Emma Watson has said she was “taken aback” by Rupert Grint’s comments during the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special.
During the special, both Watson and Grint admitted to both considering leaving the series due to their struggles with fame.
In one particularly moving moment, Grint made her well up as he spoke of how the films meant they would always be connected to one another.
“We’re family, we always will be,” Grint told her. “It’s a strong bond, we’ll always be part of each other’s lives.” After they hugged, Grint told Watson, “I love you.” After a beat, he added, “as friends”, making them both laugh.
Reflecting on the moment, Watson told Vogue in a new interview: “When Rupert says things, he really means them. I was taken aback by how vulnerable and kind he was deciding to be so publicly.”
She also said that was the “most emotional” part of making the reunion special which aired on HBO Max in the US and Sky in the UK.
Watson’s comments appear to disprove a bizarre theory doing the rounds regarding Grint’s presence at the reunion.
Speaking about her struggles with fame during the reunion, Watson said: “It was around the time of Order of the Phoenix when things started getting spicy for all of us.”
(=HBO Max)
Grint then said: “I also had sort of similar feelings to Emma, contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day. We never really spoke about it. I guess we were just going through it at our own pace, we were kind of in the moment at the time. It just didn’t really occur to us that we were all probably kind of having similar feelings.”
Elsewhere in her chat with Vogue, Watson was asked how often the trio who played Harry, Ron and Hermione for a decade, spoke.
“They both hate WhatsApp and their phones in general,” she revealed. “Actually, as a three, we really try and stay off electronics so that doesn’t help for a massive amount of back and forth. We aren’t on a group chat but we speak individually.”
Watson also revealed that Grint sends her pictures of his young daughter and that the three of them “try and stay out of the limelight”. She also said speaks to co-star Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, “most weeks”.
