Rupert Grint Wanted to Defy Child Star Stereotypes Post-Harry Potter

• Rupert Grint felt like there was an “expectation” he would follow a “child star stereotype.”
• Grint and his Harry Potter costars grew up on the sets of the films, which premiered from 2001 to 2011. 
• Grint said that he always wanted to “fight against” the stereotype. 

Former Harry Potter star Rupert Grint said that he felt like people expected him and his costars, who grew up while filming the series of blockbuster films, to fall into “child actor” stereotypes.

Speaking with Bustle, Grint, who played Ron Weasley in all eight Harry Potter films, said that he was deliberately aware of such stereotypes — and his desire to not live up to them. 

“I’ve always felt there was this expectation for us to go off the rails, follow the child star stereotype,” Grint told Bustle. “That’s always been something to fight against.”

Grint, alongside costars like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Tom Felton, spent his adolescence filming and promoting the eight Harry Potter films. Grint was 11 when he began filming “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and nearly 23 by the time “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” premiered in 2011. 

During the 20th anniversary “Return to Hogwarts” special, which premiered in 2022 on HBO Max, Grint and Watson said that they had, at times, considered leaving the franchise under the pressures of filming and massive fame.

Since the conclusion of the franchise, the series’ main trio have gone on to pursue education, families, and other acting projects: Grint himself has a 2-year-old daughter and is currently starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s TV series “Servant” and his upcoming film “Knock at the Cabin.”

While Grint told Bustle that he “didn’t really have a say” when it came to participation in the 20th-anniversary reunion special, it was a positive experience reconnecting with his costars, saying that being in the Harry Potter movies “was a really unique experience only us core group really know, so it’s nice to see them.”

“It was a good opportunity to reflect on everything and just say how crazy it was. It’s always nice to look back,” he said.