Daniel Radcliffe pays tribute to late Harry Potter costar Robbie Coltrane: 'One of the funniest people I've met'

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has shared a heartfelt tribute to his late castmate Robbie Coltrane, who died Friday at 72.

"Robbie was one of the funniest people I've met and used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set," Radcliffe, 33, said in a statement obtained by EW.

The actor, who played the titular young wizard opposite Coltrane as kindly half-giant Rubeus Hagrid in all eight Harry Potter movies, also recalled a treasured memory from the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

"I've especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on Prisoner 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," Radcliffe said. "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."

Everett Collection Robbie Coltrane and Daniel Radcliffe in 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'

Coltrane's Hagrid holds a special place in the hearts of Harry Potter fans as the Hogwarts groundskeeper and future professor who first ferried Harry into hiding as a baby. The character would later bring Harry to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. Radcliffe first acted opposite Coltrane at age 11, in the 2001 film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Tributes to Coltrane have been pouring in from those who worked with him.

"I'll never know anyone remotely like Robbie again," Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling wrote on Twitter. "He was an incredible talent, a complete one off, and I was beyond fortunate to know him, work with him, and laugh my head off with him. I send my love and deepest condolences to his family, above all his children."

And a statement on the Harry Potter film Twitter account said, "We are hugely saddened to hear of the passing of the magnificent Robbie Coltrane who played Hagrid with such kindness, heart, and humor in the Harry Potter films. He was a wonderful actor, a friend to all, and he will be deeply missed."

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