Our favorite ginger, Rupert Grint, has made a drastic transformation from sweetie Ronald Weasley in Harry Potter to guitarist for punk band Dead Boys, Cheetah Chrome, in the new indie release, CBGB. CBGB tells the story of the legendary New York club and some of the incredible artists who performed there.
It could definitely be said that Grint's role in CBGB is a lot more scandalous than we'd expect. For this scene released earlier this month, Grint is clad inhead-to-toe in leather with a spiked dog collar to match, no Hogwarts robes or wand in sight. The most surprising thing about this scene isn't Grint's clothing, but rather his lack thereof when his character drops his trousers to prove a point. This is a side of Rupert we simply haven't seen.
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In an interview with The Daily Beast, Grint spoke about what it was like to be Cheetah Chrome, "It was really fun. It’s quite an intoxicating thing. Even though on stage we weren’t really playing the instruments—we were just kind of moving about on stage—we really felt the crowd and the music. We transported into that world, into that time. We all did really feel like rock stars, too." Grint also acknowledged the huge change from Potter to CBGB, "It’s something that’s quite shocking for people who have grown up with us since they were 10-year-olds to suddenly see…a lot more of us. It must be weird for them." The actor also clarified that he's nor going out of his way to shock people, he's just doing what he loves, "I’ve never kind of consciously gone out and tried to detach myself. Some of it is just that I pick things that I like the script for and the people around it. I think that sort of thing—now that we’re all getting older, drugs, nudity, and those things are going to come hand-in-hand with that growing up, as far as the parts we choose."
And here's another big twist, Alan Rickman, who we all know as Harry Potter's Professor Snape, plays the part of club founder, Hilly Kristal. It was all a new world to Rickman, "I, of course, as a student in London in the 1970s had never heard of CBGB's. I knew nothing about it, so I'm on big catch-up about the whole thing," though he got the hang of it quickly, "But by the time we started shooting, I felt like it had been part of my life forever," he told MTV News' Josh Horowitz.
"It was weird! I really love Alan. He’s always been one of my favorites. It was just kind of strange to see him in this whole new character and in such a completely different environment. I haven’t seen him much outside of the Potter set after we wrapped, so just seeing him in another environment is odd. It’s kind of like Snape is suddenly a different person. It was weird. But he’s great, and it was nice to have someone who knew your face on set. He made the whole thing a great experience," Grint expressed when asked about his experience with working with Rickman again.
CBGB is in theaters now.