Rupert Grint was more than generous with his time when he talked to ComingSoon.net and he chatted about everything from how much his character grows in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to his favorite band and games he likes to play:
Q: That’s an amazing costume. Tell us about it.
Rupert Grint: Yeah, this is only a little bit of it as well. This is only part of the costume because I’m a keeper I’ve got this massive leather body pad and I’ve got this hat sort of Keeper hat like a padded helmet. I’ve been enjoying Quidditch this year. It’s been alright. It is a bit of an anticlimax because it is actually really painful and really uncomfortable.
Q: How so?
Grint: ‘Cause you’re sitting on a broom and that is quite uncomfortable. And we’ve got harnesses and rigs where the broom moves like that and it does hurt a bit but it is good fun and I am enjoying it.
Q: Daniel said now you understand why he’s not crazy for it.
Grint: I do yeah. This is the first time I’ve got to play Quidditch. I’ve always as I’ve always been quite keen to try it out. Yeah, he’s always said it’s quite painful and he’s definitely right it’s not too comfortable.
Q: So what happens on the field? We are told it is a little more comic than we’re use to.
Grint: It is. This one is a lot more light-hearted than the last one. The last one was really quite dark but this one’s got a few more lighter sort of moments. The Quidditch is quite fun ’cause for Ron there is two sides to it. There’s a side when he thinks he’s really good ’cause he thinks he’s taken the potion and there’s the other side at the try-outs where he’s actually not very good. I have to do a bit of both of this one.
Q: You also get some romance in this movie. Can you talk about that?
Grint: Yeah sure. Ron gets a girlfriend in this one. Jessie Cave who plays Lavender is really cool. She’s really funny. We’ve already filmed the kissing scene a few weeks ago. It was actually quite embarrassing. I wasn’t feeling too uncomfortable about it until the actual day came. The actual scene we did it in the common room full of people cheering and I was standing on this little plinth, this stage and it was actually um, I felt quite self-conscious really ’cause everyone’s there looking at us. We were both quite nervous about it but it was alright.
Q: Was that your first on screen love scene or kissing scene?
Grint: No, I did a little one in “Driving Lessons,” there was a little kiss in that. But that was alright ’cause I was just on my own. But on this one it was a lot different. Once we did the first few it was good.
Q: How many takes did you have to do? I think Daniel said for his he had to do something like 30.
Grint: 30 yeah. No mine was nothing like that. I think it was around eight because he knew we were quite uncomfortable about it and it was quite nerve wracking scene so he kept it to I think about eight so it wasn’t too bad.
Q: Did you pop a lot of gum or mints before?
Grint: Yeah, I did yeah, definitely.
Q: It is really a different relationship between Ron and Lavender than we’re use to seeing in the books. It’s the only one scene that is kind of teenage hormonal, purely physical. Was that hard for you at all?
Grint: No, we’ve only done a few sort of excerpts from it, but it is quite funny really. He’s pretty one sided ’cause right from the beginning Ron is never really sort of comfortable with the whole thing and this is sort of his first proper relationship. She gets a little bit too crazy and possessive and that and sort of scares him a little bit and he becomes kind of one sided. It was quite fun. She’s really funny as well as Lavender.
Q: In the last film Ron had some issues with Harry and it was kind of dark. Tell me about Ron’s character’s journey in this film and how it’s different.
Grint: He’s a bit more cocky in this one ’cause he’s on the Quidditch team and he’s got a girlfriend and sort of thinks he’s quite special. It was quite a new thing to do because before he was a little bit of a nerd and not really fitting in. But now it is quite fun to do all that sort of stuff.
Q: What does Hermione think of him having a girlfriend in this movie?
Grint: I think she’s a bit jealous and you can see probably see that in the film ’cause there are a few scenes that suggest she does sort of like Ron and it sort of leads up to the seventh film.
Q: What’s your feelings about seven coming up no matter what shape it takes, is the feeling changing around here since you’ve been around here so long as things are starting to get to the end now?
Grint: Yeah, I suppose. I loved the seventh book. I thought it was really good and I really liked the ending myself. So yeah I’m really looking forward to doing it. I’m not really consciously thinking about it ’cause I’m doing this but it’s the first time we’ve really known where it’s going to go. Before there has always been a book that hasn’t been out yet so yeah it’s going to be quite cool.
Q: What do you think has been the most challenging thing that you’ve had to do so far?
Grint: Quidditch is quite hard. I was surprised at how physical it is ’cause we had to do quite a bit of training on a trampoline which was actually quite scary ’cause we were going quite high. They rigged us up to this wire rig and we had to do flips and stuff and I didn’t really feel very comfortable doing that.
Q: Once J.K. Rowling made the revelation that Dumbledore was gay that Michael Gambon off camera would kind of swishy things. Is that true?
Grint: I dunno. I haven’t actually done a scene with Michael Gambon yet. But I was quite shocked at it and it was quite funny. When you sort of think about it is does make sense really in some ways. I think it’s cool.
Q: When we see you guys on the red carpets or on the junkets we always ask what you thought about the end and what would actually happen. What did happen when you all finally read the book? Did you all call each other or what was the reaction?
Grint: I was quite surprised really ’cause there was so much hype about it that I was expecting one of us to not make it. So I was really surprised ’cause I thought one of us would go. I was happy ’cause it is a really nice ending and we all live happily ever after so it was nice. It was good.
Q: Are you prepared to let this go?
Grint: I dunno. You can definitely feel it coming to an end now and I think it’s going to be quite sad and I will miss it. It’s been quite a long time now, it’s been like 9 years and I’ve really enjoyed it so I dunno. It’s going to be really weird yeah.
