Rupert Grint revealed in a recent interview with the BBC that he wrote a letter passing the baton to Alastair Stout, the young actor who will succeed him as Ron Weasley in HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series.
Grint, who is now 37-years-old and a father of two, starred as Ron Weasley in all eight of the iconic “Harry Potter” films. Stout’s will be the first on-screen performance of Ron seen since “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” in 2011.
“I wrote him a letter, before they started, passing the baton as it were,” Grint said of Stout, who is 11-years-old — the same age Grint was when cast.
“It was really just wishing him all the best with it. I had so much fun stepping into this world, and I hope he has the same experience,” he added.
Watch the interview below:
@bbcnews Alastair Stout, 12, will take on Rupert Grint's former role of Ron Weasley in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series from HBO. #RupertGrint #RonWeasley #AlastairStout #HarryPotter #HarryPotterHBO #BBCNews ♬ original sound – BBC News
Grint reflected on the “Potter” experience, and told the news organization, “It changed my whole life quite quickly. I was a huge fan of the books, so for me it was like stepping into the books, and that was very special.”
He also admitted that he still enjoys the attention that surrounds the movies and his role in them. “It has a quite deep meaning to a lot of people of my generation, and even more to generations who are finding it now. It’s great. It gives me a lot of pride. It was such a huge thing,” he explained.
“I don’t think I’ll ever quite step out of his shadow, but I’m fine with that,” Grint added.
Grint’s former co-star Daniel Radcliffe, who played the titular character in the movies, also recently revealed he wrote a letter to his younger counterpart on the HBO series.
“I just wanted to write to him to say, ‘I hope you have the best time, and an even better time than I did — I had a great time, but I hope you have an even better time,’” Radcliffe said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday. “And I do, I just see these pictures of him and the other kids and I just want to hug them.”
