Biography

[b]Rupert Grint[/b] plays young wizard Ron Weasley in the popular film series based on the Harry Potter stories of J.K. Rowling. Weasley is Potter's redheaded sidekick at Hogwarts, the school for wizardry. Grint had no acting experience beyond school plays when he took part in an open casting call for the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001). He won the part and went on to play Weasley in the sequels Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Grint also appeared in the 2002 comedy Thunderpants (with Paul Giamatti), and in the 2006 movie Driving Lessons (co-starring Laura Linney).

The U.S. title of the first film (and the first book) in the series was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone... In Driving Lessons, Grint plays a young man smitten with an older woman, played by Julie Walters -- she played his mom, Mrs. Weasley, in the Harry Potter movies.