Rupert Grint’s Terrifying Personal Connection to ‘Knock at the Cabin’

Rupert Grint is still quite shaken by something that happened one afternoon as he watched The Irishman at his London home: His house was broken into by an unknown man, who thankfully only managed to grab Grint’s jacket and a bunch of Kit Kat bars (more on that later) before fleeing. That experience, he says, tapped into one of the central terrors of his latest collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan, Knock at the Cabin.

Zooming in from a nondescript room in London and sporting a baseball cap, the former Harry Potter star can nervously chuckle now about the then-terrifying experience, which was much less dramatic than what unfolds in Shyamalan’s latest flick, based on the terrifying novel by Paul Tremblay. The book and movie center around a young girl and her fathers who are taken hostage by a group of strangers who inform them that unless they sacrifice one of their own, the world will end. Grint plays one of those strangers — Redmond, a fiery Boston bigot with a penchant for violence and cruelty. Pete Davidson, who moderated a recent Q&A with Shyamalan, put it best: “Seeing Ron Weasley being a complete piece of shit was like porn for me.”

“I’ve always enjoyed horror,” Grint tells Rolling Stone. “It’s an escape. I kind of get a kick out of it not being my life. There’s something comforting about it, in a weird way.”

Cabin is just the latest step in Grint’s foray into that genre; he also appears in the Shyamalan-produced Apple TV+ thriller Servant, about a reborn doll that’s, uh, reborn. He plays the baby’s ne’er-do-well uncle, Julian. And then there’s Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix series, Cabinet of Curiosities, in which Grint plays a twin obsessed with the death of his sister in an episode based on H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch House.”

That grim realm seems to work for the 34-year-old actor, who famously got his start playing Weasley in the Harry Potter films, which admittedly had their share of darkness. Although it’s taken Grint a bit longer to find his footing in Hollywood than his Potter co-stars — he’s dabbled in indie films, theater and impersonating fellow redhead Ed Sheeran — he’s found his stride lately under Shyamalan’s wing. “Before doing Servant, I think I never quite went massively deep into things,” Grint says. “It was very much instinctual. [Night] definitely made me think more about subtext. I’ve encouraged myself to lose myself deeper and think about things that you don’t see.”

Where are you right now — what part of the world?
North London. A lot of my time last year was in Philadelphia [for Servant]. [My daughter] Wednesday’s spent more time there than she has here. So she still thinks Philadelphia is her home. She misses Target desperately. 

Speaking of Wednesday, have you watched the new Netflix show yet?
I’ve seen little bits; my girlfriend’s [Georgia Groome] been watching it. It’s great. That’s why she’s called Wednesday — it’s inspired by that character, who’s just so edgy and ahead of the time. And so funny. I’m just glad we got in there before! It’s probably going to become quite a common name now.

So what drew you to Knock at the Cabin? I know you worked with M. Night on Servant.
Obviously, first and foremost, it was Night. I’ve gotten to know him over the years now and I love working with him. I love being on his sets. He’s just so smart. He really dives in deep to whatever he is doing and I love that. I’ve always been a fan of his. He actually nearly did one of the Potter films… I met him, I vaguely remember. I was 13 or 14. He came to the set. I think he was pretty close [to] directing the third film. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done with it.

If I could only do M. Night Shyamalan films for the rest of my career that would be great. We were in the middle of shooting Season Four [of Servant] and we stopped for a small hiatus to shoot this film; it was the same crew. It took me a while to fully submerge myself into this new world since the shoots were so close together.

Have you read Paul Tremblay’s book?
I haven’t read it, no. The way [Night] pitched it was quite vague, which is kind of his style. He doesn’t give too much away, but it sounded like so much fun. It ties into my biggest fears: the end of the world and home invasions. With the end of the world, I’ve always had a fear of death. I’ve gotten better, but I do have a fear of dying.

And home invasions?
My house was robbed a few years ago — and I saw the guy come in. I was watching The Irishman and I could see, through the bedroom door, this guy in my living room, on all fours, looking for things. In the end, he just took some Kit Kats. That’s all he got. He was also wearing my coat, which was a strange experience. It kind of stays with you, almost like PTSD. It really froze me. You don’t know if he’s got a weapon or what his intentions are. The movie kind of triggers that slightly.

