‘Return to Hogwarts’: Daniel Radcliffe Reveals What He and Rupert Grint ‘Hated’ About Playing Harry Potter and Ron Weasley
In 2001, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint brought J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books to life. But playing Harry Potter and Ron Weasley wasn’t all fans think it’s cracked up to be. Here’s what Grint and Radcliffe hated most about playing Ron Weasley and Harry Potter in the films, as revealed in the HBO Max special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.
‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’ airs on HBO Max on Jan. 1, 2022
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is available to fans when the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, 2022. Fans can bring in the new year by reliving some of their favorite Harry Potter memories with the cast, including Radcliffe, Grint, and Emma Watson.
Other Harry Potter cast members involved in the HBO Max special include:
- Tom Felton
- Evanna Lynch
- Helena Bonham Carter
- Robbie Coltrane
- Gary Oldman
- Ralph Fiennes
- Jason Isaacs
- Imelda Staunton
- Oliver and James Phelps
- Bonnie Wright
- Ian Hart
- Mark Williams
- Alfred Enoch
Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe didn’t want to grow their hair for ‘Harry Potter’
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, fans meet an 11-year-old Harry Potter who boasts a charming bowl cut. But by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry and Ron’s manes are grown out and shaggy.
As Radcliffe explains in the advance excerpts from Return to Hogwarts (via Reuters), he and Grint “hated being told to grow their hair out for a shaggier look in later films in the series.”
“We’re like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. You’re not leaving us like this?'” Radcliffe told the outlet. “We’re supposed to be becoming teenagers and dating girls in this film! That’s not what it’s going to be, is it?” he remembers wondering. Radcliffe and Grint were “pretty devastated” when they realized what their looks would be in the fourth Harry Potter movie.
Even Grint says his hair in the fourth film is one of his greatest regrets from his time in the Harry Potter franchise. “My hair in film four is one of my biggest regrets,” the Harry Potter actor told Dax Shepard on Armchair Expert.
“I think everyone actually had a phase of having this really long hair. They liked it—it was kind of wizard-y. We went through our puberty on camera. You kind of see it all. It is very cringey.”
By the time Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix rolled around, the boys’ hairstyles changed back to a more trim look.
‘Harry Potter’ fans also dislike Ron and Harry’s hair in ‘Goblet of Fire’
As Harry Potter fans have discussed at length on Reddit, Ron and Harry’s hair in the fourth film doesn’t “fit with the continuity of all the characters in the story.” Another fan adds: “You are not alone, I commonly refer to the [Goblet of Fire] as ‘the year everyone needs to get a hair cut.'”
‘Return to Hogwarts’ proves Daniel Radcliffe will always be willing to talk about ‘Harry Potter’
Radcliffe and Grint may have “hated” being told what to do with their hair, but the Harry Potter films remain a major part of their life. As he explained to Reuters, Radcliffe will always be willing to talk about his time growing up in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
“Every part of my life is connected to Potter and to Leavesden [the location of the set],” Radcliffe said. “My first kiss is connected to someone here; my first girlfriends were here.” In fact, most of the major moments in Radcliffe’s life “spiral out from the Potter set.”
Tune in to Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts on Jan. 1, 2022.
