How Harry Potter's Rupert Grint Used Rap Music To Land His Part As Ron Weasley
When one thinks of rappers, many names immediately come to mind. I feel pretty confident when I say that Rupert Grint isn't one of them. However, the actor who played Ron Weasley in the "Harry Potter" franchise is just that. Sort of. The films, based on the books of very problematic author J.K. Rowling, were highly anticipated even before they were cast, and fans all over the world (including myself) were excited to see who would play the unexpected wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), the brilliant Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and the loyal Ronald Weasley. To get the role, Grint did something to stand out from the crowd. He rapped on his audition tape, as he told Rosie O'Donnell on her talk show in 2001.
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Grint playing the role now, but with the books as popular back then as they were, an unexpected rap must have seemed like a good idea. "I really wanted to be in this film, so I made this videotape," he told O'Donnell. "First, I dressed up as my drama teacher, who was a girl, so it was kind of scary. Then I made this rap song of how much I wanted to be in the film." Well, you can't say he didn't swing from the fences. In case you're wondering, he does remember some of it, and before that time, he had a very different plan for his life.
'[It] always seemed like a really cool job'
Back in 2009 when "Live with Kelly and Mark" was "Live with Regis and Kelly" (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet) Grint spoke about the rap and even did the first line. He said:
"The books were becoming quite like a phenomenon. I was a big fan of them. There was this news program in England called 'Newsround' and they wanted kids my age to kind of come forward and send in applications for them. So I basically just made a videotape of myself kind of doing a rap."
According to Grint, this was full of information about him, like his age and height, and he said the first line was, "Hello there my name is Rupert Grint. I hope you like this and don't think I stink." The lyrics aren't exactly fire, but it clearly made him stand out enough to get an audition from the producers. The rest is history.
By the way, before the infamous rap, Grint had a sweeter career choice. He told CBS News in a 2007 interview:
"When I was younger I had sort of — always seemed like a really cool job to be an ice cream man. And I thought, why not? It was really cool as well. Like a freezer and some sinks. It's got a musical tune and all that. We drive it all the time. It's good."
It's nice to know that he chose differently. The "Harry Potter" films are currently streaming on Max.