Rupert Grint was only 11 years old when he was cast as the lovable, hilarious sidekick Ron Weasley in the first "Harry Potter" film. He spent the next decade growing up inside the Wizarding World, and Ron is a role that the actor will undoubtably forever be remembered for. But Grint has lived a pretty incredible life outside of the franchise.
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00:00Winning a Ron look-alike competition, becoming Ed Sheeran, joining fatherhood — keep watching
00:06as we shed a light, or should we say, lumos, on Rupert Grint's life in front and behind the cameras.
00:13And you are?
00:16Um, Ron Weasley.
00:18Rupert Grint loved the Harry Potter books when they were first published,
00:22but he also had a special affinity with the character he ended up portraying.
00:26Now, when someone thinks Ron Weasley, they automatically think Rupert Grint,
00:30and apparently not much has changed since the actor was a kid.
00:34Grint explained to Inside Jersey in 2010,
00:37"...I enjoyed acting, but I only went on the audition because I was such a fan of the books,
00:41although I had won a Ron Weasley look-alike competition once."
00:45Upon hearing that nugget, the interviewer said exactly what everyone was thinking — it'd be
00:50pretty embarrassing now if you'd lost. Grint then revealed something surprising, right?
00:55For the film audition, I even did this sort of rap song I'd written about the character.
00:59Unfortunately for his fans, but fortunately for him,
01:02that video is locked up more securely than a green-gots wizarding bank account these days.
01:08Grint told Inside Jersey,
01:10"...I've got that tape safe at home now. You'll never see it."
01:13And while no one will probably ever get to see the original,
01:16the actor did very kindly recreate it during an interview once.
01:20It was,
01:21"'Hello there, my name's Rupert Grint. I hope you like this and don't think I stink.'"
01:27Clearly, the casting directors thought he smelled of roses given the job they trusted him with.
01:33It's a strong bond that we'll always have, and we will always be part of each other's life."
01:42As fans of Harry Potter know, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's two best friends,
01:48start dating at the end of the series and eventually get married.
01:51When asked by Inside Jersey if kissing his co-star was awkward,
01:54Rupert Grint did not hesitate in his answer. He revealed,
01:58"...it was, actually. We were both really dreading it."
02:00Unfortunately, Grint and Emma Watson had pretty much grown up together,
02:04so kissing each other was the last thing they wanted to do. While it feels like
02:09awkward would be an understatement, luckily it all went smoothly in the end. Grint said,
02:14"...I've known Emma since she was nine. We've watched each other grow up,
02:17formed this sort of brother-sister bond, and suddenly I'm leaning in to kiss her.
02:22Well, it felt completely wrong. But, you know, you try to sink into the character
02:26and divorce yourself from it. We ended up laughing hysterically afterwards."
02:30Apparently, Daniel Radcliffe did not help to smooth things over during what Watson described
02:35as the most horrifying thing any one of them had to go through. Radcliffe said during the
02:40Harry Potter reunion,
02:41"...I did not make this better, because I've been told significantly that I was just being
02:46an absolute dick about this and was like, I'm gonna come on set and watch you guys kiss."
02:50For Rupert Grint, filming Harry Potter was overall a very positive experience,
02:55but he still had a pretty complicated relationship with it all,
02:58especially because he was involved in it during his formative childhood and adolescent years.
03:04He talked to The Independent about a moment of uncertainty he had after filming Harry Potter
03:09and the Goblet of Fire, saying,
03:10"...I had just finished my GCSEs. I thought, do I actually want to keep doing this?
03:15It's a bit of a drag, because obviously it's a big sacrifice. You take for granted anonymity,
03:20just doing normal stuff, just going out. Everything was different and a little bit scary.
03:25There were times when I was like, I'm done."
03:27But mostly, Harry Potter was an amazing life and learning experience for the actor.
03:32As he told Backstage in 2021,
03:34"...when I started Potter, being on set and being surrounded by so many amazing actors
03:39was an education for all of us, really, just watching how everyone works."
03:43While he was still in the midst of filming, Grint spoke to Inside Jersey
03:47about how much he loved his time as Ron Weasley and said,
03:50"...I really can't find any downside. I've had a chance to do things I'd never do otherwise,
03:55to travel. If I had to pick anything negative, it'd only be that it could get quite exhausting,
04:00with the filming and everything. I wasn't even able to take the time to have my tonsils out."
04:06"'Cause we panic now!"
04:08Starring in a franchise as huge as Harry Potter allowed Rupert Grint to build up a
04:12pretty hefty and dedicated fanbase, which has sometimes directly helped in his career.
04:17For one example, his movie Cherry Bomb was not going to get a theatrical release
04:22after it failed to find success at the Berlin Film Festival. However,
04:26Grint's loyal fans dreamt up an entire campaign to nab a release for the movie,
04:30including a petition. Grint told BBC News at the time,
04:34"...I am backing this campaign wholeheartedly. I am delighted by the huge support the film has
04:39already received on the official Facebook page and other sites on the web, and am so grateful
04:44to my fans in particular, who have traveled the world to support the film at festivals
04:48and preview screenings."
04:50Cherry Bomb was released in 2009, and although it did not quite swing that fresh rating on Rotten
04:56Tomatoes, fans and Grint were vindicated. Described by The Daily Telegraph as a slice
05:01of skin-style youthsploitation, the movie sees three teenagers get into all sorts of trouble.
05:06Grint said in a 2010 interview,
05:09"...I loved the script because it was very kind of fast-paced. It was very different as well from,
05:14I guess, kind of Harry Potter, really. It just seemed like a real kind of challenge, really."
