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Information
Full Name: Rupert Michael Grint
Nickname: Rupe
Current Height: 5'11
Date of Birth: August 24, 1988
Astrological sign: Virgo
Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue
Siblings: Oldest of five. One brother (James), three sisters (Georgina, Samantha
and Charlotte)
Parents: Nigel (ex-Race-car memorial dealer) and Jo (a homemaker)
Hometown: Hertfordshire, England
Favorite School Subject: Chemistry
Hobbies: Drawing, football, playing pool, golf, swimming and bike-riding
Favorite music: Rap and rock
Favorite book genre: Comedy and horror
Favorite actors: Jim Carrey and Lee Evans
Favorite movies: Shrek, Ace Ventura, The Grinch,The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Star Wars, and Dumb and Dumber
School subject: Art Chemistry
Pets: Basset hound named Sergeant Montgomery and a ginger cat
Favorite HP book: Prisoner of Azkaban
First acting roles: School productions and local theater productions: "In Noah's Ark, I was a fish. In the nativity play, I think I was a donkey. In Cinderella, I was just a chorus thing. And Rumplestiltskin, I was Rump."
First book read: Each Peach Plum by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg
Where he was when he found out he got the role of Ron: In a room with Emma Watson. Chris Columbus and David Heyman told them both at the same time.
Scariest HP character: "For me, Hermione! Just kidding. Voldemort!"
Childhood dream job: Ice cream man
Foreign language: German
Pet peeves: Vegetables
Biggest fear: Spiders and the dark
What makes him act scared on cue: "I think of something scary, like maybe a teacher I had. Althuogh then I might get too scared!"
Most embarassing moment: "I drew a picture of Alan Rickman [Professor Snape]. It was kind of amazing, but really ugly. Then I found out that he was right behind me, watching me draw this picture. He took it really well."
Coolest thing he's bought: Quad bike
Favorite childhood toy: Yo-yos
Favorite gadget: Sony Viao laptop
Favorite cell phone: Motorola v3
Favorite article of clothing: Jeans
Favorite cartoon character: SpongeBob SquarePants
Favorite snacks: Sweets
Favorite food: Burger
Favorite late-night snack: Ice cream
Favorite birthday present: Unicycle for his 14th birthday
Favorite car: Hot rod
Favorite sports: Football, rugby, and golf
Favorite sports teams: Tottenham Hotspur (The Spurs) soccer team
Favorite pastimes Golf and sleeping
Favorite video game format: GameCube and PlayStation 2
Favorite video game: Need for Speed
Favorite catchphrase: "Wicked!"
Favorite books: Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak series and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Favorite author: J.K. Rowling
Favorite HP scenes: The chess scene in Sorcerer's Stone, the slug scene in Chamber of Secrets, and the flying car scene - also in Chamber of Secrets
Favorite HP character: Ron
HP character he'd like to play: "Malfoy. He's pretty nasty at times and that would be quite fun. It would be cool to have the audience against me."
Favorite HP animal: Scabbers (Ron's rat; his real name is Mosh Pit)
Favorite magical power: Flying
Favorite tourist visit in New York: The Empire State Building
Biography
We know him as the lovable red-head Ronald Weasley from the Harry Potter films, but who exactly is Rupert Grint?
A shy - never outspoken - sixteen-year-old who can slip into character at the snap of a finger. That's Rupert Grint. Not only has Rupert got the credibility of the Harry Potter films to his name, he also has a variety of radio, movie and television appearances which help establish him as one of the UK's up-and-coming young stars.
Rupert is the eldest of five siblings, and was born on the 24th August 1988. Rupert seems very much the "big brother" to his brother, James, and to sisters Georgina, Samantha and Charlotte. He often brings one, or all, of his siblings to Harry Potter premieres and various other events.
The place where Rupert grew up, Hertfordshire, is very much a classic English county. Before Rupert was cast as Ron, he attended an all-boys school in Herts, which still proudly displays a picture of him on their website. It is no doubt that his hometown, where his family and friends live, has played a large part in Rupert remaining so level-headed.
First Time Around
From an early age Rupert loved the Harry Potter books and this is likely one of the reasons why he got into acting in the first place. It is certainly no secret that Rupert found out about the auditions for the very first Harry Potter movie through British children's news program "NewsRound." It turns out that if dressing up as your drama teacher (who is a woman), and then rapping about why you want the part of Ron won't get you the job, not much will!
When he got the part of Ron, Rupert was elated; after all, who better than a Harry Potter fan to make sure that one of the book's most key characters remains true to form? Fans wildly anticipated the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone, and the world waited with bated breath to see the first adaptation of JK Rowling's bestselling book series.
