How Rupert Grint Found His Irish Accent For His Role In Cherrybomb

It can be hard at times to separate Rupert Grint from his "Harry Potter" roots. Even now, over a decade after the last film in the franchise was released, Grint's name is still synonymous with Ron Weasley, the clumsy boy wizard with a heart of gold. But Grint's acting career definitely has roots outside of Hogwarts. Over the years, he's appeared in various other films including Jeremy Brock's "Driving Lessons," Jonathan Lynn's "Wild Target," and 2009's "Cherrybomb" directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn. 

"Cherrybomb" is a British drama about two teenagers who both fall for the same girl. In increasingly more serious attempts at getting her attention, they eventually find themselves in over their heads and headed for disaster. Grint plays one of the teens, Malachy McKinney, an employee at a local movie theater. In the film, Malachy is the exact opposite of Ron Weasley, eager to participate in a world of drugs, sex, and booze. Talking to girls is nowhere near as nerve-wracking either. Who knows though? Maybe it's Grint's impeccable Irish accent he sports for the role that makes him come off as more self-assured. In fact, for Grint — who is English — adopting a new accent was not as difficult for him as you might think.

Learning a new accent can be especially challenging for an actor. Many times, professional voice coaches are brought on set to help stars achieve authenticity with their words. In a press junket interview with Empire Magazine, Rupert Grint and co-star Robert Sheehan talked about how they prepared for using an Irish accent on the set of "Cherrybomb." Sheehan said, "In fairness, I think Rupert probably had a bigger challenge coming from the other side of the water." Sheehan is from Ireland, while Grint is from England.

The two note that the entire cast worked with a dialect coach to prepare for their roles through imitation, with all of the actors receiving a CD of the coach saying all of their lines with the proper accent. They would all listen to their tracks on their iPods (Hello, 2009!), which allowed them to constantly have the sound in their ears just before shooting. During other interviews from the same junket, Grint mentioned listening to a podcast by Irish comedian Patrick Kielty as another way of immersing themselves. Though, in the end, Sheehan added that the best trick was immersing themselves in the actual culture of the community by going out and sharing a pint.

For those who've seen the film, it's certainly a bit of a trip to see an Irish Ron Weasley on the screen, but Grint is so masterful at bringing his character to life, that all traces of the famous Weasley brother are quickly left behind. Don't worry, Seamus Finnigan. You're still the most recognizable Irish wizard at Hogwarts.