VisitEngland’s new £5m campaign in partnership with commercial operators and fellow tourist boards is designed to shore up the domestic market during Olympic year.

The campaign aims to inspire UK residents to take a holiday at home during a year when England is hosting both the London Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee to help mitigate “against a potential Olympic sag”.

In recognition of the importance of 2012, commercial partners are offering a 20.12% discount on accommodation, dining, attractions, transport and more and include leisure group Merlin Entertainment, Travelodge, Bourne Leisure and Hoseasons Group.

The campaign, which breaks today (7 March), is supported by the tourist boards for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and features stars such as Stephen Fry, Rupert Grint and Julie Walters at various locations

For instance, it depicts Walters at Tate Liverpool, Grint on an Anglesey beach and Michelle Dockery on Giant’s Causeway.

It will be accompanied by a series of 10 second destinations adverts showcasing destinations such as Blackpool, Skegness, Yorkshire and Liverpool.

VisitEngland chief executive James Berresford says: “This is the largest domestic tourism campaign ever undertaken and aims to inspire UK residents to take advantage of the fantastic events taking place in the country this year.”

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VisitEngland, the national tourist board has recruited four top actors to front a national advertising campaign, ‘Holidays at Home are GREAT’, aimed at boosting domestic tourism throughout the UK. Stephen Fry, Julie Walters, Rupert Grint and Michelle Dockery start shooting a television ad this week due to air on 8 March, kicking off the country’s biggest ever domestic tourism campaign.

The campaign, led by VisitEngland, and supported by the home nation tourist boards of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland; and London, will showcase the country and highlight the key events taking place including the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, the Torch Relay, the Cultural Festival and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt said: “”This will be an incredibly exciting year, and the UK will be the very best place in the whole world to holiday. It’s thrilling that four of our best-loved actors are joining the campaign to get even more of us holidaying at home.”

Aimed at inspiring more UK residents to take a holiday in the UK this year, the campaign will feature a website offering thousands of special deals worth at least 20.12% off. Special offers will include hotel stays, meals, tickets to attractions and other goods and services.

James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said: “I am honoured that four national treasures such as Stephen, Julie, Michelle and Rupert are helping us to inspire UK residents to take a break at home in this momentous year! Their involvement is key in creating the highest profile campaign this country has seen in terms of boosting domestic tourism.”

The actors will take part in an advertisement spanning the whole country, and shooting is currently taking place at iconic locations across the UK, coordinated by VisitEngland’s advertising agency M&CSAATCHI.

In addition to the main advertisement, a series of additional 10 second adverts will be shot in a number of destinations. In return for £100,000, to be match funded by VisitEngland, Blackpool, Skegness, Yorkshire, Merseyside and Birmingham will be showcased as part of the campaign.

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Rupert Grint Takes a Break from “Harry Potter” to Star in an Independent Film

Rupert Grint stars as Ben, the straitlaced 17-year-old son of an overly religious mother and a vicar, in Driving Lessons written and directed by Jeremy Brock. Instead of being out having fun like the other kids in his class, Ben has to spend his summer vacation taking driving lessons from his mom and attending bible class. Fortunately for Ben, his life’s turned upside down when he takes a job assisting an eccentric retired actress (played by Julie Walters).

The Appeal of Driving Lessons: “I wasn’t really looking out for anything, it just sort of came. I was doing the fourth Harry Potter film and it came up after that. I just really liked the script and it was just something really different. I’d been filming the fourth one for about eleven months and I just wanted to do something different. I love sort of being Ron, it’s just sort of good to do something different so that’s why.”

Reuniting with Julie Walters: Working with Walters on Driving Lessons was a much different experience than working with Walters on the Harry Potter movies. “It’s quite different,” said Grint. “Obviously they’re completely different characters. It was actually really good having Julia there because I knew her before in the Harry Potter films. We were only filming for like six weeks [and] it was good to have someone there you sort of knew. She was really fine, really easy to get on with, so she’s cool.”

Grint says it was a bit strange seeing Walters take on a character so unlike Harry Potter’s Molly Weasley. “It was, yeah, especially with all the swearing and that. Some of it was quite shocking. The first scene we rehearsed was the camping scene when she swallows the key. She’s very funny, and she’s really cool.”

Adventures in Driving: “I had to drive down this road and then park it on this hill. Down the hill, just about five feet away, was our camera crew and they were just filming the front of the car. And in the scene, you had to get out of the car and do something, I can’t remember now, but I drive up and we all get out of the car and I forgot to put the handbrake on, the parking brake on and the car started to go down towards the crew. That was quite a close call. I had to dive into the car and put the brake on. That was kind of scary.”

Grint didn’t get his driver’s license until after he’d finished the film, which meant he was driving around without a license. “Yeah, only on private roads,” joked Grint. “They didn’t trust me on major roads. There’s a load of ways to get around it, like I had a driving double. We had this guy over there with a ginger wig who just drove around all these roads. That was quite strange.”

