ICM Exclusive Birthday Interview with Rupert Grint:

ICM: What is your best birthday experience?

Rupert: My 21st – I had it at the studios with the cast and crew and the theme was a ‘kid’s party’.

ICM: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

Rupert: The original A-Team

ICM: We know you love 99 flake Ice Cream cones, but what about cake? What’s your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat? Have you ever baked a cake, and if so, what kind have you baked?

Rupert: My mum used to make wedding cakes and I’d help her out sometimes when I was very young. I’d say I was more of a cake ‘decorator’ than an actual baker though.

ICM: In the past it’s been reported that you’ve received pajamas and a Cd with ice cream truck tunes as birthday gifts, can you tell us something interesting that you’ve received for your birthday by fans in recent years?

Rupert: I did a cover shoot for BLAG Magazine and my fans sent me a book filled with pictures of them taken with the magazine from all over the world. It was very cool… some were walking the wall of China; others in New York and even someone crossing a bridge over a river with a 100ft drop: all the while with my issue of BLAG

(ICM sent Rupert the Blag birthday gift and we are very excited that he really enjoyed it as much as we did putting it together. If you haven’t checked it out we still have all of the entries in our gallery here.)

ICM: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for this birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

Rupert: Got to be my karaoke partner Sarah… We did it while in Orlando Florida for the opening of the HP theme park and it was very funny. Even made youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBzKJ2x2A_o

ICM asks the RNLI donors a few birthday themed questions !

Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: It’s not very special, but for my 18th birthday, I went to Ibiza with a few friends to have a huge party over there. It was an amazing time.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A:  My grandma. She died before I was born. She was known as a very kind, nice and funny person and I would have loved to celebrate one of my birthdays with her. I think it would have been a lot of fun when I was a young girl.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: I think there are waaaay too many flavor’s to call one my favourite, but I really like raspberry.  My favorite kind of cake to eat is chocolate cake. I could die for eating a piece of it, yuuummmy!!

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A:  Rupert Grint! Well, not Rupert himself of course (unfortunately ). But for my last birthday my mum got me a cardboard figure of Rupert (okay actually it was a cardboard figure of Rupert as Ron Weasley) just as tall as me. It was standing behind the door and when I walked in and looked slightly over my shoulder I jumped a little, because for a second I actually thought that there was indeed standing a real redheaded guy haha. But I got used to it by now

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Robbie Williams. I always thought this guy was a unique womanizer and it would be really amazing if he suddenly appeared and sang a birthday song (just) for me! *squee*

Julia Lance

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: My best birthday experience was when i celebrated my birthday in a circus tent.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: I´d like to bring my grandfather back to celebrate my birthday with him because he died when I was very young and I would like to meet him again now.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: My favourite ice cream flavour is Choco-Chilli and my favourite cake are Chocolate muffins.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: Last birthday, I was on a concert and my best friend told the band that it was my birthday and then they sang a song for me.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A:  I would love the band “The Kooks” to play on my birthday.

 

Christine

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: My best birthday experience was staying at the Ritz in Chicago with my mom.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A:  I’d love to celebrate my birthday with Audrey Hepburn.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: I like the classics: vanilla ice cream and yellow cake with fudge filling and buttercream frosting.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A:  For my last birthday, my aunt gave me a terrific present–she flew me down to Orlando and we had a great time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  (Although the Forbidden Journey made her sick and my butterbeer kept overflowing onto the table–we named it the exploding butterbeer!)

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Well, I’d like Rupert to serenade me, of course, but if we’re talking professional singers, Owl Cityi!

 

Amanda Hedberg

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: I found out on my 7th or 8th birthday that I shared a birthday with AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. When you’re that age it’s mega exciting and gives extraordinary bragging rights. (I also share with Imelda Stauten(or however you spell it))

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: Joan Rivers. I want her career one day. Not the plasitc surgery, mind you, but to pick her brain and banter with her would be amazing. I just noticed “from the past,” so I would like to amend my answer to “Joan Rivers before the plastic surgery,” so that will cover everything.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: Ice cream flavor would have to be coffee. I only started drinking coffee when I was 19, but even as a kid (who didn’t like the taste of regular coffe) I loved coffee ice cream. And as for cake, it’d actually have to be ice cream cake. I don’t really like the regular cake consistency. It’s gotten better once I’ve started baking for myself, but ice cream cake is the best. My favorite cake, however, was the one I made for my high school graduation party. I made the snitch cake molly made for harry’s 17th, and nailed that particular snitch gold color when I was making the icing.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: In my early high school years (not very recent), my friend gave me a gift card for barnes and noble with the specific instructions that I MUST buy something Spice Girls related with it. I had all of their stuff, so it practically turned into a game.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Carol Burnett. Easy.

 

Katharine Vatter

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: When I turned five. All of my family from my mom and dad’s side was there. We had a big BBQ, my parents inflated two kiddie pools for all of us kids to swim in, and I got to wear my new purple swimsuit with yellow polka dots. It was an awesome birthday because everyone I loved was there and they were all there for me.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: My Uncle Sonny. He died four years ago and he was my favorite uncle. He had such high hopes for me and I would love to be able to hang out with him and tell him about how I’m doing and how things have been for me.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A:  I’m actually really picky when it comes to birthday type treats. I really only eat Ben&Jerry’s Half Baked ice cream. It’s got chocolate ice cream, fudge brownie, and chocolate chip cookie dough. Favorite cake would have to be the classic yellow cake with chocolate icing.  It’s really the only kind of cake I like. 

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: I really love Hello Kitty so a close guy friend of mine bought Hello Kitty boxer-briefs for himself but said I could see them on him whenever I wanted, lol.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Chris Martin from Coldplay. I love his voice.

