Rupert Grint has shared some thoughts about his time in the Harry Potter franchise. While the actor, who brought Ron Weasley to life, ultimately enjoyed his time in the Wizarding World, he has also described the process as suffocating. Grint spent a full decade, most of his childhood, filming the movies and, at times, that made him feel like he needed to see what else was out there.
The actor recently discussed his experience on an episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, hosted by Dax Shepard. Rupert Grint explained that, as an actor, he wanted to explore other things. But, at the time, he was locked into playing Ron Weasley for a full decade, year in and year out. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“There was a time where it felt quite suffocating, because it was heavy going, because it was every day for 10 years in the end. It was a great experience. Such a nice kind of family atmosphere … But sometimes it definitely felt like, ‘I want to do something else. See what else is out there.’ It just never ended. Every year, we came back. And it was kind of like Groundhog Day because it was the same sets. It was the same people. But it was great. I loved it.”
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and the rest of the young cast members pretty much grew up on the set of the Harry Potter movies. The Sorcerer’s Stone was released in 2001 and that train didn’t stop until the release of Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 2011. Understandably, after several years, any actor would probably want to explore other options. But that situation wasn’t conducive to exploration.
Rupert Grint has since moved on to other projects. He is currently starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s series Servant on Apple TV+. Some of his other post-Potter credits include Charlie Countryman and the Snatch TV show. Speaking a bit more about Harry Potter, Grint explained that Goblet of Fire was one of his biggest regrets. Specifically because of his hair choice in the fourth entry, which was released in 2005.
“My hair in film four is one of my biggest regrets. I think everyone actually had a phase of having this really long hair. They liked it, it was kind of wizardy. We went through our puberty on camera.”
Currently, Warner Bros. is filming Fantastic Beasts 3, the third entry in the Harry Potter prequel series. The plan is for the series to total five movies. The studio also has plans to expand the franchise further, with a possible TV show and other projects. With HBO Max up and running, the hope seems to be that the Wizarding World can extend well beyond what already exists. Whether or not any of those plans will involve the original cast, and whether or not they would be willing to return, remains uncertain. You can check out the full interview with Rupert Grint on the Armchair Expert podcast.