Q: We’ve basically seen you all grow up on screen. How odd is that for you?
Grint: It is especially when I’m coming up on 20 this year so it is really weird. Especially ’cause they’ve been playing the old films on TV recently and I’ve caught a few bits on them and it is really strange looking at them ’cause we were so different then.
Q: Daniel said he teased you about having to do the kissing scene but did he give you any kind of advise or tips before it or did he just laugh at you?
Grint: Yeah basically he did yeah. No he really didn’t give me any advise. It all happened quite quickly really. It was over quite quickly and it was quite embarrassing and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. But it was alright.
Q: Was Jessie a good kisser?
Grint: No, yeah, it was good. It is quite a quick kiss and yeah, it was good yeah.
Q: When you were reading book seven was there anything that you really look forward to filming while reading it?
Grint: Yeah, I’m really interested in the end ’cause in the end it sort of skips to 19 years later and how they are going to do that. Sort of make-up or something.
Q: Did you read the end of the book when you got it in your hands? Did you flip immediately to the end?
Grint: Yeah, I did. I couldn’t handle it I had to find out.
Q: Were you afraid at all that Ron was going to die, would you have cared?
Grint: It would have been quite fun I suppose it would have been quite a cool scene and it was the last book so I wouldn’t have been missing out on anything so it would have been quite fun. But I think the ending as it happened was the right way to go.
Q: So are you ready to do the Harry Potter reunion special in 10 years?
Grint: Oh God. Not yet but maybe in the future but probably not for a while.
Q: Ron’s got to deal with the death of SPOILER in seven so that’s got to be quite intense too?
Grint: Yeah it is. That’s going to be quite tricky. That was quite sad actually when reading that. I’m looking forward to seven it’s going to be really cool.
Q: Tell us about the scene where you take a love potion.
Grint: Yeah that was quite a cool and fun thing to do. Ron takes these chocolates that are poisoned with this love poison and Ron goes into this sort of strange drunk like state. Yeah that was quite a fun thing to do. It was one of the first things we did. It was cool.
Q: When we spoke at the last set visit everyone was saying that you have the best trailer. Is that still the case?
Grint: Yeah definitely. I’ve got a really cool trailer.
Q: You’ve got a ping-pong table
Grint: Ping-pong table, table football, yeah it’s just really cool. It’s sort of that everyone goes there and tries to beat me at table tennis.
Q: Are you a gamer?
Grint: Yeah I’ve got a Wii, yeah. It’s good.
Q: You an air guitar fan?
Grint: Yeah, I’ve played that. I’ve actually got one here and I do like it.
Q: Are you good at it?
Grint: I’m not bad, yeah. Depends what song it is.
Q: What’s your game of choice?
Grint: My game of choice? At the moment I’m playing Tiger Woods on the Wii. I’m a bit of a golf fan so it’s really good. I’m enjoying that.
Q: Have you taken your ice-cream truck out yet?
Grint: I was going to bring it out quite recently but it’s broken down. It needs a new engine and it needs a load of new parts and I’m going to give it a new paint job. It’s going to look really cool.
Q: Are you going to do it yourself?
Grint: No, I don’t know anything about it.
Q: Do you have a name for it?
Grint: It’s a Mr. Whippy.
Q: Any dream roles after Harry Potter?
Grint: I’m not sure. There’s nothing in particular really. I think I’d like to play someone who’s a little bit mean. I think that would be quite cool or evil that would be different I suppose.
Q: If you found the perfect role how far would you go to get it? Would you shave your head, would you gain weight, would you dye your hair?
Grint: Yeah, I’d definitely go with the hair. I guess I’d probably do anything ’cause in the film “Thunder Pants” I had to have a perm for that one so that was quite an extreme thing.
Q: They actually permed your hair?
Grint: Yeah they actually permed my hair.
Q: So did you have to grow it out longer to have them perm it?
Grint: It was quite long anyway so they just permed it and it was a proper permanent. For a while I wore a cap everywhere. It was quite embarrassing.
Q: Are you able to go about and about in London?
Grint: Yeah, I am getting recognized a bit more now since the last film but it’s still fine. It never happens too much. It’s good.
Q: What kind of things do you usually like to go out and do?
Grint: I see quite a few bands.
Q: Like who?
Grint: I went to the V festival last year that was quite cool. It’s all these different bands. The Killers played there it was cool.
Q: Do you have any crazy stalker fan stories? When you are approached on the street has anyone ever done something or said something inappropriate?
Grint: No stalkers or anything strange like that. Nothing really strange. We get sent some unique things. I get sent pajamas all the time.
Q: Pajamas?
Grint: Pajamas yeah. SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas was a funny thing to get.
Q: If there was one thing you could change about Ron what would it be?
Grint: I’ve always liked Ron. He was always sort of my favorite character in the book. I dunno, nothing probably. I’ve always got on with him.
Q: He’s perfect?
Grint: Yeah.
Q: Is there an element in this film that when Harry and Ginny start to get together does Ron have a reaction to that?
Grint: Yeah definitely, Ron is very protective of Ginny in this one. There are a few scenes, ’cause she also goes out with Dean Thomas as well and she gets a bit flirty with him and Ron doesn’t really like that and disapproves a little bit. So that was quite a fun thing to do.
Q: Now that you’re 20, is it easier for you to relate to your character now that they are getting older and dating?
Grint: Yeah I suppose it is ’cause I’ve always been a few years ahead of Ron and that sort of helps you know what goes on. Especially with the whole sister protective thing ’cause I’ve got little sisters as well and I sort of take it from that a little bit. It is good.