 

Janine Blue 

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: I never make a huge deal out of my birthday with parties or many guests – I like to celebrate the day with my immediate family. It’s become a sort of tradition that every year we take a small road trip around the country, and my best birthday experiences have always been these trips with my family.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: I would probably bring back my nanny – we used to call her Aunt Lis (even though we weren’t related in any way) but she was almost a grandmother to me for years. 

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: My favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio or licorice – yum!
My mom always makes the best layer cakes for birthdays, and her best one is with bananas and kiwis – it’s a classic.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: My sister always surprises me with extraordinary gifts – one year she ordered an Arsenal football jersey (my favourite team!) and even managed to get a personalized autograph on it from my all-time favourite player Thierry Henry.
       
Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Probably Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters or Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. Those guys are quite legendary in my book.

 

Malene Sørensen

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: Every year I’m still alive is a good year, but I suppose my best birthday experience (that I remember) happened on my 30th birthday.  My husband arranged for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants where many of our dearest friends joined us.  It was a night of great food, great company, great conversations, and after dinner great laughs at the local comedy club.  It was wonderful that so many of my loved ones (some of which I don’t see often) could all be with me at the same time.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthdaywith you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: I would bring back my step-dad, who has never met my kids because he died over seven years ago from cancer.  He would have been a fantastic grandfather to them, and it would be an awesome birthday present to see him interact with my kids.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: Mint-chocolate chip is my all time favorite ice cream, and it always pairs well with my favorite cake, a rich dark chocolate cake (with chocolate-chips) that I bake myself then frost with chocolate ganache.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: My kids always get me the most interesting things for my birthday, among them are silcone pig pot holders and cupcake holders with legs, but my favorite thing from them has to be the bunches of chocolate they’ve given me
the last few years.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: It would have to be my friend Michael, who I’ve known since I was 12.  He has the most beautiful singing voice, and he lives far away, so if he wouldserenade me on my birthday I would get to see him and it would be a fabulous.

 

Amber Koppenhofer

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: I had a Disney Princess themed party for my 21st birthday. My friends and I dressed as princesses (even the men) and played drinking games to Disney music. The next morning we went to a water park near where I live, then to one of my favorite restaurants. It was pretty epic.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthdaywith you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: I would bring back Dumbledore…just kidding.lol I would bring back The Temptations because I love their music. Each member had such an intense life. I would love to sit with them for hours talking to them about their experiences and music.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is yourfavorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of caketo eat?

A: My favorite ice cream flavor is Moose Tracks (Vanilla with fudge swirls and mini peanut butter cups). I prefer ice cream cake because I’m not keen to frosting. I love nearly all ice cream cakes but I prefer cookies and cream.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: My most prized birthday gift was a nightstand that my grandfather made for me just he passed away. I didn’t know he had made it for me until after he passed.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Rupert Grint of course!

 

Jasmine

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: I have to say this is a very hard question to answer for a person who feels that there is a birthday curse set up around hers. I don’t have one that stands out.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: As a quick response I will say Heath Ledger. I would love for him and Matilda to get to spend another day together. He doesn’t have to celebrate it with me. A raised glass might be nice though.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: A local shop in Wadsworth has Butterfinger Flurries. I treat myself only a couple times a year. Mini M&M mint is a close runner up though. The kind of cake is not important as long as it is rich and moist. I can’t stand dry crumbly cake. Whatever kind of cake it is, it should have a whipped cream frosting and fresh strawberry filling. Nom, nom, nom…

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: I got some fantastic, handcast, dragonfly measuring spoons from a local art gallery last year.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: I have a thing for Gavin DeGraw. His music is so emotive. But, I would take Rupert singing karaoke, Let’s Get It On over Gavin any day!

Dionne

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: I would say when I was getting pied in the face at one of my birthdays. I wanted to get pied like when nickelodeon did it back in the day

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: If I could bring anybody back that would be my cousin that passed away from a stroke 2 years ago. I miss her.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: I love cookie cake and traditional vanilla ice cream for birthday.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: Nothing unusual really

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Of course I would want Rupert sing happy birthday to me

Ashley Barham

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Q: What is your best birthday experience?

A: Having a good time with my family and friends, having cake and ice cream, and going to The Big Texan for a nice steak.

Q: If you could bring back anybody from the past to celebrate your birthday with you who would it be and why? (It can be anybody, a celebrity or somebody you know.)

A: My dad. I miss him so much. I was a daddy’s girl indeed. He’d be tickled to help me celebrate that particular day.

Q: Who doesn’t like ice cream and cake for their birthday? What is your favorite ice cream flavor, and what is your ultimate favorite kind of cake to eat?

A: Hard to pick a favorite but but if I had to pick one to go with cake would be BlueBell’s Vanilla Bean. I like cake. Period. Any will do, but a white cake with white icing would satisfy me.

Q: What is something interesting that you’ve received by your family and/or friends for your birthday in recent years?

A: INTERESTING? My b-day is two days after Christmas so I get gifts mixed up a lot. Notrecent but the one “gift” I can’t forget was a big poster board with Happy 21st Birthday written on it with the number 21 framed by pennies. I’ve no clue why that was the tradition but we all three got one. Sorry I can’t think of anything else other than clothes, money, blah blah blah.

Q: Marilyn Monroe sung Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President John Kennedy for his birthday. Who would you love to serenade you on your birthday?

A: Rupert Grint of course but Paul McCartney would be amazing!

Susan Watson

Comments welcome!

