Rupert Grint Reflects on 'Suffocating' Experience Filming 'Harry Potter' Franchise
He's snitching on his decade-long role as Ron Weasley.
Rupert Grint recently opened up about his decade-long experience playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise and how it affected his decisions for future roles.
In an interview with Bustle magazine, Grint, 34, described his time in the role as "an out-of-body experience for a while" but noted that, at times, it could be "suffocating.”
"Potter was so full on—[filming] all year, then we’d promote the rest of the time. It was quite suffocating," he said.
When Grint first stepped into his role as Ron, he was merely an 11-year-old theater kid growing up outside of London, and he could never have predicted his first big break would spin out into an eight-film franchise across the span of 10 years.
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He also told interviewers that, as time went on, the lines blurred between the character he was playing and his true self. “I was feeling the difficulty of being seen, being overshadowed,” he explained, suggesting that he and Ron had more in common than just their red hair but the feeling of inferiority that comes from being a part of a large family (as the actor is one of five siblings). “In the movies, we merged into one. By the end of it, I was playing myself. The lines were blurred."
Even now, 12 years after the film series concluded, he still feels connected to the young wizard, "I answer to it if someone calls me Ron," he said, "It’s my second name."
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After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 hit theaters in 2011, Grint said he needed a break and began collecting unusual vehicles and experimenting with indie titles, even co-starring alongside Lindsay Lohan on the short-lived British black comedy Sick Note.
In 2020, the actor welcomed his first child, a daughter named Wednesday, with longtime partner Georgia Groome.
He has since fully returned to acting, appearing in M. Night Shyamalan's Apple TV+ original series, Servant, and recently reunited with the director for the upcoming apocalyptic psychological horror Knock at the Cabin, opposite Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, and Abby Quinn.
Knock at the Cabin premieres in theaters, Friday, Feb. 3.