Interview: In ’Servant,’ Rupert Grint continues to subvert expectations for audiences and himself

Born in Harlow, Essex and the eldest of five siblings, Rupert Grint developed a love for theater while attending Richard Hale School in Hertford, which continued even as he went to secondary school. Grint had only done theater work in school when he was cast as Ron Weasley in Harry Potter, which was, needless to say, life-changing.  While one could go on about the many twists and turns that came with being propelled into the spotlight at such an early age, what is interesting is how Grint never strayed from his love of acting even though the world only saw him as Ron Weasley. In 2002, he played the lead in the adaptation of Thunderpants, a story about how having the power of flatulence led to becoming an astronaut (based on a kid’s story). He then proceeded to make some exciting choices, like joining the cast of Cherry Bomb in 2008, which showed a darker side of Grint. Perhaps this was a sign of things to come? It did seem, though, that anytime he was cast in something vaguely light, it often wasn’t received well, but when he played a darker role, the opposite happened.  He would follow that up with a role in Enemy of Men (an adaptation of Macbeth), where he starred alongside Sean Bean and Charles Dance. Shortly after, it was announced that he would be making his Broadway debut in It’s Only A Play with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and Megan Mullally. Not bad for an actor whose first stage work came in primary school.  Grint would then turn his attention to television again, and it was the mini-series The ABC Murders that caught the eye of Oscar-nominated director M. Night Shyamalan, who approached Grint to play the role of Julian by in 2019. He tells a story in the interview of how even when he was pitched his part, Shyamalan only provided him two pages of dialogue with a bit of background on his character. It was enough for him, and he immediately signed on. Could this be another life-altering moment for the young actor? That remains to be seen, but he has received critical acclaim for playing Julian and even was awarded Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Streaming Series in 2021 by the Hollywood Critics Association (which I’m proudly a member of).  We will see Grint later this year in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest feature film, Knock at the Cabin, and Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities series. Knowing those directors, it’s likely his character won’t be described as Ron Weasley. Are we in the midst of a Grint renaissance? Not exactly, he’s just becoming the type of actor he was meant to be. Rupert Grint is Emmy eligible for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Servant.