Via AM New York
Rupert Grint is best known as the redheaded Ron Weasley in the 'Harry Potter' movies. But he managed to take some time off from wizarding school to star alongside Laura Linney in the coming-of-age movie 'Driving Lessons,' in theaters this Friday. Grint plays a young boy trying to find relief from his overbearing mother (Linney).
AMNew York talked to Grint just before the movie opens.
So, how did you come to be involved with the film? Well, I was doing the fourth Harry Potter film and got sent the script. [The filming] was only going to be six weeks, so it was quite easy. I met with Jeremy [Brock, the writer/director] and he was really cool. It just sort of happened from there, really.
I know you were working on getting your own driving license, has that come to pass? Yeah. I passed on Saturday.
So how about your character. Is there anything in your personality that relates to him at all? Not really. There are a few sort of teenage things, like his actions around girls. They¹re quite awkward and strange, and I can generally relate to that.
Was this your first onscreen kiss? This was my first.
Was that something that was exciting or was it awkward? I was actually quite nervous about that, because it¹s quite a big step. It was really weird because you have the whole crew watching you. It makes you really self-conscious. But she [actress Michelle Duncan] was really cool. She¹s older, so it helped a little bit. Watching it back is the worst, especially with my family. They laughed their hearts out.
How was this film different from filming Harry Potter? There were no sets, for one. We filmed all around London. It was only six weeks and the budget was pretty small.
There¹s a scene in which you resist some wine because you say you¹re underage at 17. Just to clarify, what is the drinking age in the UK? Eighteen. You can pretty much do whatever you want at 18.
Are you getting used to all the screaming, fanatical Potter fans? A little bit, yeah. I¹ve been recognized a lot more recently. I don¹t know if it¹s something you get used to, it¹s really weird. They¹re always really nice so it¹s never a problem.
You were recently getting ready to film the Thestral scenes in the fifth Harry Potter movie. Have you finished those yet? Yeah, we did those the other day. It was really a good time because they had to make a mold, a specially made harness that goes under your legs, because in the film it has to be invisible. [The Thestral is a magical horse-like creature that is only visible to those who¹ve witnessed death.] They put you on this crane and lifted you up in the air. That¹s been my favorite scene so far.
And that was done on a green screen? Yeah. We¹re working on a lot of the final scenes now, the Dumbledore¹s Army stuff.
What¹s next for you? When does 'The Order of the Phoenix' wrap? We¹re finished the middle of November, I think.
And you get a break after that? Yeah. We don¹t start the next one until next summer, so there¹s quite a big break. I¹m going to try and do something else in-between.
I¹ve heard you¹re afraid of spiders, are there any in the new film? They were going to put in a scene where a spider comes down on my leg while I¹m hiding under a tree, and they were going to use a real spider. So they were doing tests with different spiders, letting them crawl on my leg. They ended up cutting it because I couldn¹t really deal with it.
Were they using tarantulas? Yeah, baby tarantulas. They¹re horrible.
