What does one do after starring in a major film franchise like Harry Potter and are mainly offered "sidekick" roles after? If you’re Rupert Grint, you toss around the idea of quitting acting and buy an ice-cream truck, apparently.
According to The New York Times, the actor almost threw in the towel after starring in the Harry Potter series. While he’d starred in no less than eight major blockbusters, he played the same character in all of them, a feat he described as "suffocating." Ron Weasley was a hero of the Wizarding World, but his portrayer wasn’t sure if he could hack it as an actor in any other film. He even told the NYT that he considered it to be "too late" for him to forge a name for himself in Hollywood that wasn’t Weasley.
Rupert Grint even went so far as to concoct a back-up plan. But instead of a double major in Theatre and Accounting, his Plan B involved a brightly-colored ice-cream truck that he drove home on the last day of filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Apparently, he toyed with the idea of selling frozen confections as a career rather than continue in the entertainment industry. Imagine running outside on a hot day to buy a creamsicle, only to be greeted by a star of one of the biggest film franchises of all time.
While we got some iconic photos of the star in a pink and white patterned ice cream truck out of the deal, it’s probably for the best that he decided to get back in front of the camera. He was far from bereft of offers, but most of them were in the same "sidekick" vein as Ron Weasley. The Driving Lessons alum was ready to try something new. After starring in a play on the West End (London’s version of Broadway), he landed a role on the Crackle series Snatch - but his largest role would be in M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant, an Apple TV+ horror series.
The show follows Philadelphia couple Dorothy and Sean Turner, who endure the loss of their infant son and employ transitory object therapy via a lifelike baby doll to deal with their grief. After hiring a nanny to take care of the "child," they discover their new babysitter has mysterious and frightening powers. Rupert Grint plays Dorothy’s brother, Julian, who becomes involved in the family’s supernatural drama. Servant, which also stars Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, and Nell Tiger Free, has received positive reviews and has most recently been renewed for a fourth and final season.
The Wizarding World alum will also reteam with M. Night Shyamalan on the director’s next film, Knock at the Cabin, which will be lead by Dave Bautista and will co-star Jonathan Groff. It will be his first movie role in over six years and, if his upward trajectory is any indication, it won’t be the last. Sorry, ice cream truck: it looks like this actor won’t be needing you after all.
You can catch up with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series, which is available to stream in its entirety with an HBO Max subscription, or check him out in Servant with your Apple TV+ subscription.
