| Master Fan
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 17,186
| Radio Times magazine have done an article featuring Rupert in their latest issue (Dec 16-22). It was done to coincide with Driving Lessons' television debut on ITV1, Sunday December 17th.
  
Driving Ahead
RT Exclusive
After four massively successful Harry Potter movies, teen star Rupert Grint tells Benji Wilson he's coming of age in more ways than one...
It's a pleasure to report that one of the three most famous teenagers in the world is as unaffected by Hollywood hoopla as your average paperboy. In fact, the problem with Rupert Grint - or Ron Weasley as he's better known to millions of Harry Potter fans - is that he's almost too much like a normal 18-year-old.
Communication, for example, is not a forte. Most of his sentences begin with a "Yeah, I dunno," then descend into a monotone mumble, before climaxing with another "Yeah" not dissimilar to the first. He doesn't like to catch your eye, and he's a little fidgety. But it should be said that all of this is endearing rather than exasperating, and that for a boy who's grown up in front of the cameras, tongue-tied is infinitely preferable to cocksure.
If his hesitance is nerves then it's understandable - when you've spent most of your adolescence starring in what will end up being one of the biggest motion picture franchises of all time, "what next?" is a question that must look like a gaping black hole. Grint isn't waiting for the end of the seven-book series to find out - in between filming Harry Potter, he took the lead role in a coming-of-age movie called Driving Lessons, released in September, and on ITV1 this Sunday. He play Ben, a gawky 17-year-old vicar's son who's told by his strict parents to find himself a Saturday job. Employment leads to an unlikely friendship with "this crazy retired actress, who drinks, steals things and swears," as Grint puts it.
A short, six week, shoot in London, a no-monsters guarantee, and a chance to ditch the "Ron looks petrified" face for a month meant that Driving Lessons was, says Grint, a perfect antidote to life at Hogwarts. "I was quite nervous because it's my first grown-up things outside of Harry Potter and it's a big part. It was quite scary and I really enjoyed it, although it was a very different experience. On the Harry Potter films we're based in massive studios with amazing sets, and we've all got our own dressing rooms, whereas here I just had a small trailer. Obviously the budget things plays a big part in it - there are no special effects, green screens or anything like that. And we were doing four scenes in one day for Driving Lessons. On Harry Potter, it can take four days for one scene."
It may have been a big step, but there was one link with the Potter films. In the wizardly world, Julie Walters plays his mum. Here she stars alongside Grint as his mentor, "the crazy retired actress." "I heard she was going to do it and that definitely made me want to do it more," he says, "She's really cool; nice and easy-going. I didn't know anyone else, so it was nice having a friendly face on set. Although it was quite weird hearing her swear - her character really does swear a lot."
Not only is this his first lead role outside of the Potter-go-round, but it also marks Grint's coming of age in another regard - that testing first love scene. Mention this and he goes all wriggly (unsurprising given he was with an actress, Michelle Duncan, nearly ten years his senior). "I was quite nervous about the kiss, but everything else was pretty subtle. You don't see anything and it's over quickly. We were on this tiny set with a whole crew watching us. And we did so many takes as well. By the fifteenth time I began to feel a bit more relaxed."
Having endured the awkwardness once, he was forced to relive it again at the premiere, this time in the company of family and friends. Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the Potter films, turned up for support. She really liked the film, he says. And the love scene? "That was embarrassing. Although the worst part is watching it back with your Nan." And what did Nan make of his performance? "I didn't even ask."
While most teenagers don't have to get naked in front of millions of prying eyes, Grint still has several other rites of passage to go through. Like driving lessons for one: "Yeah, I've been driving for about three weeks. I"m gradually getting more confident. I passed on my second attempt. One thing failed me in my first I didn't look over my shoulder in my three-point turn. But I've passed it now, and I've got a little Mini Cooper. "So, there you are - every inch the normal teenager. Just with a slightly better car.
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Hi leytongrl07!  Welcome to Rupert's Board! I hope to see you around the board often! 
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Last edited by darcybennett : 12-11-2006 at 08:33 AM.
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