Hollywood Child Stars

The Real Life Antics of Rupert Grint

Born to Act
In the town of Harlow in Essex, England, on August 24, 1988, Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint was born with a love for the theater. As soon as he was old enough to go to school, Rupert expressed intense interest in the dramatic arts and soon began attending classes at the Top Hat Stage School in Hertfordshire, on the weekends. However, lucky for Rupert Grint and for us, his days as an amateur actor soon came to a screeching halt.

Becoming Ron Weasley
Rupert’s very first professional acting role would prove to be the transformative event of his young life. Being given the opportunity to play Ron Weasley in the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s book series Harry Potter, must have seemed like a dream-come-true for Rupert Grint, a devoted fan not only to the field of acting but also to the Harry Potter series.

iraculously, Rupert secured the life-changing role by simply submitting a self-made video of himself rapping a monologue, explaining why he wanted to play the part. He was chosen as the main character’s best friend, and thus given a starring role in the film.

Grounded, Laid-Back, and Friendly
These are the three words most likely to come up when describing the real Rupert Grint. Despite becoming one of the most famous teenagers in the world, before he even learned to drive, Rupert took the fame and the fanfare with a shrug and a humble grin. It is clear that he realizes his good fortune in landing the role, and feels lucky to have met fellow co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson who he refers to as “like siblings.” Radcliffe has been quoted as saying that the idea of having a disagreement with Rupert is simply inconceivable as he is “the most laid-back guy in the world.”

The real Rupert does seem very much like his film persona whom he admittedly admires—quirky, loyal, funny, and as Emma Watson put it, the least of the three Potter stars likely to ever really “grow up.” Indeed, the young star spends his leisure time learning to ride the unicycle and drawing, among other interesting hobbies.

Coincidently, he also shares an unfortunate condition with Ron Weasley—an intense fear of spiders—which made filming the second installment of the Potter series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a bit of a challenge, as his character had to come up against a giant arachnid.

Life after Potter
Although he often jokes that, if his film career bottoms out, he would like to drive an ice cream van (and has actually bought one!), life after the Harry Potter series has been good to Rupert Grint.
Rupert has acted in other films since the Harry Potter series including the 2006 film ‘Driving Lessons’ as well as the 2010 dark drama ‘Cherrybomb’. In addition to these appearances, he has done some voice work, notably as the voice of Peter Pan in the 2005 BBC documentary, ‘Happy Birthday, Peter Pan’. Through his work in the non-Potter films, especially the dramatically different role he played in ‘Cherrybomb’, it has become apparent that Rupert Grint has remarkable acting prowess, and is in a good position to secure more winning roles.