‘Servant’ Star Rupert Grint Shares Which Word He Struggles With When Doing an American Accent
Rupert Grint is an English actor best known for his portrayal of the lovable wizard, Ron Weasley, in the Harry Potter movie franchise. Currently, he’s starring in the Apple TV+ drama-thriller Servant.
In the series, Grint plays a Philadelphia man named Julian who struggles with substance abuse and his relationship with his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. Julian sounds authentically American on the hit show. But in a recent interview, Grint revealed that there is one word he still struggles with when trying to perfect his American accent.
Rupert Grint plays Julian on Apple TV+’s ‘Servant’
Servant is a psychological horror series created by Tony Basgallop and executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan. It follows Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell), a Philadelphia couple who hire a nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free), to take care of their lifelike doll, which they believe is their real son Jericho. But when their baby comes to life, the Turners realize Leanne is more powerful than she seems.
Grint takes on the role of Julian Pearce, Dorothy’s younger brother. A recovering addict, Julian is there to support Dorothy and Sean in the wake of Leanne’s arrival. He develops a romantic relationship with the Nanny. And he eventually realizes that she is at the center of the calm and chaos in the house.
Grint has received several accolades for his performance in Servant, including the 2022 Hollywood Critics Association award for Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series Drama.
The ‘Servant’ star has trouble saying one word in an American accent
Throughout all eight Harry Potter movies, Grint spoke in his native British accent. But his role in Servant requires him to use an American accent.
In a recent fan Q&A for British GQ, the actor talked about the Apple TV+ series and noted that he came to the role after a “real journey of kind of exploring, just seeing what I wanted to do.” Grint revealed that doing Julian’s American accent could be challenging at times, especially because of one specific word that comes up repeatedly in the show.
“The accent is a tricky one,” the 34-year-old said. “I do enjoy doing it. Actually, the word, ‘baby’ is one I really struggle with, which is unfortunate, because it comes up a lot in a show about babies.”
Rupert Grint says he getting ‘used to’ doing an American accent
Grint is gearing up for the release of his new movie, Knock at the Cabin. The M. Night Shyamalan thriller, which also stars Dave Bautista and Jonathan Groff, also features Grint as an American character.
In a recent appearance on This Morning, the 34-year-old revealed he’s getting “used to” doing an American accent because of Servant. But he also noted that there are some intonations he has to be cognizant of.
“You have to be conscious of what you’re doing with your tongue in your mouth when you’re talking,” Grint explained. “It’s very different. American people have a very different tongue shape in what they do with it,” he continued with a laugh. “I don’t know! It’s very technical!’
