NEW YORK – Rupert Grint is heading back to the wizarding world. The actor who originated Ron Weasley in the “Harry Potter” film franchise will reprise the role on Broadway next year in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
Grint, who appeared in all eight “Harry Potter” movies released between 2001 and 2011, is scheduled to join the Lyric Theatre production from Feb. 2 through May 30, 2027.
“Ron Weasley has been a part of me since I was 11 years old and I can’t wait to meet him again in this stage of life,” Grint said in a statement. “There is something so full-circle and so special about stepping back into Ron’s shoes now when we are both fathers; it is somehow both very familiar and completely new.”
His casting makes him the second performer from the original “Harry Potter” films to appear in the stage sequel. Tom Felton returned as Draco Malfoy earlier this year, a move that coincided with a boost in box office receipts.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is set 19 years after the conclusion of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” In the story, Harry Potter is now an adult married to Ginny Weasley, while Ron is married to Hermione. Both families have children, and danger once again closes in. Ron, meanwhile, is running his joke shop, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.
“His return creates a powerful bridge between the story audiences first fell in love with and the story of family, legacy and the passage of time that ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ carries forward,” producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender said in a statement.
Grint is no stranger to the stage. He made his Broadway debut in the original production of “It’s Only a Play,” appearing alongside Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, and made his West End debut opposite Ben Whishaw in Jez Butterworth’s “Mojo.”
