Winning a Ron look-alike competition.
Becoming Ed Sheeran.
Joining fatherhood.
Keep watching as we shed a light, or should we say "lumos" on Rupert Grint's life in front
and behind the cameras!
"And…you are?”
“I'm Ron Weasley."
Rupert Grint loved the Harry Potter books when they were first published, but he also
had a special affinity with the character he ended up portraying.
Now, when someone thinks "Ron Weasley," they automatically think Rupert Grint — and apparently
not much has changed since the actor was a kid.
Grint explained to Inside Jersey in 2010,
"I enjoyed acting, but I only went on the audition because I was such a fan of the books.
Although I had won a Ron Weasley look-alike competition once."
Upon hearing that nugget, the interviewer said exactly what everyone was thinking:
"It'd be pretty embarrassing now if you'd lost."
Grint then revealed something surprising:
"Right!
For the (film) audition, I even did this sort of rap song I'd written about the character."
Unfortunately for his fans but fortunately for him, that video is locked up more securely
than a Gringotts Wizarding Bank account these days.
Grint told Inside Jersey,
"I've got that tape safe at home now.
You'll never see it."
And while no one will probably ever get to see the original, the actor did very kindly
recreate it during an interview once.
"It’s ‘Hello there, my name's Rupert Grint.
I hope you like this and don't think I stink.’"
Clearly, the casting directors thought he smelled of roses, given the job they trusted
him with.
"It's a strong…it's a strong bond that we will always have.
And we will always be part of each other's lives."
As fans of Harry Potter know, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's two best
friends, start dating at the end of the series and eventually get married.
When asked by Inside Jersey if kissing his co-star was "awkward," Rupert Grint did not
hesitate in his answer.
He revealed,
"It was, actually.
We were both really dreading it."
Unfortunately, Grint and Emma Watson had pretty much grown up together, so kissing each other
was the last thing they wanted to do.
While it feels like "awkward" would be an understatement, luckily it all went smoothly
in the end.
Grint said,
"I've known Emma since she was 9, we've watched each other grow up, formed this sort of brother/sister
bond, and suddenly I'm leaning in to kiss her.
Well, it felt completely wrong... but, you know, you try to sink into the character and
divorce yourself from it.
We ended up laughing hysterically afterwards."
Apparently, Daniel Radcliffe did not help to smooth things over during what Watson described
as the most horrifying thing anyone of them had to go through.
Radcliffe said during the Harry Potter reunion,
"I did not make this better because I've been told significantly that I was being an absolute
dick about this and was like, 'I'm gonna come on set and watch you guys kiss."
For Rupert Grint, filming Harry Potter was overall a very positive experience, but he
still had a pretty complicated relationship with it all — especially because he was
involved in it during his formative childhood and adolescence years.
He talked to The Independent about a moment of uncertainty he had after filming Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire, saying,
"I had just finished my GCSEs.
I thought 'Do I actually want to keep doing this?
It's a bit of a drag.'
Because obviously it's a big sacrifice.
You take for granted anonymity, just doing normal stuff, just going out.
Everything was different and a little bit scary.
There were times when I was like 'I'm done.'"
But mostly, Harry Potter was an amazing life and learning experience for the actor.
As he told Backstage in 2021,
"When I started Potter, being on set and being surrounded by so many amazing actors was an
education for all of us, really — just watching how everyone works."
While he was still in the midst of filming, Grint spoke to Inside Jersey about how much
he loved his time as Ron Weasley and said,
"I really can't find any downside.
I've had a chance to do things I'd never do otherwise, to travel.
If I had to pick anything negative, it'd only be that it could get quite exhausting, with
the filming and everything.
I wasn't even able to take the time to have my tonsils out."
"Can we panic now?"
Starring in a franchise as huge as Harry Potter allowed Rupert Grint to build up a pretty
hefty and dedicated fanbase, which has sometimes directly helped in his career.
For one example, his movie Cherrybomb was not going to get a theatrical release after
it failed to find success at the Berlin Film Festival.
However, Grint's loyal fans dreamt up an entire campaign to nab a release for the movie — including
a petition.
Grint told BBC News at the time,
"I am backing this campaign wholeheartedly.
I'm delighted by the huge support the film has already received on the official Facebook
page and other sites on the web and am so grateful to my fans in particular, who have
travelled the world to support the film at festivals and preview screenings."
Cherrybomb was released in 2009, and although it did not quite swing that "fresh" rating
on Rotten Tomatoes, fans, and Grint, were vindicated.
Described by the Daily Telegraph as a "slice of Skins-style youthsploitation," the movie
sees three teenagers get into all sorts of trouble.
Grint said in a 2010 interview,
"I loved the script because it was very, kind of fast-paced.
[...] It was very different as well from, I guess, kind of Harry Potter really.
It just seemed like a real kind of challenge, really."
In what could be considered one of the coolest pop-culture crossovers ever, Rupert Grint
stood in for fellow famous British ginger Ed Sheeran in the singer's Lego House music
video.
