The Hour

Playing Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Weasley would be enough for most young actors but for Rupert Grint, the highlight of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was getting more to do on-screen. Romance, comedy and extreme sports all played a part in Grint’s most challenging acting experience so far.

 “I really enjoyed this movie,” he said: “It was nice to have something to get your teeth into. There’s a lot of kind of romance and relationship stuff in this one.”

 As the story has developed over six films, Grint also felt the subplots in the new movie gave a good balance to the increasingly dark tone of the main narrative.

 “I think it’s nice to have those lighter moments because the film is quite dark. I mean, Voldemort coming back…”

 For various reasons, Half-Blood Prince, which should have been released last year, has been held back until this summer so the cast are already well into the process of filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

 Although Ron Weasley is central to the plot once again, Grint did hint that anyone expecting the romance and comedy to have the upper part in the concluding films is likely to be disappointed:

 “The next one is a very different kind of Harry Potter film,” he warned: “This time we’ve left school, we’re on the run, nowhere is safe and we’re camping out and living rough. It’s really cool, we’ve still got a long way to go but we’re steaming through it, it’s going well.”

 Looking back on the experience of making Half-Blood Prince, Grint had mixed feelings about fulfilling an ambition he held since the start of the series.

 “Quidditch is something I had always wanted to do, I had missed out on it a few times.” he admitted: “[It] is definitely improved since the first few films. It’s a much more violent, fast-paced and dangerous sport.”

 Despite having his wish granted, the experience wasn’t quite as expected.

 “In reality, it probably wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. It’s just quite painful, because if you can imagine just sitting on a wooden broom, it kind of gets sore. It’s 10ft in the air, spins around, rotates….” Reflecting on what sounds like a nauseating sensation Grint paused for half a second before concluding: “…and it’s actually quite fun.”