“I’m ready to kind of move on now.” (Rupert on BBC at BAFTAs 2011)
n 6 January 2011, Episode 3 of Come Fly with me starring Rupert Grint aired on BBC, and “rupert grint” once more became a trending topic on the social network Twitter.
On 21 January 2011, Rupert and his family attended a Gala Diner to raise money for the Jamie Proctor’s Foundation, where his sister Samantha performed a few of her self-written songs.
Four days later, Rupert attended the South Bank Sky Arts Awards to award the Best Film Award to the makers of Monsters, and another three days later, Rupert once more joined James and Oliver Phelps in a video call to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
On 10 February, Rupert had a photoshoot with French magazine THAT, which is set to be released in the summer of 2011.
To raise money for Red Nose Day, a special edition of Beano Mag was published on 18 February, featuring Rupert among other celebrities. In addition to this, Rupert filmed a comedy skit written by comedian James Corden alongside other celebrities such as his co-star Tom Felton, Paul McCartney, Gordon Brown, Justin Bieber, Rio Ferdinand, Keira Knightley and Ringo Starr, which was aired on 18 March on BBC.
On behalf of their 20th anniversary, Esquire had asked celebrities whom they considered talented and interesting, to design their own covers, and Rupert was among those select few.
“He is a rebel and I won’t say that’s quite me. He is a bit fiery, augmentative and a bit annoying, so that’s not really me. But I look forward to playing him.” (Seher.no March 2011)
On 24 March, Rupert joined Oscar-winning director Petter Næss and actors Lachlan Nieboer, David Kross, Florian Lukas and Stig Henrik Hoff at a press conference for the anti-war film Comrade. Based partially on the real events taking place at Grotli, Norway on 27 April 1941, Rupert spent several weeks in Norway and Trolhättan in Sweden playing Gunner Robert ‘Smithy’ Smith.
Due to his commitment on Comrade, Rupert was unable to participate in the promotion for the DVD of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – the first time he missed out on a Harry Potter promotion due to another job. Yet Rupert once again recorded Ron’s lines for the video game of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
“I come from a big family and my mum always made sure we had lots of milk to drink as kids. It’s low in fat, refreshing and good for you, and really tasty too.” (Rupert on Make Mine Milk Capaign 2011)
In May 2011, it was announced that Rupert was one of the celebrities supporting the Make Mine Milk campaign.
He also participated in the Milk Challenge, finishing his pint of milk in 20:05 seconds. Rupert also gave an interview discussing milk and food, revealing that he enjoys cereals in the morning and has started to “improve his culinary skills”.
Before starting his promotional work for the final film of the Harry Potter series, Rupert enjoyed a day off, attending Day 5 of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament with his friend and co-star Oliver Phelps.
“It’s a long-game thing. Potter’s definitely always going to be with me because naturally it’s quite a big deal. It’s probably the biggest thing I’m going to be in. But I’m just going to take it as it goes, really.” (Rupert in Empire Magazine July 2011)
In July, several magazines published their editions with special interviews and photoshoots for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, among them Empire and Entertainment Weekly. Other magazines featured articles about Rupert himself such as the Guardian’s Observer and the Sun, while THAT magazine and Attitude even featured Rupert Grint on their covers.
The popularity of Rupert’s character was proven by two huge polls, MTV’s Harry Potter World Cup and Empire Magazine’s Favourite Character poll, in both of which Ron Weasley came second to Alan Rickman‘s Severus Snape – a result that Rupert himself had expected as he revealed to MTV.
On 27 June 2011, Rupert began his final promotion tour for Harry Potter, attending a fan event with Q&A at Kinepolis Cinema in Madrid with James and Oliver Phelps, and participating in an online chat with Los40.com. On 29 June, Rupert, James and Oliver appeared on the popular El Hormiguero show, acting out the story of the last film with puppets.
The following day, the three attended the opening of a special Open Air Exhibition of behind-the-scenes photos from all the Harry Potter films at Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands, after a press junket at their hotel.
Back in London, Rupert appeared on ITV’s Daybreak to promote the film and on 6 July, attended a Photocall and Press Conference, during which he and Matthew Lewis took a short break for a trip to the restrooms.
On 7 July, Rupert attended the World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at London’s Trafalgar and Leicester Squares at the largest premiere to date, with the red carpet being a 3/4 mile long, setting a new World Record. During their speeches at the premiere, J. K. Rowling called Rupert her “favourite ginger person”, and Rupert openly declared to Emma and Dan “I love you, I really do”.
On behalf of US promotion for the new film, Rupert appeared on a Larry King Special as well as Regis&Kelly and the Today Show. On 11 July, Rupert joined his co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis and Alan Rickman at the last ever Harry Potter Premiere in New York City.
Only a few days later, Rupert accompanied his sister Samantha to Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, where she participated in and won a concert competition.