In said video, Grint mouths along to the words while wearing Sheeran's signature hoodie-and-jeans
look, is seen walking backstage and standing outside a tour bus, playing with LEGO bricks,
writing lyrics in a notebook, and playing a guitar while looking slightly disheveled
and crazed.
When at last he makes it on stage, he is pounced on by security guards, revealing that he is
actually a stalking superfan rather than just an actor playing Ed Sheeran.
Photos of the real Sheeran then pop up in Grint's life, including one of his face stuck
to a creepy human-sized doll.
A live Ed Sheeran only shows up toward the very end, when he's preparing to walk onstage.
This video is a major pop-culture moment, but it almost did not happen at all.
When Sheeran was starting out, Tom Felton shared his video on Twitter, a connection
which snowballed into an intro with Grint.
Sheeran once told James and Oliver Phelps on their Normal Not Normal podcast,
"[Felton] actually told me the other day that it wasn't as open/shut as I thought it was,
like he really had to convince Rupert's agent that this was a good thing."
Starring in an eight movie-strong series of international blockbusters from the age of
11, it stands to reason that Rupert Grint would rack up a certain amount of cash.
But as a kid, extremely unsurprisingly, he had basically no idea what he was doing when
it came to managing his money.
Speaking to the Washington Post in 2006, Grint explained that he was "not totally sure" how
much he was actually worth, because his dad handled all his finances.
He said,
"I don't have a lot to do with it."
When Inside Jersey asked Grint in 2011 what he found to be the most shocking thing from
starting work on the Harry Potter franchise, he deadpanned,
"I was quite surprised that I was actually going to get paid."
Presumably these days, a grown-up Grint handles his own finances and expects to be paid for
the work he does.
He is worth an admirable $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
The Harry Potter movies and HBO Max reunion account for a large chunk of that, but Grint
has also appeared in popular TV shows like Servant, Snatch, and Sick Note, and fan-favorite
movies that include Moonwalkers, Instruments of Darkness, and Cherrybomb, to name just
a few.
There's a pretty short list of awards that someone can win that really says they've "made"
it in the world: a Nobel prize, a Pulitzer prize, an Oscar, a Grammy.
And while Rupert Grint has won and been nominated for his fair share of acting awards, we're
kind of obsessed with the fact that he made it into the Guinness World Records.
In 2020, Grint finally joined Instagram, and his first post was an adorable photo of his
daughter Wednesday.
Upon creating an account, Grint became the fastest user on the platform to reach 1 million
followers.
David Attenborough previously held the record, but apparently it's hard to beat the Harry
Potter/cute baby combo on a website crowded with millennials.
Unfortunately, Grint's now several millions of followers have had to contend with disappointment
since 2020: The actor has only ever posted a handful of photos.
Acknowledging this, he posted another adorable photo of Wednesday in January 2022, writing,
"Hello!
Turns out I suck at Instagram.
But Happy New Year anyway!"
As for awards for his actual work, Grint has notably won a People's Choice Award in 2012
for Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
He also won a Hollywood Critics Association Television Award for Best Supporting Actor
in a Streaming Series for Servant in 2021.
Rupert Grint and his partner, Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging actor Georgia Groome,
got together just as the Harry Potter movies were wrapping up, and it sounds like they
have lived out their personal fairytale ever since.
In an interview with Glamour, Grint revealed a bit about their relationship in 2021, saying,
"It's a very natural thing — we're just best friends.
We're kind of the same person; we think the same way.
That's always made it work — that's why it's lasted.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but it works and it's great."
Aside from having basically the same personality, there's another essential ingredient in the
secret sauce of Grint and Groome's relationship: They both have the same relative level of
fame.
Speaking to Radio Times about getting recognized on the street, Grint explained that it was
natural to date people in the industry because they have the same kind of understanding.
He said,
"It definitely helps.
It's not like being in One Direction, but there's always something, every day, even
with my hat on.
It's never calmed down."
Rupert Grint and Georgia Groome welcomed a baby girl together in 2020, and little Wednesday
has completely turned her dad's life around — for the better, of course.
Grint told Glamour in 2021,
"I feel very comfortable being a dad.
I am still kind of coming to terms with what being a dad is, but I'm loving it.
I'm absolutely loving it."
Reflecting on that one time he bought an ice cream truck, Grint explained that's not really
him anymore.
"Now I've left the mad things.
I'm just a dad."
He was not just saying that, either.
Wednesday has not only changed Grint's life; she has become his life.
In a December 2021 interview with ET, he said,
"It's amazing how it completely kind of takes over everything.
It's all I really care about, so it's been great."
That kind of unconditional love is just beautiful to witness.
The responsibility of keeping this little person alive is not lost on Grint, either,
who began telling Esquire about the time his daughter, Wednesday's hand turned purple,
but cut himself short.
Going into a different story, he told the publication,
"I don't want to go too into detail, but the first night was just terrifying.
You can't sleep at all, just constantly checking that she's breathing."
Seems like he's doing a fine job so far.
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