robbie coltrane

However, although it may not seem like it, Robbie Coltrane had an acting life before the JK Rowling saga arrived . In fact, he was quite well known for his comedic roles mostly in Britain, although he has also done a multitude of supporting roles in films with some success.

His real name is Anthony Robert McMillan and he was born on March 30, 1950 in Rutherglen, a town on the outskirts of Glasgow, in Scotland. The son of a forensic doctor and a piano teacher, he studied at Glenalmond College, although he does not have many fond memories of that time. And despite the fact that he was still not clear about his vocation as an actor, it seems that Robbie was already good at that “talk” because he received several awards in debate contests. After college he entered the School of Art in his hometown, where he became interested in painting and cinema.

In the 1970s Robbie began taking his first steps in the theater and working as a comedian in nightclubs. It was around this time that he decided to adopt the name “Coltrane”, chosen in honor of the famous jazz tenor saxophone John Coltrane. He got his first roles in the world of television, specifically in very minor roles in series like The Lost Tribe (1980) or Keep It in the Family (1981). He stood out much more in the television comedy series Alfresco , where he played various roles. Throughout the 80s he also appeared in motion pictures, but in most cases he only had very brief rushes and his name was not yet a claim. Among these films, the drama La muerte en directo (1980), byBertrand Tavernier , the fantastic adventures Flash Gordon (1980) and Krull (1983), the thriller Chinese Boxes (1984), the historical drama Revolution (1985) and the highly questionable biopic Caravaggio (1986). Within his filmography, he highlights Mona Lisa (1986), a solid film by Irishman Neil Jordan , starring Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine , where Robbie Coltrane had a fairly important role. The same year the thriller In Defense of the Kingdom was also well received . In 1987 he coincided with his friend Emma Thompson –With whom he had worked in the theater–, in the well-received Tutti Frutti series , in which he was the protagonist. And in 1988 he co-starred with the ineffable Rowan Atkinson in a hilarious comedy, Blackadder’s Christmas Carol , a black comedy adaptation of Charles Dickens ‘ “A Christmas Carol”.where Coltrane played the Spirit of Christmas. And although he stood out as the mythical Shakespearean Falstaff in Kenneth Branagh ‘s wonderful Henry V (1989) , it was clear that Robbie had, above all, an innate talent as a comedian, and this was also seen in the film with which he began to be recognized in the United States. United, Nuns on the run (1990), despite the fact that it was a sovereign nonsense.

Already with North American capital, in 1993 he had an important role in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , along with the then young Elijah Wood . He did not forget his natural terrain anyway and so he worked on 17 episodes of the British humorous series The Comic Strip Presents (1982-1993). On the small screen, however, he shone in a crime mystery series, Cracker , with a very unusual starring role as a forensic doctor who helps the police in especially tricky cases.

And little by little he was getting more roles in the United States, in very successful films, such as the “bondians” GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Never Enough (1999), the romantic Message in a Bottle (1999) or the dark and criminal From Hell (2001), on the figure of Jack the Ripper. He later got the character of Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.(2001), for which he would receive the approval of the millions of fans of the most spectacular magical saga in history. Robbie knew how to infuse his character with the humanity, kindness and enormous presence that the literary character demanded. Of course, the other Potter films kept coming over time, but in between Robbie Coltrane found room to vary his schedule in some other films such as Van Helsing (2004), Operation Stormbreaker (2006) or the dramatic Provoked: a true story ( 2006). And after the end of the “rowlingian” saga, Coltrane signed to participate in Brave , Pixar’s animated film.