On Real Life Driving Lessons: Grint now has his license and instead of tooling around in something expensive and fancy, he prefers his Mini Cooper. After what he calls an ‘embarrassing amount’ of driving lessons, he managed to pass the driving test – but not without a few hitches. “My test, I was really nervous. I failed my first one, but I passed my second attempt. It was quite scary.”

What portion of the test did he fail? “I was doing a three-point-turn, and I didn’t look over my shoulder or something. Something stupid like that.”

Rupert Grint Gets the Girl in Driving Lessons: “Actually I was really dreading that scene,” confessed Grint. “I was really nervous because, obviously, you’re in a tiny set and the whole crew is watching you. It is a bit nerve-wracking. But, no, it was alright in the end. The worst part is watching it back with your family. That’s the embarrassing part. It’s not too bad.”

Ben from Driving Lessons vs Harry Potter’s Ron: Which character is more like the real Rupert Grint? “I’ve always felt like I could relate to Ron. I can’t really see much in common with Ben. I suppose I have a sort of teenage side, his awkwardness around girls and that. I can sort of relate to that. No, I’m most definitely…I’m sort of more Ron, I think.”

Going From a Huge Production to an Independent Film: The difference between working on a Harry Potter movie and Driving Lessons is like night and day. Even the trailers are smaller on an independent film. “Obviously because it’s a smaller budget, you notice the few differences like that. I’m used to like having a dressing room and stuff like that, and being based in a studio. That was one of the most different things, because on this we weren’t in a studio. We were just going around London, and it was really good fun though.”

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It’s about time that Ron Weasley got some wheels other than that bizarre, magical family car! Actually, when we spoke with Rupert Grint in Beverly Hills last week, he had just gotten his license in the U.K. and was driving a new Mini-Cooper!

The 18-year-old star of the “Harry Potter” film series was in town to chat about his film Driving Lessons in which he plays a shy teen with an ultra-controlling mom who finds freedom and identity when he becomes the assistant to an eccentric semi-retired actress played by none other than Ron’s mom (great actress Julie Walters)! News flash: Rupert has his first big screen make-out scene! The popular, ginger-haired actor let us know that doing a “love” scene really made him nervous but was worth it. Now if poor Ron can just catch up.

We got some pix of adorable Rupert in his purple tee with the green letters “Roswell” and “Area 51” on it. I told him that I was born 30 miles from there. He was fascinated but didn’t really know where Roswell was.. Somebody had given him the shirt. He’d never been there. I told him he wasn’t missing much. Let’s get down to talking about Rupert’s new role and, of course, what is up with “Harry” and friends…

AGW: Was it interesting to do another picture with Julie Walters, but playing totally different roles?

Rupert: It’s quite different, obviously they’re completely different characters. It was actually really good having Julie there, because I obviously knew her before in the ‘Harry Potter’ films, especially because we were only filming for like six weeks, it was good to have someone there you sort of knew. She was really fine, really easy to get on with, so she’s cool.

AGW: Was it strange acting with her and playing such a different role and seeing her in such a different role?

Rupert: Yeah it was, yeah, especially with all the swearing! Some of it was quite shocking. The first scene we rehearsed was the camping scene when she swallows the [car] key. She’s very funny and she’s really cool.

AGW: What was it about this movie that made you want to choose it as one of your detours from Harry Potter series?

Rupert: I wasn’t really looking out for anything. I was doing the fourth ‘Harry Potter’ film and it came up after that, and I just really liked the script and it was something really different, because I’d been filming the fourth one for about eleven months and I just wanted to do something different. I love being Ron, it’s just sort of good to do something different. So that’s why.

AGW: Both Ron and your Driving Lessons character Ben are going through life changes and maturing but are you sure you didn’t take this movie because Ben at least gets a girl! Was that a big draw for you?

Rupert: [laughs] Actually no. I was really dreading that scene. I was really nervous, because obviously, you’re in a tiny set and the whole crew is watching you, and it is a bit nerve-wracking. But, no, it was alright in the end. The worst part is watching it back with your family, that’s the embarrassing part. It’s not too bad.

AGW: So what did you do to get over your nerves before shooting that scene?

Rupert: I don’t know really, I mean once we’d – the first time was pretty awkward, but once we got into I suppose, it was alright – it was quite an awkward moment, yeah.

AGW: Did you have to have a drink beforehand? [Hey, Rupert is 18 now.. legal in London]

Rupert: [he laughs] No I didn’t, unfortunately.

AGW: Did you get a break before doing the next movie, or was it like you shot this and then boom, you went onto the next “Harry” right away?

Ron: Yeah, actually it was about three months or something spread over Christmas and it’s usually quite a quick sort of turnaround, and we’re doing the fifth one at the moment. We’re just about to finish it.

AGW: We hear that you just got your own driver’s license and are driving a Mini-Cooper. You didn’t want to get anything more ostentatious or bigger?

Rupert: No, a mini suits me.

AGW: So what were your own driving lessons like?

Rupert: Oh I had so many, an embarrassing amount actually. My test, I was really nervous, I failed my first one, but I passed my second attempt. It was quite scary.

AGW: What did you fail on your first one?

Rupert: I was doing a three-point-turn, and I didn’t look over my shoulder or something, something stupid like that.

AGW: Did the driving instructor recognize you? Actually, what is your day to day life like out and about?

Rupert: No. He didn’t say anything. It’s not too bad actually. It’s only been in the last few years where’s it’s got [crazy]. I get recognized a little bit more. The hair does sort of stand out, but they’re always really nice, so it’s not really a problem. It is something really weird and I’ve not really gotten used to it because it is quite strange, but as I say, it’s not really a problem.

AGW: What do you have planned between the two Potter films?

Rupert: I don’t know really, I’ll probably have a bit of a break, because we’ve been filming this fifth one for about 10 months or something like that, so it’s been pretty busy. I definitely want to try to get something else in, say something like Driving Lessons because it was a really good experience and I had a really good time doing it, so I’d love to do more stuff like that.

AGW: For the last three Potter films you’ve had three different directors. Do you like that?

Rupert: Yeah, I do, it makes it different. I mean, the first time it happened, losing Chris [Columbus] was quite a big thing, because he was my first ever director in my first ever film, so it was quite different not having him in there, but we’ve had some really good ones, Alfonso, Mike Newell and this one’s been really good, David Yates. He’s quite laid back and much more calm, calmer than the other ones we’ve had, so it’s been good.

AGW: A lot of people think that this is your first movie outside of ‘Harry Potter’ and it’s not. How different was the acting experience from Thunderpants?

Rupert: Much different, I mean, this is my first grown up film I suppose and it’s a bit more of a bigger part than Ron and my character in Thunderpants. It has been a real new experience. It’s been really fun.

AGW: Driving Lessons is a much smaller film. Did you have to adjust to a smaller trailer on set? Were there other differences?

Rupert: [laughs] Yeah, there’s new stuff like that. Obviously because it’s a smaller budget, you notice the few differences like that. I’m used to like having a dressing room and being based in a studio. That was one of the most different things, because on this we weren’t in a studio, we were just sort of going all around London, and it was really good fun though.

AGW: Were you shooting when the terror attacks happened last year in London?

Rupert: Yeah, yeah.

AGW: Did you have to shut down, what happened? Were you scared?

Rupert: Yeah, it was quite scary because on the actual day it happened we cancelled filming and didn’t go in and then we filmed throughout the next day and it was all about the aftermath, and there were a few like rumors and threats. We had to evacuate a building. It was quite scary.

AGW: Do you notice difference in fans from country to country?

Rupert: Yeah, definitely, yeah. They’re much louder and sort of crazier here than in England and I went to Japan on the third film and that was – they’re crazy out there as well. It’s quite funny. They send origami stuff, little swans and stuff, it’s quite strange.

AGW: Laura Linney is super strict in this film. Is your own mom anything like that?

Rupert: [looks frightened] Oh no, definitely not, no! I know, she [Laura] was scary in [this movie].

AGW: Who would your ideal leading lady be?

Rupert: [big smile..he’s not gonna tell us] Um, I don’t know really, I’m not all that fussy really, anyone will do.

AGW: Who’s more like the real you? Ben or Ron?

Rupert: Um, I’ve always felt like I could relate to Ron. I can’t really see much in common with Ben. I suppose I have a sort of teenage side, his awkwardness, around girls and that, I can sort of relate to that. No, I’m most definitely – I’m sort of more Ron I think.

AGW: Are you, Daniel and Emma very close, because you’ve grown up together? Between films do you see each other?

Rupert: We see each other ever day for most of the year, so we don’t really need to see each other outside. We get on really well, and that’s with all the other cast as well, because we’ve known them for six years, you get to know each other so it’s good.

AGW: Emma has said that she may not want to continue making the movies. How weird would it be to work with a new Hermione if they brought someone in?

Rupert: Yeah it would be – yeah, I heard that as well, it’s quite a shock. She hadn’t really talked about it, I don’t know, it would be really weird. I think she will stick it out I think, because I definitely am and I think Dan is as well, so we’ll just have to see really.

AGW: Have you been star struck by anyone since you’ve been here in Hollywood?

Rupert: Yeah. I’ve met quite a few people, especially at the premieres, which we do quite a few, like we met Robin Williams and it was really embarrassing because my grandpa kept doing Mrs. Doubtfire impressions. [laughs] Yeah, it was quite embarrassing.

AGW: What did Robin do?

Rupert: He was sort of humoring him, so it was alright.

AGW: Do you write poems like your character Ben?

Rupert: No, I don’t actually. I did at school a little bit but nothing like that. I think one of the poems, [the director] Jeremy actually wrote that when he was my age.

AGW: But, you do write rap lyrics?

Rupert: [laughing] Yeah, I did, that was my audition tape for the ‘Harry Potter’ films, I wrote a rap song.

AGW: Well, that evidently impress someone. Who’s your favorite musician now?

Rupert: I’m more into sort of rock, a lot of bands in England, Arctic Monkeys and people like that really.

AGW: What do you miss about London when you’re away?

Rupert: Not much really. (The weather) is pretty depressing out there at the moment. I quite like coming out to a place like this.

AGW: Have you moved out into your own flat yet?

Rupert: No, not yet. I’ll probably wait on it another year. I’m more [staying] at home at the moment.

AGW: Do you think that you’ll ever move here to L.A.?

Rupert: It’s definitely a possibility. I do like it over here, it is pretty cool, but I don’t know. I think I’d miss all the people at home, so I don’t know, I’ll have to see.

AGW: Then you would have to drive on the other side of the road and re-learn to drive!

Rupert: Yeah, I know. I’ve never done it, no. I don’t think I’m looking forward to it.

AGW: Were there any funny stories behind the scenes when you and Julie were stuck in the car in this film?

Rupert: I had to drive down this road and then park it on this hill, and down the hill just about five feet away was our camera crew and they were filming the front of the car, and in the scene, we had to get out of the car and do something. I drive up and we all get out of the car and I forgot to put the handbrake on, the parking brake, and this car started to go down towards the crew, that was quite a close call. I had to dive into the car and put the brake on, that was kind of scary.

AGW: You were younger making this film. So, were you driving in the movie without a license?

Rupert: [grins] Ah, yeah, but only on private roads. They didn’t trust me on major roads. There’s a load of ways to get around it, like I had a driving double. We had this guy over there wearing a ginger wig who just sort of drove around all these roads, so that was quite strange.

AGW: When you think about your future, do you think about a certain genre of movie like an action hero movie, or a heavy drama? What would you love to be in?

Rupert: I’m pretty open. I haven’t really given it that much thought. I have always sort of liked comedy films, I don’t know, anything really.

AGW: I remember you saying before you worked on the last ‘Potter’ movie how you were looking forward to the Dementors. Is there something in the next movie that you’re looking forward to seeing how they do it?

Rupert: Yeah, there’s a lot of really cool scenes in this one actually. We’re just doing all the major fight scenes and little death eaters and Lord Voldemort comes back. It’s a lot darker this one, so it should be good.

AGW: But is there no “Weasley is Our King” in the new movie? [Note: In the book, Ron gets to play Quidditch and he’s not very good and the other houses make fun of him with a mean song but his own Gryffindor house turns the song into “Weasley is Our King”]

Rupert: No. That whole Quidditch thing it didn’t sort of come about. But it’s such a big book they can’t get everything in. I was a little bit disappointed, next year probably.

AGW: Ron is afraid of spiders, what are you afraid of?

Rupert: Yeah, I’m the same, I’m afraid of spiders, yeah. I hate spiders.

AGW: You’re not afraid of girls?

Rupert: Girls? Yeah… No, not really.

AGW: Are you worried who’s going to die in book seven?

Rupert: Yeah, there’s a lot of rumors going ‘round but I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind, it’s alright, because you can always come back as a ghost so it’s not too bad.

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With only a few school plays to his credit, Rupert Grint infamously won the role of Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series with an audition tape featuring a rap that extolled his suitability and desire for the part. Grint filmed a role in kid’s movie Thunderpants thereafter, but the new Driving Lessons offers him a chance to step into more adult roles. I spoke with Grint during his stop at San Francisco’s Ritz Carlton.

Groucho: Do you remember first catching the acting bug, as they say?

Rupert Grint: Yeah, I always sort of—I’d done a few school plays, at school. And I’d always sort of been involved in the drama there. But yes, I’ve always had sort of an interest in it.

G: You don’t know what drew you to it?

RG: I don’t know. Not really. I mean, no one in my family ever really—my dad was once on the shopping channel, QVC, selling stuff. (Laughs.) Yeah, right.

G: In your own school plays, I take it you played a more interesting role than the eucalyptus tree.

RG: (Chuckles.) Yeah, definitely, yeah. It was really good to get into something different—even from Ron, really. It was a lot more, sort of—harder, I suppose. ‘Cause Ron’s mainly just—just looks scared all the time, and this was something really—some really good, different things to go through.

G: How would you describe the character of Ben?

RG: He’s quite sheltered. I mean, he’s from a religious family, and he’s got no friends. He’s a bit of a loner. He goes through quite a journey through the thing. And he sort of comes out of his shells, as it goes on. As he meets Julie Walters, her character, he sort of changes slightly, sort of becomes more independent and grows up a bit.

G: How is it that the Julie Walters character draws him out, do you think? What is he responding to there?

RG: I think—I dunno. I mean, I suppose the first time they met, he’s like—she’s someone he’s never sort of—the sort of character he’s never seen before: she swears, she drinks, she steals things. And she’s just—just I dunno. They just somehow really get on, have this strange friendship. Yeah. Yeah.

G: What’s the status on your own driving? I understand that you passed your test.

RG: Yeah—last week.

G: It took you a while to do that, though, right?

RG: (Laughs.) Yeah—it was my second test. And I’d been learning for too long. It was like—oh, I don’t know how many lessons I had. Just too many—I’ll enjoy driving—it’s good.

G: And it’s not a publicity stunt to delay your driving?

RG: (Laughs.) No, yeah.

G: It would suit the film, wouldn’t it?

RG: Yeah, definitely, yeah.

G: How is driving changing your life? I guess you haven’t had much of a chance to figure that out yet, huh?

RG: Sure, well, yeah, ’cause I only just passed. But yeah, I mean it is completely sort of freedom now. You can sort of go where you want. I’ve got a car, as well. I’ve got a little Mini—Mini Cooper, so, yeah.

G: I heard that you nearly wiped out the crew at one point with the car in the film.

RG: Oh, yeah. We were doing this scene. And I didn’t really get to do too much driving on it. But I mean, I did a few sort of private roads. And we were doing this scene where I had to drive down this sort of hill, park it up, and get out of the car and do something. And this hill—there’s the crew about sort of five foot away from where I’m supposed to be stopping. And, yeah, I drive up there and get out of the car, and suddenly the car starts to roll. Roll towards the crew. And I had to dive in there and pull the handbrake. It was quite close, actually.

G: How did you prepare to play this role? I know it was in part based on Jeremy Brock’s own life. Did you ply him for more details about his own experience?

RG: Uh, yeah, we had a few—the whole cast had a few rehearsals where we did read-throughs. And I went to Jeremy’s house, as well, and we did a few sort of like sessions with him. And he used to talk about stuff, and show me pictures of his—when he was a kid. No, it was really useful, that. And then on the set, as well, he was really good for like—really clear at giving advice on that. Because he wrote it as well. And he sort of, um—it was sort of his story. So he was really good at sort of giving advice on that.

G: One of the themes of the film is how Ben’s faith affects his development, really. How did you see that: in what ways does it help him? In what was does it hinder him?

RG: Yeah, erm. I’m trying to think—it does sort of keep him in this shell, really. And his mum doesn’t let him do anything. She’s really sort of overprotective and quite scary. (Laughs.) Yes, I suppose it doesn’t really help him much, really. Yeah.

G: Do you have a strategy for embarking on a career as an adult actor?

RG: Uh, not really. I mean, I’m just—I want to do the next two Harry Potter films. And just see what goes from there, really. And maybe do some other stuff like this, in between, because it was a really good experience.

G: It’s probably hard to imagine life after Harry Potter, I guess.

RG: I know, it’s going to be weird when it all ends, ’cause it has been a big part of my life, really.

G: When you travel around for films and do press like this, do you get to do touristy stuff?

RG: Yeah, a little bit. But I usually don’t get much time. I mean, this—I’ve never been here before, and I got here last night. And we’re leaving later today, for Dallas or something. So, yeah, it’s a shame we don’t get much more time.

G: I understand you didn’t get on in school. Why is that, do you think?

FG: I dunno! It was—I mean, I liked the sort of social side of it, and my mates, and that. But, um, it was just the learning thing; it was just—I just didn’t find a subject I could really—except for art. I really got on there, but—. And if I could do anything—’cause I can always go back. I mean, I did my final exams, and left when I was sixteen. I can always go back and do a course in something, but I can’t really see it. I mean, ’cause—I dunno, it just didn’t really, didn’t really—

G: And you’re pretty determined to keep at the film, right?

RG: Definitely, yeah, I mean, I really enjoy it. It is good fun. Yeah, it’s good.

G: Do you have aspirations to branch out into ever writing or directing?

RG: Erm, I haven’t thought about it, really. It’s always sort of an option, I suppose, in the future, but I can’t really see it. (Chuckles.) Right at the moment.

G: I know you can’t talk about specifics, but could you describe what your latest director, David Yates, is bringing to the series?

RG: Yeah, he’s really different, actually, to the other ones. He’s much more sort of laid-back, and much more calm—than the other ones we’ve had. I think, he’s really good at sort of giving us—he’s given us a lot more freedom this time around. And sort of lets us do a bit of our own thing—which is quite good. No, it’s really good, actually. We’ve got a new writer, as well [Ed. Michael Goldenberg], who gives it sort of a different feel. So, no, it’s going to be interesting, this one.

G: I’m very curious what the culture is like on a Harry Potter set. I know it might change based on the director. Do the actors set the mood? Does it chnage with each director?