I’m sorry, I’m a little stuck on the Kit Kats. Was that his intention all along? The Kit Kats?
I don’t think so. He couldn’t have known! [Laughs] It was a Duty-Free size… It was a lot of Kit Kats. I think I’d been to Japan, so they were Matcha-flavored or something unusual. He got in so easily… I’d been very lax with security. He just kind of waltzed in fairly effortlessly.

Was he a fan?
I don’t think so, no. There aren’t many clues, either. I don’t really have any memorabilia around. He’d probably find it funny if he knew. It was a terrible experience, but I can kind of laugh about it now because it’s so surreal.

Horror movies always seem to reflect what we’re scared of as a society. What do you think Cabin says about who we are today?
It does feel very relevant. There’s this kind of group mistrust — how the internet has this way of misconstruing vast amounts of people and how it can affect the psyche of the masses. It’s quite scary. At its core, there’s something terrifying about that. And the end of the world, that’s never felt more in the cards. I think people can really visualize that with the environmental crisis. It’s a fun movie. It’s a fun way of escaping, but at its heart, there is something quite serious and disturbing you can take from it.

I’d love to hear what you think of the choice the family is asked to make — as a parent. What would you do?
I think about that a lot. The obvious thing would be to sacrifice myself. Having a kid, you don’t think about yourself. Everything is about her. In the end, it’s a fairly easy decision. But the thing is, do we believe these people? And why should you? They’re complete strangers and [like I said] it’s quite relevant today. There are these movements within our culture where there’s misinformation and mistrust in everything you thought you could trust.

And your character really aligns with that, no?
I’ve never met anyone quite like him. He’s a very broken person and really kind of in reform from this. He’s very conservative and has some very strong-held views that I think he’s working on when we meet him. He’s kind of the worst person to have in that situation. He’s very hot-headed and not a diplomat. It was interesting how he affected that dynamic. I really enjoyed getting into his skin.

You’ve played all these characters over the years, but it seems like Potter comes up every interview you do. Like, you mentioned Night almost directing a film. Is that strange, since those films came out so long ago?
It’s never really something that I’ve not wanted to talk about. It was a unique franchise, I guess, and it’s probably the biggest thing I’ll ever do. I think it’ll always follow me. There’ll be no way of completely shaking free. I mean, the stories themselves have found new ways and new mediums. The theater show, Fantastic Beasts, and the theme parks. It really keeps on finding new ways to live. I guess eventually they’ll remake them, which would be interesting. 

I’m proud of being a part of them. They’re a big part of my life. I owe a lot to them. I think. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if it wasn’t for them. It’s something I reference a lot, I think, even in my personal life. It’s the way I measure my life in a way. When I’m thinking about when I passed my driver’s test, I know that that was film five. It’s like college or something similar.

With Potter being such a part of your life, how do you deal with the all controversies that J.K. Rowling seems to find herself in these days?

I don’t think I have anything to add on that. I’ve kind of said what I’ve said.

I’m curious, though, how you feel about separating the books from the author. Do you wish some fans were able to do that?
I think so, yeah. It’s not something I’ve massively followed. I’m amazed meeting people now and learning about how much these books and movies meant to their childhood, and how they’re linked to their childhood. They’ve really been a help for so many kids. And new generations are finding it as well, so it’s living on. I hope that it still has that impact.

Because it had that impact for you too, right?
Yeah, I was a huge fan of the books. And particularly Ron; I could really relate to him. It was all about him, really. I didn’t act much. It was never really about being in a film, it was about being Ron — to live in those books.

You started acting because of your love for this character — kind of a general question, but are you happy you’re an actor now, all these years later?
At some points, definitely not. I mean, I’ve always loved it. Being in school plays was great for me because I was quite shy and being on stage was almost like having a superpower. But Ron was different. Ron and I kind of merged into the same person. It was such a long time and I put a lot of myself into him and the lines were very much blurred. Coming up to the last movie, I was definitely thinking, “What am I going to do after this? Do I only like playing Ron? Am I only just this character? Can I do anything else?”

TV has definitely been something that’s opened up a new world for me. Because it feels very familiar. You’re in it for a long time. You go on a journey.

Now that Servant is wrapping up, do you think you’ll work with Night again?
I’ll always want to. Nothing concrete at the moment, but he knows I love working with him. Finishing the show felt like a big moment because, since Potter, this is the only thing I’ve been involved with for a similar amount of time. It’s always a loss when you finish something. You grieve a bit. But I’ve loved working with him.