Like most of us would be, Rupert was very excited that he was going to be one of the most famous child stars in the UK - if not the world. When speaking to Lizo on "NewsRound" - the very show which helped him on his way to landing the part of Ron - Rupert said: "It's going to be really weird to know that people are going to actually know my name, that's going to be strange." But the extent to which Pottermania would grow, and the success of the subsequent films, we don't think even Rupert could have anticipated.
And so the first film was released, catapulting Rupert into the limelight, and he seemed to relish every minute of it. The film itself received some criticisms, but Rupert was quick to defend the work of the Harry Potter crew saying: "I am a really big Harry Potter fan and I've seen all the sets, I've lived Harry Potter and I don't think it's destroyed the books at all, I think it's really spot on."
Working on the set of the first Harry Potter film only proved to give Rupert more of a thirst for acting.
Back for Seconds
Working on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets presented Rupert with the chance to work alongside even more of the best actors in the British industry, as Jason Isaacs and Kenneth Branagh joined the Harry Potter cast for the epic second film.
By this time, of course, Rupert had already filmed a non-Harry Potter film, Thunderpants, which gave him valuable extra experience (and probably confidence), as well as a different filming atmosphere on set. Rupert saw filming Thunderpants as such, saying "I think I needed to do another role because I was completely 'Pottered out' by the first one [referring to the first Harry Potter film]. So I think it was good I did a completely different role."
There were two big problems Rupert faced on the second Harry Potter film - tasking stunts and spiders, as he has a mortal fear of the latter. The slug scene proved no problem for Rupert to film, even though the slugs had to come out of his mouth. Rupert had this to say about filming the scene: "It was so fun because they had all these different flavours of slug slime. There was chocolate, there was lemon, there was orange, there was peppermint. All these different flavours - they made them taste really nice."
The filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets provided Rupert with an opportunity to express his intentions for the future Harry Potter films. When asked if he would consider returning for the fourth Harry Potter film, he commented: "I don't know yet - I want to do most of them because I have a really good time doing them. And I want to do this when I'm older, because I really do enjoy it, it's really fun."
Though fans watched endless interviews with Rupert as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets winged its way to the cinema, the actor tried to keep his life as normal as possible. When away from the premieres and interviews, it was a certain truth that Rupert wanted to hang out with friends and do normal teenage things. He is quoted as saying, "My friends have been great - they treat me normally. The teachers suck up, they really do. But other than it's been fine." Most of us can understand exactly the reason why his teachers would have been star-struck!
Return of the Trio
There was a small break after the filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was completed, and when the cast returned for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, there was an evident change in the three leading cast members - they were all grown up.
For the third film, Rupert was able to keep a pool table and dartboard in his trailer. He and Dan also tried to make a crazy golf course, "We made a six-foot windmill out of these massive cardboard boxes and it looked really good.... We had plans to expand it out to the main studio, but it never really got past one hole." Emma, Rupert and Dan's friendships were growing and they seemed more at ease with one another than ever, which showed in interviews promoting the new film. It seemed the bond which had been made filming the first two films and handling the media frenzy afterwards would not be easily broken.
Rupert found the experience of filming the third Harry Potter film just as fun as the previous two films, and described the filming of his favourite scene - the Shrieking Shack - as, "...I was supposedly being dragged along by a dog, but this guy was pulling me along the set." He also found the boggart scene, where Snape is dressed as Neville's grandmother, "very funny."
When the third film hit cinemas, the trio were again in almost every magazine and newspaper on shop shelves. Once again, all three actors handed the attention with grace and professionalism, and when at premieres of Prisoner of Azkaban, their pride and excitement for the film shone.
It's A Wrap
Now we wait to see the fourth Harry Potter film, Goblet of Fire, which is due out this fall. Though we don't know much at the moment, it's obvious from press photos and such that Rupert has had an amazing experience working on what will be the most expensive film of the present day.
Aside from Harry Potter, Rupert most recently appeared on Comic Relief and
An Audience with Al Murray. He is also scheduled to appear in Driving Lessons,
a film by Jeremy Brock which will also star his Harry Potter co-star Julie Walters.
As we have said, Rupert certainly wants to broaden his horizons. And with his
talents, we are sure that there will be many doors open to him in the film industry
for a long, long time to come.
Fun Facts
• He would like the power of invisibility.
• He's arachnophobic.
• He took GCSEs at Richard Hale School, Hertford.
• He thoroughly enjoyed vomiting slugs in Chamber of Secrets
• He started learning to ride a unicycle on his 14th birthday.
Sources:
International Movie Database
Rupert Grint.Net
Scholastic's Goblet of Fire Movie Poster Book