Rupert Grint says playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise was ‘quite suffocating’: ‘I wanted a break…’

“In the movies (Harry Potter), we merged into one. By the end of it, I was playing myself. The lines were blurred,” Grint told the online American women’s magazine Bustle.

“Potter was so full on — (filming) all year, then we’d promote the rest of the time. It was quite suffocating. I wanted a break, to reflect on everything… It was an out-of-body experience for a while, but I think we finished at the right time. If we continued, it could’ve gone downhill,” he added.

The 34-year-old actor said even today if someone calls him Ron, he answers. “It’s my second name.”

Last year, the Harry Potter cast reunited for HBO Max’s Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which Rupert Grint described as a “good opportunity” to look back.

“It was happening, I didn’t really have a say. (Being in Harry Potter films) was a really unique experience only us core group really know, so it’s nice to see them. It was a good opportunity to reflect on everything and just say how crazy it was. It’s always nice to look back,” he said.

With age and time, Rupert Grint’s work choices have become darker. He is part of M Night Shyamalan’s psychological horror series Servant on Apple TV and his upcoming apocalyptic psychological horror movie Knock at the Cabin. Last year, he starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, a horror anthology series on Netflix.

“I’m quite dark. It’s definitely part of my personality, especially in humour,” the actor said of his interest in the genre.