Wether you’re a fan of Ron Weasley in the books, or a fan of Ron in the movies exclusively, it matters not. The truth is that the Harry Potter series is rapidly coming to a close; with shooting for the final movie installment, The Deathly Hallows, supposedly coming to an end in June.

The character of Ron Weasley has endeared himself to many a reader/viewer; with his sharp wit, ocassionally filthy mouth, his loyalty to family and friends, and the innate desire to sacrifice himself to save the ones he loves the most. Countless fan-fics have lovingly been written with love, care, and passion. Drawings, paintings, and various other media have been applied to applied to blank canvas, to pay homage to our favorite ginger Weasley. And you’d be hard pressed to NOT find thousands of fan-made videos in every corner of the internet. No matter what variation of Ron that you’ve created inside of your head and world, Ron has made a home inside all of our hearts.

But let’s not forget the man that brought Ron Weasley to life on screen, the man himself, Rupert Grint. We all fell in love with the tiny, ginger-haired 11-year-old boy; with the sweet cherubic face and bright eyes. It would soon become very apparent that this unassuming kid from Hertfordshire, had some major acting chops. Even when the camera wasn’t directly on him, or he wasn’t verbally delivering a line, he was always somewhere in the frame, constantly in character and acting with just his face. Often times than not, Ron’s/Rupert’s lines from the book were either cut or watered down in the movies. Nonetheless, Rupert made do with what he was given and always OWNED Ron. And quoting fellow staffer, and Ron’s fairy godmother, AJ, “He made us give a damn about him!”. Indeed he did; and he did all of that with class, a boat-load of talent, and a sincere passion for his craft.

So, this edition is dedicated to Ron and Rupert, entitled, “In Celebration of Ron Weasley, In Celebration of Rupert Grint,”.

We love you Ron. We love you Rupert.

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To navigate your way around this edition, here are some links to help you!

Rosa’s “Farewell to Ron Weasley” fan video

Aracelli’s Ron/Rupert essay-Ron’s Biggest Wheezy runner-up(essay no. 2)

In Celebration of Ron-Galadriel, Staff Picks-Sam and Karo,

In Celebration of Rupert-Suzanne S., Francaise3/Marite, Staff Picks-Sam, Karo, and Michelle

Poll-Do you plan to visit Harry Potter Wizarding World?

Karo’s crossword puzzle-Ron Weasley puzzle, and answers here.

Michelle’s Spooferific Horoscopes

When I read about the contest I thought it would be easy to define the similarities and differences between the character and the actor, and then find some way to related to each other … how wrong I was, now I’ve been hours trying to write something decent and consistent.

But it seems that words do not come to me, my inspiration went to the post office to await the long-awaited picture, everyone hovers around me saying things like, “you can do it” “concentration”, “in the future you can write a book, I’ll be your manager”.  I have news for them, it’s not easy!

The only thing I am sure is that I want to participate and will do my best effort …Why keep talking about me when we can talk about two wonderful men? I’ll start with Ron Weasley.   What do we know about him? He is the sixth child of a large family with little money, for that reason he always wears second hand, he eats too much, he’s afraid of spiders, is jealous, grumpy and has a serious problem of insecurity and inferiority.

On the other hand, Rupert Grint is the eldest of five children, suffers from arachnophobia, he never had economic problems, but neither had money in excess, at least before working on Harry Potter. At a very early age, he became famous and is now a recognized/famous young actor. At first glance, Ron and Rupert don’t have things in common outside of the appearance/body, they hate spiders, they were born in the 80s and both share the “R” as initial in their names.

Ron Weasley in all respects, is a guy that you’ll love if he comes  your way. Constantly, he is known for being a good friend, faithful, loyal and courageous, he always support Harry and Hermione, and his smile and joy never disappeared when they were the most needed.

We have seen Ronald grow,  surrounded by people who overcome him in different areas, but after the boy befriends the world’s most famous magician, Harry Potter. And as if that were not enough, Hermione Granger join this group, the most smart girl of the class. That would be enough to unbalance  anyone, but Ron didn’t shows major problems until later, when jealousy emerge or rather, the doubts. In my opinion Ron is angry because Harry is in the tournament. He wonders why Harry didn’t talk about it? He has doubts about the confidence of his friend. But, would we  not feel sad if we believe that our best friend does not trust us?

Rupert and Ron, Ron and Rupert two personalities in one body, which after all, are not so different.  Both are happy with the life they have, they enjoy it, are good friends, are loyal guys with values. I think if a person is declared fan of Rupert maybe that person is not suitable for this job. Even though they are so different, I’m sure that no other actor would have played better,the role of Ron. He is Ron, he won the role with his effort, he and only he deserves to succeed.  I cannot imagine Ron played by another person who is not Rupert Grint.

To most of us, the words “distributor“ makes us think of Cherrybomb and our campaign.

At the European Film Market, an Industrial Debate on independent distributors and their role in film financing (and marketing) took place, so here is what was mentioned and discussed that might be of interest for us, especially in regards to Cherrybomb.

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When it comes to selling independent films nowadays, two things are said to be relevant: the quality of the film, and the discipline and continuity behind the marketing.
Earlier on, the name of the people attached to the film (actors, directors, scriptwriters etc.) had a big influence, but due to the amount of people working in film and the long- (or rather short-) levity of an actor’s success, the importance of names has been reduced. Just think of big names like Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey and Keavu Reeves, whose names are well-know, yet in recent years, none of them had a major hit.

Nowadays, buyers are interesting in the appeal to the future audience, and how many people might consider watching the film. Currently, there are stories of vampires coming up everywhere, about ten years ago it was the time of family-fantasy films (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Lemony Snicket, Golden Compass, Narnia, …). Stories about the cruel reality of teenage life are somewhat rare at the moment. Unless of course a bunch of people start campaigning and collecting signatures to prove that there is an interested audience…

Also, there are far less distributors for independent films than a few years ago. This entails that less films are being sold, and only the best films are being released in theaters.

Many films already have a distributor prior to the start of production. Since these distributors often take part in funding the film, they have a bigger interest in eventually releasing the film to regain their money, hence distribution is more likely for these films. Harry Potter, for example, is being funded AND (in most countries) distributed by Warner Bros.
On the other hand, those distributors like to have a say during the production, and stop the directors from taking films into territory that might not appeal to the audience they have in mind. The story of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow and Disney’s initial reaction is well known.

This also means that directors and actors cannot always do what they want if they have a financing distributor. If they do, the films might be incredibly great, but not see the light of theatres if no distributor finds it marketable enough. These films have to rely on distributors believing in the film as it is – or in the future audience.
Cherrybomb did not have any distributors among the funding companies.

Additionally, foreign distributors prefer buying films that already have other distributors, in particular, US films. For one, the costs for promotion are incredibly high (especially in the US), and (since word goes around), can be less for European distributors if a film has already been released in the states, and second, they have a reference if a film might be successful. As an example: A few films of Jim Carrey’s were flops in the US and never made it across the Atlantic, because nobody wanted to buy them. In contrast to that, they even had problems finding international distributors for Dr. Parnassus before they were able to show the box office numbers from the UK (and with a cast of Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, one would think it would be easy…).

So hopefully, with the UK release in the near future, some other distributors might gain confidence in Cherrybomb as well…

Also, the costs for promotion are immense. Posters, interviews, premieres, trailers, TV spots, online promotion,… all needs to be paid. Particularly promotion in the US is very expensive, as to buy up a film that has other distributors and, by the time it will be released,  has already had media coverage from other releases, is popular. Also, Twitter has become a very interesting tool to reach the audience and keep them up to date.

Nowadays, online marketing can take up up to 20% of marketing costs. So, you might have an idea of what we’ve been working on… And Cherrybomb does have a Twitter, and Facebook, AND Myspace…

The financial crisis has also left its mark on the film industry, in addition to other difficulties:
The US market is “in tatters” when it comes to independent film, and many European productions do not make it to the US because the art divisions of distributors are cut down due to financial issues.

The European market has been less affected, e.g. France and Germany (along with the UK, the biggest markets in film business after the US): In France, about 50% of all distributions are local (= French), and “only” 50% are imported. Germany has about 26-27% of local distributions. Those market have been able to be at least somewhat steady as well .

In comparison, Japan’s local productions are pretty close to non-existent, and almost all films are imported.
While the UK is much less patriotical than France or Germany, they are struggling less than the US. However, the UK has the difficulty of having the same language, and audiences are more interested in US films unless they have a typical British appeal (set in London, British accent, well-known British actors, British humor…)

Russian distributors are hesitant to buy independent films because they have a huge piracy problem, which of course, reduces the number of sold tickets.

Difficulties for deals in China include that there is a restricted number of international films that can be sold, and that particularly films with drug usage, violence and political themes are hard to sell.

So, what’s the outlook for Cherrybomb? UK: check. Germany: check. US: fingers crossed/looking good. China: possibly difficult due to the amount of drugs and swearing and violence. The others?
Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

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*Karo was very lucky to have seen Wild Target at the EFM! For more info, check out her review on our Press Archives, get tons of info about Wild Target on the Filmography pages, and lots of spoiler-y goodies in the forums!

When I think of Ron Weasley, the first thing that comes to my mind is ‘Choice’. As any Harry Potter(HP) series reader would know, being the ‘Boy ‘Who Lived’, or ‘The Chosen One’s’ Best Mate, is not an easy task. Even though he was constantly over-shadowed, sometimes even taunted, with this mighty task of being there for Harry all the time; Ron never shied away from his responsibilities and working along side his best mate. He was a constant presence in Harry’s complicated and dangerous life. Though there were fallouts(mind you far less than that of Harry and Hermione) occasionally, and bouts of jealously and anger involved, there was never a moment that Ron was not there for Harry. And as I have said earlier, it all comes down to CHOICE. In the following few paragraphs I will explain why RONALD WEASLEY is my favorite HP character and why and how I  draw inspiration from his characterization throughout the entire series in my personal life and the way I associate myself with his personality. He has an immense presence and major influence in my day to day life and therefore I feel sometimes that I am his biggest admirer in this whole wide world.

We will come back to why it all comes down to choice in some time. But before anything else, I would love to discuss his personality traits that appeals and influences me the most. Though I am absolutely certain that we cannot limit this wonderful character to just a few paragraphs, but for the sake of this short essay, I would summize his best character traits that inspire me the best as briefly as possible. Ron in majority people’s opinion is fiercely Loyal, Brave, Caring, extremely Funny, very Insecure, sometimes Lazy, but extremely Over-protective of the people he loves and cares about.

He is someone who you could rely on undoubtedly and would come through every time; who would sacrifice himself for his family, friends or the greater good  – whichever is needed at that time in a heartbeat and without second thought.  He has always been a generous boy who would share whatever little he had, even his family and home, with Harry who had such a bad life before Hogwarts. We all know how openly he let Harry into his life and all the joy and happiness that Ron provided to Harry in all troubled times. It is his light-hearted and free-spirited nature that kept Harry from drowning in moroseness and the enormity of his responsibilties. If not for Ron, Harry would never have been able to enjoy the small happy maybe some times annoying things that a normal teenager would have like love, laughter, jealousy, companionship etc.

But to me, Ron is all of the above, plus some things that are not regularly considered when it is in regards to him and his actions throughout the series. According to me, Ron Weasley is very Clever, Smart and Intelligent( because he thinks outside the box and think of the number of times that helped Harry throughout the series) in a way that both Harry and Hermione can never be. This is exactly why he is such an excellent player at chess. It was never openly discussed, but I am sure Ron would have become a brilliant Auror(somebody without whose help Harry would not have managed to revolutionize the Auror Department) and an indispensable part of his brother George’s Wheezes business because he has a natural ability to plan (maybe not obsessively like Hermione) and strategize, and these are very important qualities for someone fighting evil forces or runing a crazily successful business. It is proof enough that you don’t have to excel at Academics to do well in whatever you choose to do  professionally. This is one of the major reasons that Ron is such an influence in my life. I never was an intelligent girl when it came to education. In, fact I was always an average student.  Though I don’t consider myself smart and a natural strategist, I am still very planned and organized in the way I carry out my day to day activities(again not in a obsessive way), both personally and professionally.I learned from Ron that I don’t have to be a Genius, or get top marks to do well in whatever I chose to do. I have always looked outside the box to look for solutions for any problems I faced at any given time. And this is definitely the inspiration that I draw from Ron’s wonderful character.

Insecurity has been a major part of my childhood and adolescent life, much like Ron. Though I never have come from a large family like Ron’s, I still was lost in the various achievements of my elder brother and younger sister, and the numerous cousins I have. Nobody ever gave a glance, or had a kind word, to what I achieved when I was younger(sadly even my own parents). In fact, they still don’t, but now I simply don’t care. This is where I draw the most important inspiration from Ron. We all know how he always felt as an under-achiever and over-shadowed, when compared to all his siblings and friends. He always thought he had to live up to everybody’s expectations and prove his mettle. And whatever he did, although spectacularly well in some cases, he always felt was not great at something that he did entirely on his own (take the chess scene in Philosopher’s Stone – there never was a mention of it elsewhere other than when he won the house points. Even Harry, for whom Ron sacrificed himself on that knight never thought or mentioned that Ron was very good anywhere seeing that the book was in Harry’s perspective).

Yet, Ron had come such a long way from the tall, thin, and gangly kid that Harry had met on his first day into a new magical world. Ron had managed to conquer all his demons and insecurities  on his own. Ron had to make the transition from a fumbling, insecure teenager, to a fully confident, grown man; who could keep his emotions in check and do whatever was required of him, whenever and where ever without thinking of the consequences and the dangers involved. The Chamber of Secrets scene in Deathly Hallows is a prime example to how much Ron evolved as a person. He did not need Harry or Hermione’s directions to do the needy in such desperate times (and for not being a Parselmouth, I think he did extremely well and Hermione was definitely Awed at his coolness in achieving such an enormous success even in such pressurizing times). And this is also where Hermione finally realized that Ron is well worth every single thought and affection she had for him and it cemented her love and respect for him that only grew hereafter.

I definitely did not face such dire situations like Ron to make me overcome my insecurities, but I learned to accept that we cannot simply please everyone. I always strived to do my best in what I could, and let my achievements speak for me. But that did not stop me from caring for the people I love most or standing by them whenever needed; even though they thought less of me. This is where Ron’s Character helped me the most and I cannot be thankful or grateful enough for a fictional character to make me overcome all my shortcomings in someway. And that is why I will always always love and admire RON WEASLEY!

And finally, as I mentioned earlier – CHOICE! Ron always had a choice to do the right thing, even though it may end in disastrous consequences; or to simply take the easy way out of any situation by cowering away like a coward. Time and again, throughout the entire series, we read about Dumbledore warning his students about how important the choice between right and wrong are. Making the right choices may not give a smooth path to a better life, unlike making the wrong choices, but it is worth every pain endured to get the final successful result. Ron’s Choices throughout the series, are examples of how he chose to stay on the right side; not because he was to be glorified for it, but simply because it was the right thing to do. Every single time he CHOSE to be with Harry in all the dangerous adventures and missions, even though he was never asked of it and not caring for the end consequences. We have all read about some harsh and reckless decisions Harry takes(Department of Mysteries in OoTP) but never once does Ron questions Harry’s intentions. He is simply there for his best mate whenever and wherever.That is what a true friend does. Ron chose every single time to be there for Harry, fight alongside him, face all the dangers with him, getting injured and scarred, but never once complaining. It is this CHOICE that Ron made to be by Harry’s side no matter what (even estrangement from his brother Percy), that kept Harry sane in all those maddening times. Whoever thinks that Ron’s the lucky one to be befriended by the Great Harry Potter are ignorant fools, in my opinion. It is actually the other way around because Harry is truly the lucky one to have found a friend and confidant in Ron. Harry needed Ron very much to  keep him in balance, and to not forget that he was, after all, a normal teenager(even though marked with a terrible fate of destroying evil). Ron’s light-heartedness , sense of humor, and his inate ability to care for and comfort. These things are what kept Harry on his goal to destroy Voldemort without losing his mind or drooping into deep depressions(and we all know how moody Harry can get).

What more could Harry ask for in a friend? I have said this before and will say it again – “I would kill for a friend like Ron…”.

I also had a choice to take the easy way out. Drugs, partying ,etc. But Ron’s inspiration and his choice to always do the right thing made me realize that life is hard- Yes! People see you as nothing-Yes! But you still have a choice to prove that you are someone worthy, if not to others, then to yourself.  This is what kept me far far away from all the terrible things that could have happened to me. Who do I have to thank that for – Ron Weasley!  It might seem silly that I draw so much from a fictional character, but believe me when I say I do.  The above stated points are just a few IMPORTANT ones that shaped my life; and there are several more areas and thoughts processes that Ron influenced, or still influence, my life. Since I promised to not make this a big essay, I will have to limit myself to all of the above said.

Ron Weasley is a Hero – simple, but sweet, in every way imaginable.

Before I conclude, I would like to just mention a little something as to how I view Ron.
“Harry Potter is like the Sun. He is so bright, powerful and he did a lot to save the world from possible destruction. So it is really hard not to give him the importance, or to not notice him. Everyone probably looks up to him for light(direction) and tries to bask in his light(glory). But it is very hard to look at the Sun for a very long time. You eventually have to avert your eyes because the brightness becomes unbearable.

But Ron Weasley is like the Moon. It may not be as bright, but the moon has its own unique kind of beauty and power. You can stare at it for hours without the fear of getting your eyes damaged. In fac,t there may be no suffering at all when watching the moon, because a moonlit night gives a sense of comfort, calmness, warmth, serenity, and peace like no other.

But people forget the moon as soon as the Sun rises; and the moon is always eternally overshadowed, but it still does not fail us any day. It still always provides us with that warmth and peace and a sense of calmness in many troubled times.”

For me, Ron is the Moon who balances and calms all the irritations and frustrations of everyday life!

In late 2009 we learned that Rupert had received the script for “Eddie The Eagle”, and later, director Dena Lowery had confirmed Rupert’s involvement. In early 2010, we learned that Eddie himself was quite pleased with the casting! In fact, he described it as “excellent casting”. A lot of hype has surrounded the movie and Eddie himself. He’s been declared “lovable loser” and “the worst Olympic ski-jumper” just to name a few labels. But Eddie’s story is of intrigue and smiles, disappointments and laughter. He is more than a lovable loser or the worst Olympic ski-jumper. He is all heart, but he’s far from a loser.

In the late 1980s, Eddie had a dream, he wanted to go to the Olympics as a ski jumper. Unlike most of his competitors he had no formal training, no money, and no backing. All he simply had was a dream. This is the kind of story we as human beings thrive on because Eddie went out and accomplished what most of us only dare to dream. I’ve often said that I think Rupert can relate to Eddie in a lot of ways. He too had a dream. He wanted to be an actor and he wanted to be Ron Weasley. Like Eddie, Rupert took a shot, even willing to embarrass himself (a rap video dressed up as his drama teacher?!) to get the part. He got his chance, as did Eddie. The only difference? Eddie’s dream didn’t turn out as well as Rupert’s. We all know Rupert’s story – fame, popularity, a movie career. Eddie got shut out of the ’92 Winter Olympics by the British Olympic Committee who was afraid he was making a mockery out of them.

Eddie was born as Michael Edwards in Cheltenham, England. Eddie was actually an excellent downhill skier and narrowly missed out on being on the Great Britain Olympic team in 1984! He decided to improve his chances to make it to the 1988 Olympic Games by moving to Lake Placid, New York, USA to train but his funds began depleting and Eddie found it easier to switch to ski jumping which would also make it easier to enter the Olympics. Eddie began his training under Chuck Berghorn.

Unfortunately, Eddie had some shortcomings when it came to this switch. His weight came in at 181lbs which is more than 20lbs over what one of his competitors weighed. Eddie was also short-sighted and it required him to wear glasses all of the time. Because of this, his glasses would fog up while skiing. And lastly his financial situation as previously mentioned. Eddie was self-funded. Interestingly, to this day America and Canada teams still have trouble getting financial support, some 20 years later!

Later, Eddie ended up training in Finland after he was finally picked for the Olympics. As noted, Eddie suffered with financial woes and his trainer in Finland invited him to stay at the mental hospital where he worked. He also slept in car parks, corridors, and cowsheds. Eddie even admits to eating scraps of food he scavenged from the trash!

Because of no sponsorship, Eddie claims to have been 7,000 pounds in debt and was a one-man show: Coach, doctor, driver and baggage man. But he admits that because of becoming “Eddie the Eagle” he was able to pay off the debt in one day!

Eddie ended up looking like an “idiot” for so many reasons. Many of which I’ve already mentioned (like the fogging up glasses); but when he first came to Canada, for the whole world to see at the airport, his bag ripped open and all his belongings flew everywhere. To make matters worse, he ended up walking right into a glass wall!

But finally, he got to make his debut at the Olympics. Sadly, it didn’t end as well as he hoped of course. He came in last in the jump, but he did hold the record for British Ski jumping at the time. He was also the world number nine in amateur speed skiing (106.8mph) and the stunt jumping world record holder (10 cars/6 buses).  From there, the British Ski Federation and the  International Olympic Committee made sure that Eddie would never be able to compete again because, as I said, believing that he was making a mockery of the olympics and the ski jumping sport. The rule, which requires Olympic hopefuls to compete in international events and place in the top 30 percent or the top 50 competitors, whichever is the lesser, was dubbed the “Eddie the Eagle” rule. Eddie tried but failed to get into the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Olympics (despite having a five year 5 year sponsorship with Eagle Airlines, which was a small business charter company).

It’s obvious that Eddie is so much more than what some people might think. All the struggles he endured, all the heart he mustered, and yes he came in last, but he was no ‘lovable loser’ but a guy with a dream that didn’t turn into Olympic Gold but did turn into a fascinating story. I am eager to see Rupert playing this. The drama of sleeping in cowsheds and eating out of trash cans. Training hard and having so many shortcomings. And yes the comedy of your bag ripping and your glasses fogging up. And the eventual disappointment of not making it anywhere but last. And of course, the fact that he’ll be the star of the movie. He won’t be starring along side, but the star of it all!

2009 was The Year of The Grint, for sure. As fans, 2009 brought us goodie bags full of amazing Rupert Grint treats. There were so many new things that we learned about Rupert; and he also delivered some of his most beautiful photo shoots to date.

However, there is one other thing that 2009 brought to us Rupert fans that while may not be new, certainly took on a new form and meaning. I am of course, talking about Danpert. Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe’s friendship, AKA Danpert, is something that has been around since they started working together for the Harry Potter series. Throughout the years, we have seen them work and goof off, on and off, the set together. Their friendship is something that everyone can enjoy and find adorable. The pair has always been known as the gigglers of the bunch, but also some of the hardest workers. It has always been easy to see that Rupert and Dan enjoying working and playing together. Yet, by the time Goblet of Fire debuted and definitely after, it seemed that the dynamic duo took a break from their friendship. Some even questioned if they were still friends or just dearly acquainted co-workers. The lack of Harry/Ron friendship time in and after the third Harry Potter movies led to an even stiffer and colder looking Rupert/Dan friendship. For a while, it seemed that the magic and laughter in Danpert was lost; and that growing up and becoming increasingly different would keep them from being able to maintain the strong friendship that they started with.

However, in 2009, something opened up and changed. Half Blood Prince is the prime and juiciest example that the Danpert love and relationship is, in fact, still alive and kicking. Sure, the movie is about Harry finding out the truth about the half blood prince. It is about the audience finding out what Draco Malfoy was up to. It is about Harry coming to terms with his feelings for Ginny. It’s also about Ron turning up the heat by dating Lavender and making Hermione realize that she in fact fancies him. Conversely, what many fans of the movies/books and critics alike really remember and enjoy about the movie was the Ron/Harry friendship. Rupert and Dan stole the show and turned Half Blood Prince into a brilliantly special and hilarious display of the friendship that exists between Harry and Ron and at the core, Dan and Rupert. Some aspects of their scenes were so obviously Rupert and Dan’s friendship shining through. The two wrestling over the potions book, as well as the love potion scene, are two primary examples that Rupert and Dan’s chemistry was not only back, but also better and stronger than ever. After watching Half Blood Prince, fans could easily see that the magic was still between the two and that they might have been closer than anyone expected.

The chemistry between them was visible long before HBP premiered. As promotion for the sixth installment went along, more and more Danpert appeared. Then again, it was not just Half Blood Prince promotion that brought out an older, stronger, and sexier Danpert. The two men were also shooting for Deathly Hallows and the behind the scenes photos and interviews brought us amazing Danpert. It seemed that many, if not all, of the behind the scenes shots for the Deathly Hallows movies that involved Rupert and Dan, were of them laughing and talking together. Going through the pictures, it is simple to see that Rupert and Dan are enjoying each other’s company; and that they really are taking into account that this is the last time the two would portray the Dream Team. I am sure they wanted to savor the moment and really enjoy the time they had left together. Yes, it seemed the guys did enjoy each other. The two always had wide grins on their faces and laughter in their eyes. Although they were older, the two still had the twinkle in their eyes when they talked just as they did in the early days.

The amazing Danpert of 2009 was not just limited to their time together on the HP set. The two also spent quite a lot of time together off set. In October of 2009, Rupert and Dan attended a Halloween party together where of course we all remember Rupert in the lovely costume from Clockwork Orange! They also attended the Reading Festival in August and seemed to really enjoy their time there together. Rupert and Dan going out together and enjoying each other’s company really helped undercut the ideas that the two didn’t want to see each other outside of Harry Potter.

In 2009, the Danpert was hotter and stronger than ever, but even more importantly, 2009 was the year that Daniel Radcliffe himself opened up and started to be seen as Rupert’s number one fan boy. It appeared that he brought up Rupert in every interview even if the question had nothing to do with Rupert. Dan always had the nicest and sweetest things to say about Rupert, including calling Rupert a “lust symbol” and “very impressive.” He always praised his acting and said he had a bright future ahead of him. Not only did he praise Rupert, but he also tried to boost his confidence. After Rupert’s confession in the Daily Mail interview about him not being sure if he was a good enough actor to make a long lasting career.  Dan came back and said that Rupert basically has no reason to be insecure; and that he is, in fact, a fantastic actor and would surely have a long and lasting career. In Dan’s interview with Alexa Chung for MTV, he was asked a question about if Dan was a good driver. The very  first words out of his mouth were about how Rupert is a great driver and has amazing cars. I doubt that Alexa had any intention to find out if Rupert was a good driver; and yet Dan couldn’t help but bring him up. In Dan’s BD live interview in December, he had so much to say about Rupert. Some of his thoughts on Rupert include that he and Rupert had great fun filming the fight over the book scene in HBP. He said that any excuse to hit each other on screen was welcomed. Dan also called Rupert a “physical comedy genius” and that all his talent is natural. One of the sweetest things that Dan also mentioned in this interview is that he likes to make Rupert laugh because it’s so easy to make him laugh. Dan can’t resist getting a joke in before the take of the scene because when they’re both in that type of mood; everything becomes funny and that’s his favorite moments. Of course, one of the best things Dan had to say about Rupert was when he, Rupert, and Emma were being interviewed about the theme park for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Rupert brought up that he would probably stay away from the Forbidden Forest and the spiders. Dan confidently said that he would hold his hand if he got scared because he knows how afraid of spiders Rupert is. Dan really went above and beyond the call of friendship in 2009. and the bloke could not stop complimenting and loving Rupert. It was beautiful.