05:19In what could be considered one of the coolest pop culture crossovers ever,
05:23Rupert Grint stood in for fellow famous British ginger Ed Sheeran in the singer's
05:28Lego House music video. In said video, Grint mouths along to the words while wearing Sheeran's
05:33signature hoodie-and-jeans look, is seen walking backstage and standing outside a tour bus,
05:38playing with Lego bricks, writing lyrics in a notebook, and playing a guitar while
05:43looking slightly disheveled and craved. When at last he makes it on stage, he is pounced on by
05:48security guards, revealing that he is actually a stalking superfan rather than just an actor
05:53playing Ed Sheeran. Photos of the real Sheeran then pop up in Grint's life, including one of
05:58his face stuck to a creepy human-sized doll. A live Ed Sheeran only shows up toward the very end,
06:04when he's preparing to walk on stage. This video is a major pop culture moment,
06:09but it almost did not happen at all. When Sheeran was starting out,
06:12Tom Felton shared his video on Twitter, a connection which snowballed into an intro
06:17with Grint. Sheeran once told James and Oliver Phelps on their Normal Not Normal podcast,
06:23"[Felton actually told me the other day that it wasn't as open-shut as I thought it was.
06:27Like, he really had to convince Rupert's agent that this was a good thing."
06:31Starring in an eight-movie-strong series of international blockbusters from the age of 11,
06:36it stands to reason that Rupert Grint would rack up a certain amount of cash.
06:40But as a kid, extremely unsurprisingly, he had basically no idea what he was doing
06:45when it came to managing his money. Speaking to The Washington Post in 2006,
06:50Grint explained that he was not totally sure how much he was actually worth,
06:54because his dad handled all his finances. He said,
06:57"...I don't have a lot to do with it."
06:59When Inside Jersey asked Grint in 2011 what he found to be the most
07:03shocking thing from starting work on the Harry Potter franchise, he deadpanned,
07:07"...I was quite surprised that I was actually going to get paid."
07:11Presumably these days, a grown-up Grint handles his own finances and expects to
07:15be paid for the work he does. He is worth an admirable $50 million, according to Celebrity
07:21Net Worth. The Harry Potter movies and HBO Max Reunion account for a large chunk of that,
07:26but Grint has also appeared in popular TV shows like Servant, Snatch, and Sick Note,
07:32and fan-favorite movies that include Moonwalkers, Instruments of Darkness,
07:36and Cherry Bomb, to name just a few.
07:38There's a pretty short list of awards that someone can win that really says they've
07:42made it in the world. A Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer Prize, an Oscar, a Grammy? And while Rupert Grint
07:48has won and been nominated for his fair share of acting awards, we're kind of obsessed with
07:53the fact that he made it into the Guinness World Records. In 2020, Grint finally joined Instagram,
07:59and his first post was an adorable photo of his daughter, Wednesday.
08:03Upon creating an account, Grint became the fastest user on the platform to reach
08:08one million followers. David Attenborough previously held the record, but apparently,
08:12it's hard to beat the Harry Potter-slash-cute-baby combo on a website crowded with millennials.
08:18Unfortunately, Grint's now several millions of followers have had to contend with disappointment
08:23since 2020. The actor has only ever posted a handful of photos. Acknowledging this,
08:29he posted another adorable photo of Wednesday in January 2022, writing,
08:34"'Hello! Turns out I suck at Instagram. But Happy New Year anyway.'"
08:39As for awards for his actual work, Grint has notably won a People's Choice Award in 2012
08:45for Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast, alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. He also won
08:50a Hollywood Critics Association Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series
08:56for Servant in 2021.
08:58Rupert Grint and his partner, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging actor Georgia Groom,
09:04got together just as the Harry Potter movies were wrapping up,
09:07and it sounds like they have lived out their personal fairy tale ever since.
09:11In an interview with Glamour, Grint revealed a bit about their relationship in 2021, saying,
09:17"'It's a very natural thing. We're just best friends. We're kind of the same person.
09:22We think the same way. That's always made it work. That's why it's lasted.
09:25It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but it works, and it's great.'"
09:30Aside from having basically the same personality, there's another essential
09:34ingredient in the secret sauce of Grint and Groom's relationship.
09:37They both have the same relative level of fame. Speaking to Radio Times about getting
09:42recognized on the street, Grint explained that it was natural to date people in the industry,
09:47because they have the same kind of understanding. He said,
09:50"'It definitely helps. It's not like being in one direction,
09:53but there's always something every day, even with my hat on. It's never calmed down.'"
09:58Rupert Grint and Georgia Groom welcomed a baby girl together in 2020,
10:02and little Wednesday has completely turned her dad's life around — for the better, of course.
10:07Grint told Glamour in 2021,
10:09"'I feel very comfortable being a dad. I'm still kind of coming to terms with what being a dad
10:14is, but I'm loving it. I'm absolutely loving it.'"
10:17Reflecting on that one time he bought an ice cream truck,
10:20Grint explained that's not really him anymore.
10:22"'Now I've left the mad things. I'm just a dad.' He was not just saying that, either.
10:27Wednesday has not only changed Grint's life, she has become his life. In a December 2021
10:33interview with ET, he said,
10:35"'It's amazing how it completely kind of takes over everything. It's all I really
10:39care about, so it's been great. That kind of unconditional love is just beautiful to witness.'"
10:44The responsibility of keeping this little person alive is not lost on Grint, either,
10:48who began telling Esquire about the time his daughter Wednesday's hand turned purple,
10:53but cut himself short. Going into a different story, he told the publication,
10:58"'I don't want to go too into detail, but the first night was just terrifying.
11:02You can't sleep at all just constantly checking that she's breathing.
11:05Seems like he's doing a fine job so far.'"