Dawn French recalls bizarre experience with live hippo on Harry Potter set: ‘Genuinely terrifying’

‘Oh God, I’d like to run now,’ comedian recalls about time on set with real-life hippo

Dawn French has opened up about a “genuinely terrifying” experience with a real-life hippo on the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Vicar of Dibley star had a small role in the wizarding film franchise, playing the Fat Lady in the third film opposite Daniel Radcliffe.

But during an appearance on the Off Menu podcast, French admitted that the filming process had nearly ended in disaster. When host James Acaster said that he’d assumed the scene was CGI, French explained: “Oh no, it was a real hippo.”

“I was asked if I was happy to work with animals, and then I was told by the director that there was a hippo. I just said yes because I wanted to be in the film. Didn’t think about it until the day… when I was left in a pen with sawdust.”

The character of the Fat Lady is depicted dressed in finery against a luscious scene in a painting that hangs in Hogwarts and guards the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. In The Prisoner of Azkaban, the painting is attacked by Sirius Black and pulled off the wall.

French then explained that the animal wrangler, who was an “unpleasant man”, had “shouted” at her, telling her that she “must not run” around the animal.

“He said that they were going to be bringing in a live creature. ‘Pay it some respect, stand still, do not run, did I understand?’ He then explained that the script called for a female hippo, but this was a male hippo,” she recalled.

French appeared in the third film (Warner Bros)

“Then he said, ‘This hippo may want to sniff your privates. Do not run.’ I was wavering then, because I thought, I don’t think that’s part of the contract. When you said, ‘Do you like working with animals, I wasn’t imagining this.’ This is too much.”

French continued: “Then he said, ‘This hippo may want to mate with you, and if he does, his skin will start to foam. Be on alert, look out for that, tell me, but do not run.’ Then I thought, oh God, I’d like to run now.”

The comedian explained that she was “genuinely terrified” until she saw the animal. “It was the size of a labrador,” she explained. “The word they had all neglected to use concerning the hippo was pygmy. It was a pygmy hippo.”

In addition to starring in the real Harry Potter films, French also spoofed the fantasy franchise the following year in a 2005 Comic Relief special. She starred alongside comedy partner Jennifer Saunders in the sketch special, titled Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan.