This story originally appeared on Them.
Well, Rupert Grint certainly figured out how to use the invisibility cloak on his trans allyship.
The actor will join the cast of Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for 17 weeks beginning in February 2027, per The Hollywood Reporter. Grint will reprise the role of Ron Weasley, whom he played in eight Harry Potter films.
“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 to THR. “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. And the joy of being back on Broadway, this time in a role that defined so much of my life is truly exciting.”
Grint is the second star of the films to join the Cursed Child cast after Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, starred as an adult Malfoy again on Broadway. Around the time of his casting, when asked about Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, Felton downplayed the author’s history of virulent transphobia, saying that her views did not affect his relationship with the widely beloved IP.
“I can’t say that it does, no. I’m not really attuned to it,” he said. “The only thing I always remind myself [of] is that I have been lucky enough to travel the world. Here I am in New York, and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. She’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”
In June 2020, shortly after Rowling published a lengthy, transphobic essay on her personal website, Grint released a statement standing with the trans community, coinciding with statements released by fellow Harry Potter alums such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
“I firmly stand with the trans community,” Grint said in a statement to the Times following Rowling’s essay going viral. “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”
Grint’s casting news comes just two days after news that actor Nicholas Hoult dropped out of playing Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of the upcoming Harry Potter reboot on HBO, to be replaced by Kit Harington. Though Hoult officially cited scheduling conflicts as the reason that he left the production, he had received considerable blowback for joining the series, given his popularity among LGBTQ+ people.
Grint has maintained a steady working acting career since his appearance in the Potter films, most recently appearing in the horror films Nightborn and Knock at the Cabin, as well as Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
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