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Potter star Grint to go topless in new movie

Rupert Grint

Story by Jack Foley

RUPERT Grint, aka Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, is shedding his clean-cut image (and his top) for a new role in gritty teen drama Cherrybomb.

The British teenager will play a character named Malachy, who is seen dabbling in drugs, joyriding and indulging in teenage sex in Northern Ireland. His misdeeds do, however, eventually spell bad news.

The film, which received its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, also includes a frank sex scene with co-star Kimberley Nixon that requires the young star to appear topless – although not full frontal as Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe did for Equus.

Dismissing suggestions that he’d been actively seeking an image-changing role, Grint told reporters in Berlin: “Doing this film wasn’t really a conscious decision to try something different – it just worked out like that. I got the script, really liked and it all happened in a couple of weeks… The hardest bit for both of us was the love scene.”

His co-star, Nixon, concurred on the sex scene, adding: “It was toward the end of the shoot so we knew this day was coming, but the crew were so supportive, they made us feel so comfortable, we just got on with our jobs.”

Cherrybomb is co-directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn and co-stars James Nesbit.

Grint will return to Potter duty, though, this summer when The Half-Blood Prince finally gets its UK release after being delayed. He will also start shooting later this month on the final book of the seven, The Deathly Hallows (Parts I and II).

Commenting on that shooting schedule, Grint observed: “Fourteen months for Part 1 and Part 2, more or less back-to-back. It’s going to be long, but it’s going to be good I think, I really liked the book and the script.”