Following the trend of reunion specials, the cast of Harry Potter came together one more time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the film saga and shared some behind-the-scenes stories about their time in the Wizarding World, and one of those proved that Rupert Grint was the perfect Ron Weasley. In 1997, J.K. Rowling introduced readers to the Wizarding World in her debut novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first entry in what would become a series of seven books telling the story of “The Boy Who Lived” and his battle against Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard of all.
The success of the Harry Potter book series was such that it was adapted into a movie saga between 2001 and 2011, with the final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, being divided into two movies. The Harry Potter movies expanded the books’ fanbase and introduced a new generation of young actors, whose careers were boosted by their time in the Wizarding World. The movies were led by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), who perfectly portrayed the characters created by Rowling.
The Golden Trio came back together for the reunion special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, where they reminisced about their time in the saga, their struggles during that time, and shared some behind-the-scenes stories from each movie. The Harry Potter reunion special is divided into four chapters, each covering two movies, and chapter 2 begins with Harry Potter and the Prisoner Azkaban, the first movie to have a different director as Alfonso Cuarón took over. With a new director came new dynamics, and in order to get to know the characters and the actors, Cuarón gave an assignment to Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint: write an autobiographical essay about their characters, and that proved Grint was the perfect choice for Ron Weasley.
Cuarón and the Golden Trio talked about that specific assignment during the reunion and revealed that Watson delivered a long, well-written essay on Hermione, Radcliffe delivered a much shorter one, and Grint didn’t even do the assignment. When asked why, Grint said he figured Ron wouldn’t have done the assignment so he did just like his character, and Cuarón realized that Grint understood his character perfectly. At one point, Rowling herself called Grint “perfect” for the role and he received a lot of praise from critics and fans of the Harry Potter books for his portrayal of the always loyal and funny Ron Weasley, and seeing how well he understood the character further proves that he was indeed the perfect choice for it.
Given Ron’s importance throughout the entire Harry Potter series, it was extremely important for the crew of the movie saga to cast the perfect actor for the role, as this is Harry Potter’s best friend, one of the series’ comic reliefs, and a brother to Harry as he gave him the loving family he wasn’t able to have. Rupert Grint was and continues to be the perfect Ron Weasley, and it’s fun to learn that he understood his character so well that he even embodied him when asked to write an assignment about him.