Back in the USA, Rupert and his former Harry-Potter co-star Tom Felton began to share their “Tompert” bromance. On 28 July, Rupert stole the show on the red carpet of the Los Angeles premiere of “Rise of the Planets of the Apes”, wearing an “I *heart* Tom Felton” t-shirt in support of his former co-star. Together, they also attended a show of Steel Panther on 3 August as well as the Rankin Exhibition.
On 7 August, Rupert and Tom graced the red carpet of the Teen Choice Awards to pick up no less than seven Awards 2011 for Harry Potter.
Having done a photoshoot together, the pictures of the Band of Outsiders Fall/Winter 2011 collection with Rupert and Tom were published on 30 August.
“I used to watch Postman Pat when I was a small boy. My brother and sisters all did at some stage.” (Rupert about Postman Pat)
On 15 September, it was announced that Rupert was signed up for yet another project: He would be voicing the character Jack, a former boyband star, in the upcoming animated feature film Postman Pat – You know you’re the one, based on the popular British TV series for kids. A former fan himself, Rupert was happy to be on board alongside Stephen Mangan, Jim Broadband and David Tennant.
The following weekend, Rupert celebrated his birthday in Las Vegas with a group of friends – and fans, who had the opportunity to party at the Paris Hotel’s Chateau and Gardens on the 17th and to meet him during a Meet&Greet event at the Sugar Factory the following afternoon. Rupert and his friends also enjoyed a show of Love, the Cirque du Soleil show based on the Beatles’ songs.
“Rupert Grint is the nicest guy you could possibly meet – he’s lovely and did it for free, which shows how nice he is. It was really fun to make and at my gig everyone went nuts when he came on-stage, which was funny.” (Ed Sheeran, on mtv.co.uk)
To everyone’s surprise, Rupert Grint appeared on stage at a concert of singer Ed Sheeran as a “special guest” on 8 October. Ed himself revealed that Rupert would star in the music video of his upcoming song Lego House, and eventually mentioned that Tom Felton had been a help in setting everything up, and that Rupert had done the video for free. In the clip, which was released on 20 October, Rupert plays a fan of Ed who impersonates and stalks the fan. The video on youtube received 2 Million views within three days.
On 9 October, Rupert won in the category “Best British Actor” at the BBC Teen Awards, claiming that “I’m just the ginger one in the background, this shouldn’t be happening!”.
Several days later, he was back at Leavesden for publicity work for the upcoming Warner Bros Studio Tour, for which the Harry Potter sets had been turned into a visitor attracktion that will open in 2012.
On 7 November, it was announced that Rupert Grint once again donated a painting for a good cause, this time to The Prince’s Trust – An Evening of Art, arranged by HRH Prince Charles himself. Rupert’s painting will be up for auction on 7 December in Bath.
Only three days later, it was revealed that Rupert had also painted an elephant for the Elephant Parade, which was part of the Exhibition in Singapore. About his inspiration for the elephant’s design, Rupert said: “My inspiration comes from the human heart with its intricate veins and arteries, intertwined with faces depicting various expressions of human emotions.”
During the weekend from 10 to 12 November, Rupert joined his Harry Potter co-stars at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando to celebrate the release of the DVD and BluRay for the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
“I’m really looking forward to putting my time on the leader board at Top Gear Live this November. Hopefully, with a little bit of luck, the support of the crowd and some of The Stig’s wisdom of course, I can come out the winner!” (Rupert on Top Gear)
On 26 November, Rupert is set to appear on Top Gear‘s Star in a Reasonable Car Live at ExCel Arena in London to reclaim his spot at the top of the Leader Board.
“It’s always been quite a big story in my family. My dad’s always told me about the legend of Eddie the Eagle. He was a bit of a joke really. But he did actually jump, and set the British record.” (Rupert on The Independent, April 2010)
In addition to his roles in Comrade and Postman Pat, which are set for a release in 2012, Rupert is currently rumoured or attached to star in two other films:
In late 2009, rumours claimed that Rupert was meant to star in the title role in a biopic directed by Declan Lowley about Eddie the Eagle, who gained fame as ski jumper during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. With production set to begin in late 2011, Rupert has confirmed that he is interested and attached to the project, and is excited despite the fact that he had never skied before.
In late 2010, it was revealed that Rupert was attached to Cross Country, a horror/thriller film about three teenagers camping in a forest. These rumours were confirmed by Rupert’s representatives, yet no contracts have been signed.
“I definitely want to continue acting but just see what other jobs come up.” (Rupert in Disorder magazine, Issue 033, 2010)
Hoping to pursue his acting career, Rupert has mentioned that he is interested in playing a variety of roles – from comedies to animated films, from ‘evil’ guys to controversial characters, from more small-budget films to stage work, but he also would like to be the first ginger James Bond.
Stating he would be happy if he could carry on with acting and getting diverse and interesting roles, Rupert (jokingly) stated he has a backup plan if his future does not turn out as planned: He can always make use of his childhood dream and his van, and become an ice cream man…
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