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Former Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint has been steadily building up his filmography since his days at Hogwarts. He recently added even more depth to his movie career by starring in the M. Night Shyamalan movie Knock at the Cabin.
But Grint confided the premise of the movie hit a bit too close to home by reminding him of a frightening situation.
Rupert Grint first met M. Night Shyamalan on the set of ‘Harry Potter’
Shyamalan and Grint only recently started collaborating. But their relationship goes all the way back to Grint’s early adolescent years. Shyamalan was once considered to helm a couple of Harry Potter projects, where the filmmaker got his first introduction to the actror.
“I met him, I vaguely remember. I was 13 or 14. He came to the set,” Grint said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “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.”
Years later, the pair would find themselves working together on Servant. The Apple TV+ series explores tragedy that unexpectedly strikes a married couple and jeopardizes their relationship. Shyamalan produces the series, which would lead to Shyamalan working alongside Grint again in the recent horror film Knock at the Cabin.
‘Knock at the Cabin’ triggered the slight trauma Rupert Grint felt from his real-life home invasion
Knock at the Cabin’s premise centers on a couple targeted by dangerous home invaders. But the film’s concept is something that Grint has already experienced in real life. A while back, the actor dealt with his own home invader, and remembers the incident vividly.
“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,” he recalled. “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 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.”
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Grint doesn’t really know why he was targeted. He doesn’t believe the invader was a fan of his. As far as Grint knew, there was nothing in the house indicating who he was.
“I don’t really have any memorabilia around,” he explained. “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.”
In an interview Shyamalan and Grint did with Sky News, it was noted that Shyamalan didn’t know about Grint’s experience. And since the situation was so personal, Shyamalan wasn’t sure if he would’ve cast Grint in his film if he knew.
M. Night Shyamalan felt Rupert Grint was an anomaly as an actor
As an overall actor, Shyamalan has expressed that he’s not only impressed with Grint’s acting abilities. He’s impressed by who Grint is as a person as well. Grint’s skill and personality was a rare combination the Sixth Sense Director didn’t commonly encounter in Hollywood.
“I never get to tell you because we’re always working, but I find you an anomaly as an actor. Of everybody I’ve directed and worked with, you are a unicorn. You’re just genuinely the most relaxed, easygoing, nicest guy, and yet, the precision of your craft is incredible,” Shyamalan told Grint on Interview Magazine.
It’s one of the reasons why Shyamalan is so fascinated by Grint’s performances in his work. The actor has shown he can pull from some pretty dark places despite seeming so affable.
“Rupert’s such a sweet human, and I find him very curious, because there’s clearly darkness that he taps into when he works,” Shyamalan told GQ. “But he doesn’t let it escape like the rest of us do. He’s a bit of an enigma.”
