I celebrated end of Potter filming by buying 60 Vauxhall Carlton - The Sun
I celebrated end of Potter filming by buying 60 Vauxhall Carlton
Says Rupert Grint
( Who's worth 24m )
By GRANT ROLLINGS
WITH around 24million in the bank, Rupert Grint is one of Britain's richest young men.
But the 22-year-old Harry Potter star doesn't splash his galleons about like Premier League players his age.
The actor, who has enchanted audiences as wizard Ron Weasley for more than a decade, astonishingly confessed to The Sun that he still lives at home with mum and dad - even though he has his own pad in London for occasional stays.
There aren't even any fancy cars for the homely Hertfordshire lad.
When filming wrapped on the final JK Rowling movie, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, he treated himself to a 60 Vauxhall Carlton and headed off around Europe with mates in a "Wacky Rally".
He said: "We did about nine countries, all the way to Barcelona. I went with James and Oliver Phelps, who play the twins, and we brought a mechanic along as well. It was a really good adventure. I do love cars but nothing too flash."
In an exclusive interview with The Sun ahead of the final Potter film's release on Friday, Rupert gave us a window into his unassuming life, where he is still close to sisters Georgina, 18, Samantha, 15 and Charlotte, 12, brother James, 21, and parents Nigel and Joanne.
Although he rarely splurges on himself, he says he can splash the cash on his family - sometimes on bizarre presents.
He said: "I have kind of got a miniature zoo. We have miniature pigs, donkeys, miniature hedgehogs. They are just smaller than the average hedgehog.
"I have quite a big family, I'm one of five and I have sisters who love animals."
He has met the Queen and the family of President Obama so I ask Rupert which celebrity he has been most thrilled to meet.
The reply floors me.
"Alan Titchmarsh. Shakin' Stevens came on to the set too. I only get star struck with really random people like Alan Titchmarsh and EastEnders actors," he says.
"I met Alan at the Queen's 80th when she had this big party in the Palace.
"I bumped into him. It's not like I really watch Ground Force or anything like that."
Never mind that the Queen and Prince Philip had been sitting right behind him or that Michelle Obama had visited the set with her daughters as a birthday surprise for one of them.
But if meeting heads of state doesn't excite Rupert, surely there must have been magic in the air when he finally got to kiss co-star Emma Watson in the new film?
Ron Weasley and Emma's character Hermione Granger finally spell out their feelings for each other in the series' gripping finale by locking lips.
But Rupert says: "Neither of us were looking forward to it. It was a tricky one. That scene has been an anticipated moment, the relationship has built up from the early films.
"There was a pressure to get it right. I knew Emma when she was nine and we have closely watched each other grow up.
"So kissing this girl just seemed a strange thing to be doing, not right."
Down-to-earth Rupert seems immune to the weaknesses of many young stars.
Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, recently had to give up booze because his drinking had got out of control.
Rupert insists that he felt no such need to release the pressure with alcohol.
He said: "No, no, no, there has always been this anticipation for us to fall into that stereotype and it has never really been an issue for me.
"It's because we film in Watford, which isn't the most glamorous of spots. If we had filmed in America or something it could have been disastrous. I never felt any pressure. It was just fun really." The constant and intense attention of fans makes this level-headed approach even more remarkable.
Rupert isn't even offended by strangers heckling him.
He smiled and said: "People do call me Ron in the street. I have grown up with it, it has become my second name almost.
"I do answer to it. Or they call me Weasley or Ginger."
Although he doesn't enjoy people taking sneaky photographs while he's in a restaurant.
He said: "There are moments when you don't really want to do it, if you are having a meal and people are taking their camera phones out and taking pictures of you.
"You can spot them. They pretend to take pictures of their friend and they slightly offset the camera so they can get you."
But he is grateful for some aspects of fame - all the fan mail and presents. For some reason he gets sent lots of pyjamas.
Odd encounters with obsessed fans also raise a smile.
He said with a laugh: "There was a time when I was in LA, I think, I met this guy who had a tattoo of me, Dan and Emma on his arm.
"He hadn't quite got the resemblance. I looked like Anne Robinson."
But how does he feel now this immense experience is over?
Rupert said: "It is weird to think it was the last one. There is a scene right at the end, after the battle, with the three of us on the bridge.
"I found that scene emotional, I still haven't got used to it."
But surely the post-Potter future is bright for Rupert, offering the chance to make different kinds of films?
In between the magical movies he has already appeared in low-budget projects including Wild Target, Cherrybomb, Driving Lessons and Thunderpants.
Coming up is Comrade, in which he plays a British airman shot down over Norway in the Second World War.
And Rupert has been lined up to play Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards in a biopic of the Winter Olympics sensation.
He says: "I want to keep on acting, definitely."
We can only hope his career fares better than the dreams of Brit ski jumper Eddie - who came dead last in two events at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Comments
Post a Comment