Take the 'Potter' fan quiz
Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects ...
Rating: PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality
Length: 153 minutes
Released: July 15, 2009 Nationwide
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter
Director: David Yates
Writer: Steve Kloves, J.K. Rowling
WATFORD, England — Rupert Grint may walk on red carpets, but with his glum smile and complete lack of pretension he seems as unaffected as the pub regulars enjoying afternoon beers back in his home village of Watton-at-Stone.
Grint will be 21 next month, but he seems older around the eyes and, like his character Ron Weasley, he doesn’t seem as driven as the other two members of his famous trio. Daniel Radcliffe wants to be the Laurence Olivier of his generation, and Emma Watson is sorting through a handful of career options, but Grint, well, he seems to be meeting the future with a good-natured shrug.
“I was thinking about what it’s going to be like when we’re done, after the last movie,” Grint said. “It is going to be really weird, actually. At the moment it seems quite far away. I don’t know what I’m going to do, really. I’m going to miss it, I think, because it’s been my whole life for a long time. I really enjoy it as well, every year we’ve come back and done it. All of this, this is what I know. ... ”
Grint was sitting in his hushed dressing room at the cavernous “Harry Potter” set outside London, which has a pingpong table, a miniature billiards table, a huge television, a dart board and a giant cardboard cutout of his character. It’s a dorm room for a fellow who never had any interest in college (unlike costar Watson, who had her choice of universities) and only adds to the sense that Grint is a lucky and carefree passenger on the “Potter” express.
That impression doesn’t hold up to scrutiny for everyone. Alfonso Cuaron, director of the third “Potter” film, for instance, predicted that Grint was the most likely member of the “Potter” trio to go on to future stardom. Asked about that, Grint winced in embarrassment.
“Dan is the one who is very driven; he’s ambitious and he knows there’s quite a few things down the road. I am a little bit more laid back. And Emma, I mean, she’s really cool. We all get on really well; she’s just a really good mate.”
Grint said Watson is “like a sister,” which made for some awkward scenes in “Half-Blood Prince.”
A major part of the film is young romance, in particular the love triangle involving Grint’s Ron, Watson’s Hermione and newcomer Jessie Cave as the smitten Lavender Brown. That provides a lot of this installment’s humor, as does Ron’s bid to be a Quidditch player.
About an hour before the interview in his dressing room, Grint was poised atop a gyrating contraption that is used to film the flying-broomstick sport (think high-impact aerial lacrosse). On command, Grint stared into a wind machine, pumped his fist and bellowed in triumph. But between takes he looked pained.
“It leaves you sore in the, uh, bicycle-seat area,” he said after climbing down. “It’s not as fun as I thought it would be.”
- |
Comments » 0
Be the first to post a comment!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.