British actor Rupert Grint says playing Ron Weasley for years was ‘quite suffocating’

The Harry Potter franchise is one of the most famous in the world. The film series launched the careers of three young actors in particular — Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. They starred in the series for eight movies, from the time they were 11 years old and now, decades since the first Harry Potter film released, Grint shared that he wanted “a break to reflect on everything” as it was “suffocating” to film and promote all the time.

On Monday, the British star told Bustle, “I was feeling the difficulty of being seen, being overshadowed. In the movies, we merged into one. By the end of it, I was playing myself. The lines were blurred.” He shared that even today if someone calls him Ron, he answers to the name because to him it’s like a “second name”.

Grint, who played Ron from age 11 to 22, said, “Potter was so full on — [filming] all year, then we’d promote the rest of the time. It was quite suffocating. I wanted a break, to reflect on everything… It was an out-of-body experience for a while, but I think we finished at the right time. If we continued, it could’ve gone downhill.”

Last year, the Harry Potter cast reunited for HBO Max’s Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which Rupert Grint described as a “good opportunity” to look back.

“It was happening, I didn’t really have a say. [Being in the Harry Potter films] was a really unique experience only us core group really know, so it’s nice to see them. It was a good opportunity to reflect on everything and just say how crazy it was. It’s always nice to look back,” he said.

Grint’s work choices turned to dark thrillers, as he is now a part of Servant, a series on Apple TV by M Night Shyamalan. He will also be seen in an apocalyptic psychological horror movie, Knock at the Cabin, soon.