Rupert Grint had no shortage of dynamic scenes in the Harry Potter movies. The actor spent a decade of his life portraying Ron Weasley. Over the course of the eight films, his character had a wild variety of experiences. From sacrificing himself in a game of wizard’s chess to escaping from Gringotts on the back of a dragon, Ron has his fair share of adventures. But which scene really required Grint to stretch himself as an actor?
Rupert Grint had to tap into some deeper emotions in the final ‘Harry Potter’ movies
Fans of the Harry Potter movies know that Ron was generally pretty even-keeled in terms of his disposition. In the fifth movie, Hermione memorably pointed out that he “had the emotional range of a teaspoon.” However, in the later films, Grint was tasked with showing more extreme emotions. It was imperative that Ron successfully embodied feelings of jealousy, fear, loss, and determination in the final two films.
Grint reflects on filming Fred Weasley’s tragic death scene
One scene that really required Grint to push himself as an actor came in the final Harry Potter film when Ron’s brother, Fred, was killed at The Battle of Hogwarts. “That was quite a big scene with the whole Weasley family,” Grint recalled to Collider. “It was a depressing scene to do because you’ve got Fred lying on the floor and it’s quite shocking because it’s a character we’ve associated with jokes and mucking about. It’s quite horrible. There’s been a lot of heavy, emotional scenes like that.”
But how did Grint feel about shooting such an emotionally taxing scene? The actor shared that he had mixed feelings about it. “Yeah, it’s satisfying,” he explained. “But it’s quite haunting as well, because I’m not really used to it. But I’ve learned quite a lot, and it’s been great. David [Yates, director of the final four Harry Potter movies] has been excellent with everything.”
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Emma Watson gushed about Grint’s performance in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2’
Potterheads would likely agree that Grint did a great job conveying the grief that Ron experienced after losing his brother. But Grint managed to impress more than just fans. In fact, Emma Watson was so impressed by Grint’s performance that she had to remind herself to stay in the scene. While speaking with JoBlo, the Little Women actor gushed about her Harry Potter co-star’s performance.
“There’s a scene where Rupert’s brother dies, and the amazing thing about Rupert is that he’s a very self-contained human being,” Watson shared. “It’s very rare that you see him get emotional. The minute the camera rolls, he just becomes this other thing, and he has so much, and I’m like, ‘Where does that come from?’ Anyway, there’s a scene where he cries, and I remember having to remind myself to keep acting because I just wanted to go, ‘You’re amazing! That was amazing!’ I don’t know where he pulled it from.”
Filming such an intense scene might have been new for Grint at the time, but he clearly pulled it off. He managed to convey the emotions that many people in the Harry Potter fandom were feeling about Fred’s death.
