?
As with many other characters, J.K. Rowling never dwelled over Hagrids exact height. She described him:
He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide.
We assume that normal would mean average, and the average British adult male is 5’10” tall.
Performing simple math, we can then say that Hagrid is almost 11’8″ tall. According to Rubeus Hagrid’s file created for the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, we are not far off. Hagrid is 11’6″ tall.
He was already tall when he was just a six-year-old kid. He claimed he could lift his father and put him on top of the dresser. Considering that an average 6-year-old is 45″ tall and the tallest dresser we could find is 44″, we could assume Hagrid was a rather tall 6-year-old.
We can only guess how tall was “little” Hagrid. He was probably not twice as tall as other kids his age (that would make him already over 7′ tall!), but maybe close to the average kid twice his age?
Why is Hagrid so Tall?
Hagrid is so tall because of his parentage. Although his father was a rather short, ordinary wizard, Hagrid’s mother was a giantess. Hagrid admits himself to being half-giant:
“It was my mother,” said Hagrid quietly. “She was one o’ the las’ ones in Britain.” (…)
“- I’ve never met another one before!” (…)
“Another half-giant, o’ course!” said Hagrid.
Anyone who met giants or even read about them knows they are between 20′ and 25′ tall (except for Hagrid’s half-brother Grawp, who was only about 16′ tall). And we can assume that mixing giant blood with human blood would give the offspring half the size (having Hagrid as an example.)
How Did They Make Hagrid so Tall?
On the set of Harry Potter movies were two actors playing Hagrid, Robbie Coltrain, and former rugby player Martin Bayfield.
While Robbie Coltrain, tall himself, was the face of Hagrid, Martin Bayfield was a scale double, taller than the face actor, wearing a puffed-up costume and head prosthetics.
All the scenes when Hagrid was interacting with other characters, or where Hagrid was close-up, talking were filmed with Robbie Coltrain. All the other scenes showing Hagrid from afar or his back were filmed with Martin Bayfield.
The filmmakers also used two sets during scenes with Robbie Coltrain, one smaller filmed with green screens, and one standard size for other actors. In the post-production, Robbie Coltrain was added to the standard-size scenes.
To make Hagrid look even bigger, the cameras were set at angles, and the props carried by the Hagrid actor were smaller than the corresponding items carried by other actors (like Harry’s birthday cake.)
How Tall is Hagrid in Real Life?
Considering there were two actors playing Hagrid, there were two different heights of Hagrid in the movies.
Hagrid’s face actor, Robbie Coltrain, is 6’4″. That’s already quite impressive, but he also had a scale double. An even taller actor was playing the “half-giant” Hagrid, Martin Bayfield, who is 6’10”.
How Tall is Hagrids Girlfriend?
Madame Olymp Maxime is a Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy and Hagrid’s object of interest. Even though she objected to being a half-giant, her size told us something different.
Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights.
Harry’s description doesn’t specify if Madam Maxime was taller or shorter than Hagrid, so we can say that Olymp Maxime was between 11’5″ and 11’7″ tall.
Final Thoughts
Hagrid is as gentle as a lamb. He loves all the creatures and is very easily brought to tears of compassion.
Given Hagrid’s extraordinary height of 11’6″ and his wild appearance (wild bear and hair), those are very surprising traits. Adding to the mix is his parentage – the giantess mother, Hagrid is surely one of a kind character with a big heart (figuratively and literally!)