Who's That Guy?

On one of those nights just a couple weeks after I got to New York when I was drinking sangria on a rooftop, my phone started going crazy with calls and text messages from friends back in the Twin Cities telling me they had seen my brother on the news at the Mall of America (MOA, kind of like MoMA) for the Harry Potter midnight movie and book release. Here he is in all his costumed glory, amidst other frenzied fans, 400 of which wanted to get their picture taken with him. He ended up winning the costume contest hands down. Way to go, Dom! That beard is looking great by the way!


& here's the article from the St. Paul Pioneer Press' blog, Big Harry Deal, which tracked the hype leading up to the Harry Potter releases:

June 25, 2007

The winner of the HP Movie Marathon costume contest

You might recall that last week, Big Harry Deal was debating whether to spend the entire day, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the Harry Potter Movie Marathon at Riverview Theater in Minneapolis. We asked what you thought about that idea, and Number One Muggle responded:

"The costume contest sounds fun and the mockumentary too, but besides that it's really just all four movies - I've probably seen them all so much by now it wouldn't be much fun. And I don't know how much there would be to report." (The Pioneer Press wrote a story last year about that locally made mockumentary, "Harry Putter and the Sorcerer's Phone," and we'll post it later today, but for now here's a link to information on the production: http://www.battyproductions.com/HarryPutter/.)

Well, BHD ended up taking NOM's advice, in part because of family obligations. But we did head on over to theater at about 7:45 p.m. to see the costume contest awards ceremony. Turns out that the theater had a good-sized crowd for the marathon, close to capacity at 450 to 475 tickets, according to manager Jess Stone.

"There were small kids and up to ages 45 or 50," Stone said. "Everyone seems to love these films. We had a lot of pre-sold tickets, lots of costumes, really enthusiastic people."

BHD took our kids with us -- Calvin, almost 5, and Camilla Valentine, almost 3 1/2 -- and when we got to the theater, Calvin said, "Where's Harry Potter?" Later, when we sat down in the theater as the awards ceremony was about to begin, BHD turned around and saw a kid who looked just like Harry Potter, dressed up for Hogwarts.

"Look, guys, there's Harry Potter!" BHD said.

The kids whipped their heads around, staring, their mouths agape.

"Hi," Harry said shyly.

"Why isn't he on stage?" Calvin asked.

"Maybe he will be," BHD said.

Unfortunately, the little guy didn't place.

The five characters called up on the stage of the theater were Luna Lovegood, a dementor, Minerva McGonagall, Harry Potter (not the one we met) and Hagrid. While four of the five received a handful of votes from fellow audience members earlier in the day -- 4 votes for fifth place, 5 votes for fourth place, 8 votes for third place and 40 votes for second place -- the winner received 185 votes. "A landslide," the emcee said.

It was Hagrid.

We think you'll see why it was such a landslide when you click on this photo BHD took of Hagrid during the awards ceremony:

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site569/2007/0624/20070624_093541_062507_costume_winner1.jpg

Doesn't he look just like Robbie Coltrane, who plays Rubeus Hagrid in the movies? The beard, the stature, the clothes, the twinkle in his eye ... it's amazing.
The kids and BHD met up with Hagrid -- who's really Dominic, from St. Paul -- in the lobby beforehand, and he looked a bit overheated.

"I really wish this was during the winter," he said.

He rallied for the awards ceremony, though, introducing himself to the theater crowd by saying, "I'm Dumbledore. No, no, wait a minute. I'm Hagrid!"

When Hagrid was announced the winner, Hagrid's fellow Harry Potter fans cheered and clapped and roared in approval. As the grand-prize winner, Hagrid received a $50 gift certificate to DreamHaven Books.

Stay tuned to BHD for an interview with Hagrid. Anything you want to know?