Rupert Grint has garnered global attention with his portrayal of one of the lead characters, Ron Weasley in the popular Harry Potter franchise. Weasley is one of the best friends of the titular character portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe. Just like Radcliffe and other child actors, fans have seen Grint growing up in front of the camera, which is why they are still associated with their years-old project.
Given that he has spent a long time portraying the fictional character, there was a time when he felt an out-of-body experience watching a stage play where another actor played his role.
Rupert Grint Shared His Experience Watching His Role in a Stage Play
In 2016, Rupert Grint watched a stage performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre, London in the West End. At the time, Paul Thornley portrayed the middle-aged version of the former’s role in the stage play.
However, that experience was not what he expected it to be, sharing it hit him quite hard.
“I wasn’t really prepared for it,” he shared with Entertainment Weekly. “It hit me quite hard. It was kind of like an out of body experience.”
As to why he felt that he asserted that Weasley has become a part of himself after portraying the character for so long. He continued,
“You’re seeing someone else take on a character that you’ve known for so long. I kind of grew up with Ron. I do feel like a lot of me is in that character. I have a weird relationship with Ron, where it’s kind of basically me. And seeing it live on is very surreal.”
It was obvious that watching his character’s existence without him would have affected him a lot, after all, he was the one who brought that character to life. Nonetheless, he “loved” the play stating that it was mind-blowing to witness watching that fantasy world taking its space on stage live. However, working in the same role for years wasn’t always a joyous occasion.
Rupert Grint’s Take on Filming the Harry Potter Series
“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.”
While he was quick to appreciate the cast and crew with whom he grew up while working on the wizardry series, it sometimes made him feel that he wanted to do something else.
“But sometimes it definitely felt like, ‘I want to do something else. See what else is out there.'” He continued, “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.”
Originally, the film series was meant for two movies since only J.K Rowling’s four novels had been published at the time. Eventually, the franchise gained a devoted fandom leading them to continue their film series. After the fantasy movies’ concluded, he took on serious roles, which further honed his craft.
Meanwhile, the Harry Potter series is available on HBO Max.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert
