‘I’m not sure I’m going to miss it,’ actor tells MTV News of ‘Potter.’

Rupert Grint has always been the comic relief when it comes to the Big Three actors in “Harry Potter,” but with the final film opening in theaters Friday (July 15), he is ready to spread his wings and try out some new projects.

“Anything really different, really,” Grint replied when MTV News asked him what his plans are next. “Playing the same character for 10 years really does give you this thirst for new things. I’m not sure I’m going to miss it. I am looking forward to this kind of newfound freedom. Just see where it takes me.”

He certainly seems to be trying to get away from “Potter” as much as possible. Grint’s next project is his anti-war film “Comrade,” which began filming March 28 in Norway. Directed by Petter Næss and costarring David Kross, Florian Lukas and Stig Henrik Hoff, the movie tells the story of English and German pilots who are forced to work together to survive the brutal Norwegian winter; it is a very far cry from anything Grint has done in “Potter.”

After that, his next project is looking more and more likely to be “Eddie the Eagle,” a biopic about British skier Eddie Edwards, the first competitor to represent the U.K. in Olympic ski jumping. Though it still doesn’t have a writer or director attached, Grint is optimistic that production will get under way soon.

“It’s a story that I really like and it’s still in the working yet. I still have faith that it will happen,” he told MTV News. “It’s been in kind of development for a while, but yeah, hopefully it will come up.”

Of all the “Potter” stars, Grint has been the one to have the most big-screen experience. In 2002 he starred in the children’s comedy “Thunderpants,” then followed it up with 2006′s dramedy “Driving Lessons.” Somehow he managed to find time over the past few years during his busy “Potter” shooting schedule to squeeze out two 2010 releases as well: “Cherrybomb” and “Wild Target.”

And the fans respect him for it. When MTV’s Next Movie site ran a recent poll asking readers who they thought would be the most successful “Potter” star, Grint won by a whopping 43 percent. If that doesn’t work out, though, he always has a side career as an ice cream man.

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If Rupert Grint hadn’t won a Ron Weasley look-alike contest sponsored by a London newspaper 10 years ago, he might be driving an ice cream truck for a living.

That, after all, was his ambition.

Instead, he is starring in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which adds to his bank account of several million dollars. He used some of it to buy himself an ice cream truck.

Grint, 22, plays a sidekick who not only gets the girl but emerges as a hero. Yet as I sit with Grint for this interview, I again get the impression that he doesn’t care a hoot about the whole thing.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he said of the “Potter” decade in which he appeared in eight feature films. “And yet, I’m sad, too. There will always be a part of Ron in me.”

He calls himself a “ginger head.” “Some girls don’t like red-headed guys,” he said. “It’s not the coolest thing. Can be a hassle.”

Then he became a movie star. “I was always a shy kid,” he said. “It took me a long time to adjust. The thing is that, suddenly, I could never be invisible. I couldn’t go to shopping centers. Then I just opened it up. I didn’t hide from it. That’s when I realized that you can’t get away from it. You can’t turn it off and on.”

This last “Potter” movie is his favorite. “It’s just a bigger feeling,” he said. “Everything is faster and bigger. It’s quite a different feeling from any of the other movies.”

He loved scenes with goblins. He identified his least favorite scene quickly: “the kissing scene.”

Although much of the world was waiting to see Ron make out with Hermione, played by Emma Watson, he admitted that “both Emma and I were dreading that scene.”

“I’ve known Emma for a long time. Kissing her is not on the agenda. I mean, she’s gorgeous and all that, but you know what I mean. She’s like my sister. As actors, we thought it should be enough if we could just persuade everyone to think they were in love and wanted to kiss.”

It took four takes to get the serious smooching right.

Now, Grint is shooting a World War II drama in Norway called “Comrade,” scheduled for release next year. It’s about British and German soldiers who are stranded in the Norwegian wilderness and must form a friendship to survive.

He also stars in the independent thriller “Cross Country.” In the 2010 independent action comedy “Wild Target” with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt, he plays a young man who believes he’s working for a private detective but is actually working for a hit man.

In New York for the American premiere of “Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” he seemed surprised to be a bit torn up about saying goodbye to the franchise.

“It’s been an emotional week,” he said. “I didn’t think it would be, but goodbye is goodbye, no matter how you cut it.”

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Says Rupert Grint ( Who’s worth £24m )

WITH around £24million in the bank, Rupert Grint is one of Britain’s richest young men.

But the 22-year-old Harry Potter star doesn’t splash his galleons about like Premier League players his age.

The actor, who has enchanted audiences as wizard Ron Weasley for more than a decade, astonishingly confessed to The Sun that he still lives at home with mum and dad – even though he has his own pad in London for occasional stays.

There aren’t even any fancy cars for the homely Hertfordshire lad.

When filming wrapped on the final JK Rowling movie, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, he treated himself to a £60 Vauxhall Carlton and headed off around Europe with mates in a “Wacky Rally”.

He said: “We did about nine countries, all the way to Barcelona. I went with James and Oliver Phelps, who play the twins, and we brought a mechanic along as well. It was a really good adventure. I do love cars but nothing too flash.”

In an exclusive interview with The Sun ahead of the final Potter film’s release on Friday, Rupert gave us a window into his unassuming life, where he is still close to sisters Georgina, 18, Samantha, 15 and Charlotte, 12, brother James, 21, and parents Nigel and Joanne.

Although he rarely splurges on himself, he says he can splash the cash on his family – sometimes on bizarre presents.

He said: “I have kind of got a miniature zoo. We have miniature pigs, donkeys, miniature hedgehogs. They are just smaller than the average hedgehog.

“I have quite a big family, I’m one of five and I have sisters who love animals.”

He has met the Queen and the family of President Obama so I ask Rupert which celebrity he has been most thrilled to meet.

The reply floors me.

“Alan Titchmarsh. Shakin’ Stevens came on to the set too. I only get star struck with really random people like Alan Titchmarsh and EastEnders actors,” he says.

“I met Alan at the Queen’s 80th when she had this big party in the Palace.

“I bumped into him. It’s not like I really watch Ground Force or anything like that.”

Never mind that the Queen and Prince Philip had been sitting right behind him or that Michelle Obama had visited the set with her daughters as a birthday surprise for one of them.

But if meeting heads of state doesn’t excite Rupert, surely there must have been magic in the air when he finally got to kiss co-star Emma Watson in the new film?

Ron Weasley and Emma’s character Hermione Granger finally spell out their feelings for each other in the series’ gripping finale by locking lips.

But Rupert says: “Neither of us were looking forward to it. It was a tricky one. That scene has been an anticipated moment, the relationship has built up from the early films.

“There was a pressure to get it right. I knew Emma when she was nine and we have closely watched each other grow up.

“So kissing this girl just seemed a strange thing to be doing, not right.”

Down-to-earth Rupert seems immune to the weaknesses of many young stars.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, recently had to give up booze because his drinking had got out of control.

Rupert insists that he felt no such need to release the pressure with alcohol.

He said: “No, no, no, there has always been this anticipation for us to fall into that stereotype and it has never really been an issue for me.

“It’s because we film in Watford, which isn’t the most glamorous of spots. If we had filmed in America or something it could have been disastrous. I never felt any pressure. It was just fun really.” The constant and intense attention of fans makes this level-headed approach even more remarkable.

Rupert isn’t even offended by strangers heckling him.

He smiled and said: “People do call me Ron in the street. I have grown up with it, it has become my second name almost.

“I do answer to it. Or they call me Weasley or Ginger.”

Although he doesn’t enjoy people taking sneaky photographs while he’s in a restaurant.

He said: “There are moments when you don’t really want to do it, if you are having a meal and people are taking their camera phones out and taking pictures of you.

“You can spot them. They pretend to take pictures of their friend and they slightly offset the camera so they can get you.”

But he is grateful for some aspects of fame – all the fan mail and presents. For some reason he gets sent lots of pyjamas.

Odd encounters with obsessed fans also raise a smile.

He said with a laugh: “There was a time when I was in LA, I think, I met this guy who had a tattoo of me, Dan and Emma on his arm.

“He hadn’t quite got the resemblance. I looked like Anne Robinson.”

But how does he feel now this immense experience is over?

Rupert said: “It is weird to think it was the last one. There is a scene right at the end, after the battle, with the three of us on the bridge.

“I found that scene emotional, I still haven’t got used to it.”

But surely the post-Potter future is bright for Rupert, offering the chance to make different kinds of films?

In between the magical movies he has already appeared in low-budget projects including Wild Target, Cherrybomb, Driving Lessons and Thunderpants.

Coming up is Comrade, in which he plays a British airman shot down over Norway in the Second World War.

And Rupert has been lined up to play Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards in a biopic of the Winter Olympics sensation.

He says: “I want to keep on acting, definitely.”

We can only hope his career fares better than the dreams of Brit ski jumper Eddie – who came dead last in two events at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

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• Karo’s Review
• Interview with composer Michael Price
• Interview with Director Jonathan Lynn

• Interview with Wild Target composer Michael Price
• Interview with Wild Target director Jonathan Lynn

Ron Weasley kicks back after wrapping the ‘Potter’ series.

With the long-running ” Harry Potter” franchise beginning to draw to a close, the three young actors who star in the epic fantasy films are finding themselves at the dawn of a new stage of their careers.

Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, is preparing to star in February in a Broadway revival of the Frank Loesser musical classic “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” in addition to lining up new movie roles. Emma Watson, who plays the studious Hermione Granger, is attending Brown University in Rhode Island and will appear in the movie “My Week With Marilyn,” set for release next year.

And Rupert Grint, who portrays Harry’s best wizard buddy, Ron Weasley? Well, he’s blissfully unemployed.

“I am quite enjoying not doing anything,” said the laid-back 22-year-old, calling from his home outside London for a recent interview. “It’s been nice.”

It’s a big change of pace for Grint, who wrapped shooting the two-part “Harry Potter” finale, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” in June; the first part will open in theaters Nov. 19, the final installment will follow next summer. The films, which see the trio of friends leave the safety of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and set out on a quest to finally defeat the evil Lord Voldemort, were made simultaneously and were rather daunting for the actors, Grint said.

“The last films have been quite exhausting. It was over a year in production,” he said. “It was really full on.”

Before he reported to work on the final “Potter” movies, Grint made the ensemble British comedy “Wild Target,” which opens Friday. Directed by Jonathan Lynn, the farce, based on the 1993 French film “Cible Emouvante,” revolves around a middle-aged hit man ( Bill Nighy), the beautiful con artist ( Emily Blunt) he has been commissioned to kill and a petty thief (Grint) who discovers he’s pretty good with a gun and becomes the assassin’s apprentice.

Grint’s Tony also happens not to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he plays the black comedy for all it’s worth — his shocked, anxious reaction to his first kill is particularly memorable.

“It was quite refreshing to do the film,” Grint said of “Wild Target.” “I liked the script, and I thought it would be quite good fun. It came at a good time, as I had just finished filming the sixth ‘Harry Potter.’ I quite liked working with different people.”

Although as Ron Weasley he has had moments of humorous screen time before, Grint admitted that comedy didn’t come naturally to him as an actor. “I find it quite difficult, I think, [compared] to other kinds of types of acting,” he confessed.

But Lynn said that Grint’s abilities served him well on set, working with the rest of the cast. “I think he has a real knack for comedy, but I do think he finds it difficult,” Lynn said. “He think he finds the absolute precision of it difficult…. The reason he does seem to have a knack for it is that he’s a natural, and he has this wonderful personae that works so well on the screen. He was the easiest and nicest person to have around, and he was determined to do whatever I asked.”

Grint doesn’t know what the future holds for him. “I don’t have a plan,” he said, adding that he hasn’t ruled out following Radcliffe and doing theater. “It’s definitely an option. I think it would be quite fun. I’ll see what comes up.”

He might even leave his parents’ house at some point in the near future. “I have a place in London to where I go quite a bit. Eventually, I’ll move out.”

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This week’s agency maneuverings.

In agency maneuverings this week:

Gersh has signed Harry Potter regular Rupert Grint, who just co-starred in the action comedy Wild Target with Emily Blunt and Bill Nighy. Grint has the two-part Harry Potter finale coming this month and then in July. He’s still repped by Hamilton Hodell in the U.K. and managed by Untitled Entertainment in the States.

UTA has signed actor Jonathan Tucker, who next appears in the Lionsgate thriller The Next Three Days, which hits theaters in the next 10 days. Tucker also had a role in Days director Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah, as well as The Ruins, The Virgin Suicides and the Texas Chainsaw Masscare remake. He is still managed by Booh Schut, and his attorney is Steve Warren of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman.

WME has signed Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs co-writer Yoni Brenner.

ICM has signed Kumail Nunjiani, an actor, writer and comedian who most recently appeared in Life As We Know It. He is also managed by Mosaic.

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Saw 3D won the Halloween weekend, but the most intense box-office war was fought among low-budget indie flicks. At least where fans—and haters—of Twilight and Harry Potter were concerned.

In one corner: Kristen Stewart’s Welcome to the Rileys. In the other: Rupert Grint’s Wild Target.

And the winner was…?

A documentary about the world’s largest garbage dump.

Waste Land grossed more money per theater than any film in limited or wide release. (Saw 3D, included.) Granted, the film only played at one theater, where it made $11,562, per estimates, but what counts counts.

The Swedish-language version of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, the concluding chapter in the Stieg Larsson thriller trilogy (until the Hollywood redos come along), also topped Stewart and Grint, grossing just under $1 million at 153 locations.

Although they didn’t rule among likely latte drinkers, both Stewart’s and Grint’s movies did OK, with bragging rights going to Team Weasley.

Theater for theater, the crime caper Wild Target ($24,316 at four theaters) outearned the drama Welcome to the Rileys ($45,000 at 10 theaters).

The performances were steps up for Stewart, last seen out of Bella’s hoodies in the disappointing The Runaways, and Grint, who hadn’t ventured out of Hogwarts in a theatrically released film since the 2006 indie, Driving Lessons.

In the Top 10, Saw 3D ($24.2 million) had no real competition as last weekend’s champ, Paranormal Activity 2 ($16.5 million; $65.7 million overall), took a dive.

Elsewhere, Jackass 3D ($8.4 million) added to its legend, and broke $100 million overall—a Jackass first.

Hilary Swank’s Conviction ($1.8 million; $2.4 million overall) cracked the Top 10, while Legend of the Guardians ($1.7 million; $52.6 million overall) and Easy A ($1.1 million; $56.3 million overall) dropped out.

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Rupert Grint, the ginger-haired star of the “Harry Potter” franchise, won our hearts as Ron Weasley, but really, he’s so much more than just a teen witch. He’s managed to sneak in all sorts of projects while still maintaining his blockbuster star status in the “Harry Potter” flicks. So before “Potter” madness really takes over the world, we’re naming him this week’s Hump Day Hottie.

Vital stats: The 22-year-old Brit got his start on the stage and had never appeared on camera before “Harry Potter.” He grew up in the magical-sounding land of Hertfordshire and comes from a rather large family: He’s got one brother and three sisters. He’s the oldest.

Where you might have already seen him: He’s probably best known for his work in the “Harry Potter” movies, but he’s managed to pepper in a number of other projects since the first film hit theaters in 2001. His other credits include parts in “Thunderpants,” “Driving Lessons” and “Cherry Bomb.”

Why you should take notice of him now: Well, he’s got the first half of the final “Harry Potter” flick, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” hitting theaters this November. But this week, fans can check him out in his Emily Blunt co-starring film, “Wild Target,” about a hitman who gets called back into the game thanks to a beautiful thief. Also, he’s got the second “Deathly Hallows” out next year, as well as “Eddie The Eagle.”

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The star of Harry Potter and this week’s Wild Target reveals the movies that work their magic on him.

He’s instantly recognizable to millions of fans as the redoubtable Ron Weasley, loyal sidekick to Harry Potter and romantic interest to Hermione Granger in the films of J.K. Rowling’s series; a phenomenon that will soon reach fever pitch with the November release of the penultimate Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. But 22-year-old Rupert Grint has also been putting together a resume of smaller, character-driven films on the side, the latest of which, Wild Target, opens in US theaters this week. In this very British crime caper, Grint plays a kid who stumbles upon a deadly scenario and inadvertently becomes an apprentice hitman to Bill Nighy, all while getting to snuggle up to Emily Blunt and trade quips with the likes of Martin Freeman and Rupert Everett. RT was lucky enough to catch Rupert recently and pose that eternal question: “Will there ever be a rainbow?” We then asked him his Five Favorite Films.

I have never gotten this film out of my head. The disturbing humor and strong characters make it one of the favorites that I regularly watch.

Eraserhead (1977, 90% Tomatometer)

Watching Eraserhead is like living in a nightmare: quite uncomfortable, and a distressing experience — which is why I love it.

Dead Man’s Shoes (2004, 58% Tomatometer)

I really like [director] Shane Meadows, and any film with a revenge storyline. I love the soundtrack, and it has a great cast and a really unexpected twist at the end.

Arthur (1981, 89% Tomatometer)

Dudley Moore is a legend. I only discovered this film recently but I fell in love with it.

The Stuff (1985, 63% Tomatometer)

I’m a big ‘B’ movie fan, and for me this ticks every ‘B’ movie box. It must be the most original idea for a monster — an evil mass-produced dessert. It’s got the strangest characters I’ve ever seen in a film, which makes it a forever favorite of mine.

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