Why Rupert Grint nearly quit Harry Potter franchise after fourth film

Harry Potter stars Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe. Photo / Getty Images

Rupert Grint has revealed he almost quit playing his character Ronald Weasley after the fourth installment of the Harry Potter franchise.

The actor, 30, who catapulted to fame at the tender age of 11 as Harry's best friend, said there were times he felt like he was "done", with those feelings reaching its height after filming for Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire ended.

He told The Independent: "I had just finished my GCSEs, I thought 'Do I actually want to keep doing this?' It's a bit of a drag because obviously it's a big sacrifice.

"You take for granted anonymity, just doing normal stuff, just going out, everything was different and a little bit scary. There were times when I was like 'I'm done.'"

Rupert, who is currently portraying Charlie Cavendish-Scott in Snatch, added he couldn't remember life before Harry Potter, with his life in the spotlight becoming the "new normal" and felt the pressure of the paparazzi's appetite for scandal.

"It's almost like having a split personality, sometimes it can be quite dehumanising to have people just taking pictures of you when you're out, to them, you are just this one thing, it's a weird existence, but that's my life."

Last year, Rupert reflected on the Harry Potter series revealing he felt he'd "missed out".

He told Entertainment Weekly: "We had such an intimate and intense few years in this bubble. When I started, [acting] was never something that I aspired to do, I did acting with school plays and stuff like that but it was never something that I actively dreamed of."

Admitting he doubted the path he'd chosen, he added: "I wanted to live a little bit, I felt like I'd missed out on a lot."

Rupert wasn't the only child actor from the film who felt the immense pressure of playing J.K Rowling's well-loved characters, the DailyMail reports.

Despite earning £20 million from playing Hermione Granger, Emma Watson previously complained she felt trapped by the "horrible" filming schedule.

The actress was locked into a contract when cast in the first film, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, aged nine. But her deal with Warner Brothers came up for renewal while she was shooting the fifth film, The Order Of The Phoenix, in 2006.

Emma said she felt unsure that she wanted to continue being controlled by a plot in which she had to go on looking and behaving like an old-­fashioned schoolgirl.

When she eventually agreed to sign up for another five years, it was "agonising", she said.

"I hate to sound whiny but it's hor­rible, this has definitely been the most intense, gruelling period of film-making I've ever done." Emma told Entertainment Weekly.

"I have such a structure when I'm working on Potter. I get told what time I get picked up. I get told what time I can eat, when I have time to go to the bathroom. Every single second of my day is not in my power."