RG: Yeah, it’s quite amazing how each director brings their own atmosphere to the set. Mike Newell was quite funny, because he’s crazy. He did the fourth one, and he didn’t care what he said; he was really—would swear at us if we got it wrong, sort of shout at us. He was really funny. And obviously Chris Columbus was great for the first two, and Alfonso’s crazy—we’ve had some really good ones, actually. Yeah, so it was good.

G: When the cameras aren’t rolling, do you have much time to hang out with the other actors, or do you find yourself retreating to your trailer? What’s that like?

RG: Yeah, well, I’ve got, um—yeah, but, um…now I’ve finished school, I’ve got much more time off-set. And I’ve got a really good dressing room up there. I’ve got table tennis, pool, and TV and—yes, they know where I am, in my room, so it’s good.

G: What’s the greatest length you’ve gone to to avoid being recognized in public?

RG: (Chuckles.) I dunno, it’s um—it’s quite hard, really, having so much hair, in this color. It sort of does stand out. So it’s quite hard to—no, I mean, I try caps and that. I mean, they’re always really nice. And it never gets crazy, so. It’s never really been sort of too much of a problem.

G: The film is about lessons, and you learn your lessons from Julie Walters, who plays your mother in the Harry Potter films. What sort of acting lessons have you learned from working with folks like Julie Walters or Robbie Coltrane or the great British actors you’ve worked with?

RG: Yeah, yeah. I don’t know really. I mean, you don’t really—they don’t teach you anything particularly. It’s just really good just to sort of work with them, really. It’s pretty amazing, the sort of people who worked on the Harry Potter films. Erm. But no, it’s just really good to work with them. Working with Julie again is wicked ’cause she’s so funny. She’s really cool.

G: Do you ever observe methods that they’re using, or do you work with an acting coach? What’s your kind of acting method?

RG: I dunno, really. I suppose you do in a way, yeah. You’re always sort of watching what they’re doing, and that. No, it’s quite interesting. No, but in the early ones, we had, like, a voice coach, on One and Two and Three. Yeah, so that sort of helped us a little bit then…

G: And do you plan to ever trod the boards again?

RG: Erm, I dunno. I mean, I only ever experienced it on a really small scale, so it’d be a whole different experience, I think, on a big sort of stage. But I dunno. Yeah, I mean, definitely—it is quite a sort of a thrill about doing it; it does give you quite a buzz. But, yeah, maybe that’s something in the future. I know Dan [Radcliffe] is just about to do a big play in London, yeah.

G: Equus.

RG: Yeah.

G: Alright, well, thank you very much.

RG: Cool, yeah.

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RUPERT GRINT ON HIS NEW FILM, SHOT BETWEEN HARRY POTTER MOVIES.

IT’S the steamy encounter set to break the hearts of Harry Potter fans the world over. After a raunchy salsa dance with a shapely brunette, Rupert Grint returns to her flat for a passionate one-night stand. Ron Weasley, it seems, is growing up fast.

“I must admit, I was quite nervous about doing my first on-screen kiss – actually I was really worried,” admits the 18-year-old redhead, “but it wasn’t all that bad in the end. The girl I had to snog, Michelle Duncan, was older than me, which somehow made it easier.

“I just made sure I kissed her properly because I didn’t want to go for lots and lots of takes. Mind you, watching it on the big screen for the first time was a bit painful because my dad was sitting next to me. I don’t have a girlfriend at the moment and am quite happy being single, but who knows what’s around the corner? I’d like to meet a woman with a sense of humour and I wouldn’t mind at all if they were a Potter fan.”

Rupert’s close encounter is featured in the new film, Driving Lessons – released today – in which he stars as an awkward teenager called Ben who befriends boozy, eccentric retired actress Evie, played by Julie Walters. She, coincidentally, also played Ron Weasley’s mum in the first three Harry Potter movies.

Ben’s life is changed forever when he replies to an ad for a home help placed by Evie. As their unlikely friendship grows, he drives her from London to Edinburgh, along the way having some life-changing experiences, including a fling with a shapely Scottish girl called Bryony, played by Duncan. When saying goodbye to her after a night of passion, he hilariously tells her, “Thank you for having me”.

Although Driving Lessons centres on Ben’s friendship with Evie, it also deals with the awkwardness of being a teenager and the agonies of first love. In one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, Ben reads a romantic poem to a girl he’s got a terrible crush on – with embarrassing results.

“Thank God I’ve never done that,” laughs Rupert. “I’m quite different to Ben when it comes to women, although I am a little bit shy just like he is. But I definitely don’t write poetry.”

Rupert made Driving Lessons after Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, in which he reprised his role as the young wizard’s best friend. And despite his worldwide fame, the new movie is only the second non-Potter film he’s appeared in, after the 2002 comedy Thunderpants.

“I’ve had a few offers, but the gap between the Harry Potter films was always too small to fit any of them in,” says Rupert. “But there was quite a big break between the last film and the new one (The Order Of The Phoenix, due next year) and we were able to make Driving Lessons in just six weeks. It was also refreshing to play a more complicated character because Ron is mostly just scared.”

Rupert insists he wants to star in all seven of the Potter films, even though he could be 22 when the final, unnamed instalment is released in cinemas.

“I’m filming the new one in Watford right now and it’s proving great fun,” he grins. “This could be the best one yet. The series has been such a big part of my lifethat it would be a shame if someone else took over the part. I want to be in the lot and hopefully that’ll happen.”

Rupert and I meet at an Edinburgh tea party held to mark the launch of the film, attended by John Hurt, Walters and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.

She tells The Ticket she is half-way through writing the seventh and possibly final book, but the 41-year-old Scottish author is keeping tight-lipped over rumours she’s planning to kill off Harry.

“I’m up to about 750 pages now, but I’m not telling anyone what happens to Harry,” she says. “I’ve just come along to support Rupert who’s absolutely terrific in Driving Lessons.”

So, for someone who has seen so much success so young, how does Rupert see his career progressing?

“I don’t know where I want to be in five or 10 years time,” he says. “I’ll just see where things lead me, but I’d love to do more films like Driving Lessons.”

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Written by Tom O’Neil

What Oscar hopefuls might emerge this week at the Tribeca Film Festival? Last year Harvey Weinstein acquired “Transamerica” in New York and took Felicity Huffman across America to the Kodak Theater. Now there’s a new diva vehicle in the fest lineup that shows off the long-range acting chops of another respected star. Industry-watchers wonder: will Harvey take her and “Driving Lessons” for a spin?

Or will it be hijacked by another savvy Oscar rider like Sony Pictures Classics or Focus Features?

I’ve already seen “Driving Lessons” and can tell you: it’s a helluva ride and it’s obvious Oscar bait based on its setup. Two-time past Oscar nominee Julie Walters (“Billy Elliot,” “Educating Rita”) is a flamboyant, booze-swilling, over-the-hill actress who plays a theatrically outsize Maude (without any icky stuff with the kid) to Rupert Grint‘s awestruck Harold (he plays Ron Weasley in the “Harry Potter” flicks). She’s an eccentric old British bird who lives alone in a big house overstuffed with memorabilia of a long career most distinguished by her once having played a Joan Collins-type bitch on a TV soap. She’s in desperate need of a young helper around the joint and that’s where Grint comes in, arriving as a shy lad eager to escape his restrictive God-fearing home. She introduces him to highbrow culture by casting him opposite her in “Coriolanus” — mugging it to the max, arms outflung, in her overgrown garden. It doesn’t matter that he’s only got a learner’s permit, not an official driver’s license. Next she casts him as her chauffeur, despite his protests, and they embark on a road trip up to Edinburgh where she’ll screw up a poetry recital while he, emboldened by what he’s learned from Walters, meanders off to discover love at last with a pretty young gal.

Walters is an inspiring and magnetic mentor off her nut like Maggie Smith in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (Smith’s first Oscar victory). Oh, except that she’s not recruiting kids to fight for Facism. The fact that Walters portrays an actor instead of a teacher is a plus, considering actors make up the largest chunk of academy voters and they love lampoons of themselves, often nominating roles about hambone overripe thespians past their prime like Annette Bening in “Being Julia,” Albert Finney in “The Dresser” and Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard.” Sometimes they even win — like Maggie Smith in “California Suite” or Ronald Colman in “A Double Life.”

“Transamerica” won the best actress award for Huffman at Tribeca last year and now “Driving Lessons” is a current frontrunner. Both have ContentFilm behind the wheel. Last year ContentFilm acquired “Transamerica” at the Berlin Film Festival and brought it to Tribeca to sell off U.S. and Canadian rights and, hopefully, to send it Oscar-bound. Since the strategy worked so well once (well, at least for a nomination), the distributor is trying it again with a film that has another tour-de-force diva turn in the driver’s seat.

“Driving Lessons” costars former Oscar nominee Laura Linney as Grint’s bible-thumping momma and marks the directorial debut of Jeremy Brock, author of the screenplay to “Mrs. Brown” (Oscar nomination for Judi Dench). It’s loosely based upon his own experience as a boyhood protege to Oscar champ Peggy Ashcroft, but Brock confesses some embellishments, insisting that his grand Dame wasn’t really a secret booze bag.

Photo: “Harry Potter’s” Rupert Grint resists, but Julie Walters insists upon teaching him an appreciation for the free-wheeling bohemian life in “Driving Lessons.”
(ContentFilm International)

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HARRY Potter star Rupert Grint and screen legend Julie Walters braved the Edinburgh rain as they began filming the new comedy Driving Lessons.
Walters, whose ballet teacher inspired Billy Elliot in the hit movie of the same name, plays a retired actress who befriends Grint.

The youngster, who has starred as Harry Potter’s bungling sidekick Ron Weasley in the film versions of the JK Rowling novels, is trying to escape his domineering mother – Love Actually’s Laura Linney. During the weekend filming has been taking place in Candlemaker Row, the Calton Hotel, and the University Quadrangle, in Edinburgh.

Film-goers will also see scenes set against the world-renowned architecture of the Capital’s Old and New Towns.

In another scene, viewers will see the results of months of salsa dancing when Grint’s character is dragged to a club by his bubbly girlfriend.

The film is being directed by Jeremy Brock, who wrote the acclaimed Mrs Brown which starred Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.

He earned Bafta nominations for his work on the 1997 movie as well as The Widowmaker.

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh Film Focus said: “We are, of course, delighted that another high-profile production is planning to film in Edinburgh.

“This year, like last year, the Capital seems to have attracted a lot of filming work.

“The landscape of Edinburgh is a very remarkable one to film-makers as much as it is to tourists.”

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By Maureen Paton

My street-cred with teenage girls will go sky-high now that the copper-haired Rupert Grint has landed, as if by magic, in the back of my cab. Instantly recognisable all over the world as Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Weasley, the Hertfordshire-based Rupert is on a flying visit to London with his dad Nigel and wants to revisit one of the panoramic locations where his latest film was shot. So off we head to Primrose Hill where our driver, David from Barking, even lets Rupert sit in the front of his parked cab as a consolation prize for having just failed his first driving test (for not looking behind him while performing a three-point turn don’t tell Professor Dumbledore).

Rupert whose father sells Formula One memorabilia can’t wait to get behind the wheel, not only as a homage to the flying Ford Anglia in the Harry Potter films but also to what he calls ‘my first grownup film quite scary and more of a responsibility’.

For Rupert, who has just turned 18, is about to surprise and even shock his fans with the road movie Driving Lessons, a comedy written and directed by Jeremy Brock, the screenwriter of Mrs Brown. Not only is its language decidedly adult (surpassing Ron Weasley’s favourite expression, ‘Bloody brilliant’, so much so that Rupert bashfully admits, ‘My nan didn’t really approve of it when I took her to a screening’), but Rupes also gets his first bedroom scene.

So already he has managed to upstage Harry Potter himself, the actor Daniel Radcliffe (whose own first grownup role will involve appearing naked on a horse in a stage revival next April of the play Equus). But don’t panic and immediately lock up your Rupert-mad daughters: all we see in Driving Lessons is a lingering pre-coital kiss, followed by Rupert’s bare shoulders and chest above the sheets afterwards. Bless! Still, going to bed with the girl who recently played Princess Diana on TV (Michelle Duncan in Whatever Love Means) does add a certain kudos to a chap’s CV. ‘It’s pretty tastefully done,’ says a relieved-sounding Rupert, ‘although that snog was quite scary. But Michelle was really good; and it helped that she was a lot older [21].’

Driving Lessons is as much a rite of passage for Rupert as for his character Ben, a sensitive teenage poet who hits the road with a flamboyantly misbehaving Julie Walters. All the onscreen drinking and cussing made for a pretty lively reunion with Julie, who also, of course, plays Ron Weasley’s mum in the Potter movies. ‘Mrs Weasley would have a fit at all the swearing and I wasn’t expecting it, either,’ he admits. ‘I was a bit shocked. But Julie was a real giggler like me. I got told off really badly for “corpsing” by the director of the first Harry Potter film, but I’ve sort of got over it now.’

He has grown up in other ways too, for Rupert, who left school after taking his GCSEs two years ago, has started shaving every other day and has even taken up golf the ultimate showbiz sport. His debut in the first Harry Potter film was smartly followed up with the role of a geeky genius in the family comedy Thunderpants when he was 12 (‘they permed my hair for that, which was a bit embarrassing’), but he’s not allowed to touch his considerable earnings until he’s 21.

‘I’ve stayed in touch with all my mates, and the only thing that has changed is getting recognised.

Sometimes it’s hard to maintain a normal life when you’re filming for most of the year and when you get pursued up the street by screaming fans. It’s a bit weird, and hard to get used to.

But they are always very nice about the films, so it’s not really a problem,’ says Rupert, who doesn’t have a girlfriend at the moment. He is currently finishing filming on the fifth Harry Potter, The Order of the Phoenix, and will then start work on the penultimate instalment, The Half-Blood Prince.

Even though Rupert finds co-star Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) ‘quite intimidating, but cool’, he says, ‘the films have been so much fun to do’.

The franchise has taken him all over the world, as well as to the royal box at the Queen’s 80th birthday celebrations.

‘She was sitting right behind us!’ he marvels with the wide-eyed look of awe that has become his trademark.

As Ron would say, bloody brilliant.

Driving Lessons is on general release.

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