However, it was not just Dan who had good things to say about Rupert. Rupert too had nothing but love for Dan. A great example was on the Rove show when Rove asked Rupert about Dan’s magic tricks. Rove poked fun at Dan and tried to get Rupert to go along with it.  But of course, Rupert being sweet and a good friend, stood behind Dan and said that he did not see anything wrong with Dan’s hobbies. He has also expressed how Dan is person he can easily get along with because they have similar senses of humors and how Dan is always full of energy and works very hard.

The love and commitment Rupert and Dan seemed to have was infectious to  and also helped bridge the gap that seemed to develop between the two fan bases over the years. There was so much Danpert love in 2009, that I wanted to know what some other people saw. I asked some fellow members of ICM what they thought of the Danpert of 2009.

“I can honestly say that Dan impressed the hell out of me and really made me take interest in him again. Every word out of his mouth seemed to be about Rupert and it was always caring and honest. He is certainly the poster child of a Rupert fan boy!” – Isaac

“Half Blood Prince really went to the guys this time. Rupert and Dan’s personalities came through and you can tell they have a strong friendship.” – Janine

“I’ve always seen Rupert and Dan as brothers. Rupert is the older and calmer one. He understands Dan and lets him know that he can be as unique as he wants and it’s okay. For Dan, he is certainly someone who looks up to Rupert. He supports him, believes in him, and picks him up when he feels doubtful. It’s a beautiful friendship and really shined through in 2009.” –Donna.

“2009 is all the proof in the world. There is no need to doubt it any longer. Rupert and Dan have and will always be friends and will share an unbreakable and loving bond. It doesn’t matter where life takes them. They will always have each other’s backs. They’re mates for life!” – Alysha

I could not agree more! There are so many different instances of where Danpert shown through a little more and brighter in 2009. It was a surprisingly loving and honest year for them. It was also a treat for us fans! For so long, there was wonder if they would ever be as close as they were when they were young blokes. However, they proved that growing up and going in different directions does not mean that the love or feeling left. No, as young men I believe that their bond is stronger and more secure now.

Therefore, I think that the men have put the rumor to rest. Rupert and Dan are, in fact, friends who have a lasting and loving relationship. No matter what the future holds for Danpert, I think it is clear that nothing will ever take away from all the experiences they have shared together; as well as all the feelings and confidence they have built in each other. Yes, 2009 was The Year of The Grint but it was also The Year of The Danpert!

Are you Ron’s biggest Wheezy and proud of it? Then prove it! We’re on a mission to find the one Muggle who shows the most love and devotion for our favorite ginger-haired Weasley.

The prizes: A Ron/Harry Potter T-shirt(of your choice) from Hot Topic and and an autographed picture signed by Rupert, exclusively for ICM!

How to Enter(first portion of contest): In a few paragraphs, explain how and why you’re the biggest Ron Weasley fan; and why you deserve to win this contest.

The deadline is February 7th. If you have any questions, or you’d like to email your entry, send it to us at grintasticonline@googlemail.com.

Rules(yeah, you knew they were coming):

-no one or two sentence entries please(ie:  “Ron rawks! I like his ginger hair.”)

-no abusive, racist, or sexually-related material will be considered

-You must be willing and able to complete the second portion of the contest as well(see below).

-If you feel that just a few paragraphs simply cannot capture the essence of your madness(err…fandom) for all things Ron, you may write a short essay. However, you might want to keep reading…

Second portion of contest: If your submission is chosen, you have the option of either writing an essay or making a fan video that are Ron/Rupert related. Not only will you win a T-shirt and a picture signed by Rupert, your creation will also be featured in the next edition of Grintastic!

Deadline for essay or fan video is February 21st.

How cool is that!? So, if you think you’re the biggest Ron fan, we’re ready to help you show the world! Come on you big Weasley lover, you know you want to!

2009 was a very eventful year for Rupert, with daring photshoots and revealing interviews. Here, you’ll find a list of staff picks/favorites for 2009.

Here’s to Rupert kicking some ass in 2010!!!!!

Best of 2009

Tao’s picks

Jo’s picks

Ivana’s picks

Michelle’s picks

Karo’s picks

AJ’s picks

Sam’s picks

Anna’s picks

Junna’s picks

Hassan’s picks

If anyone were to ask me what my favorite feature about myself is, I would say my hair. No, it’s not because it is a particular length, nor has great volume or whatever. The reason why I love my hair so much is that it’s ginger. I consider myself a very proud Irish girl, and even more, a very proud ginger person. I have all the standard features associated with being ginger. I have red hair, pale skin, freckles, bright eyes, and unfortunately, a terrible relationship with the sun. So, I guess a question is: why would I have to be proud of it? Many different people have many different hair colors, so why aren’t they all standing tall and declaring themselves proud? Well, I think the reason for that is because out of all the hair colors, ginger hair is unique and the most different, and as the saying goes, people usually hate and fear what is different.

I deem myself pretty lucky. I grew up with great parents and fantastic friends. I did well in school and tried my best to stay out of trouble. However, trouble always seemed to find me. I moved around a lot because my parent’s job kept us on the road, so I went to many different schools. I didn’t mind it at all, I loved it in fact. Except for one thing. While some of the kids were nice to the “new girl”, I mostly got the piss taken out of me and for all the reasons people could have chosen. It was for my hair. I was teased, bullied, and beaten up just because I am a ginger.

People say words can’t hurt. That is a lie. Words do hurt. Being called a “vampire”, “fire crotch”, “zombie”, “the un-dead”, “freak” or “ugly” repeatedly hurts a lot. Being asked if I should even be allowed out during the day, or if my freckles really are everywhere was too much for me to take, especially at such a young age. What was worse is that I got beat on. Girls liked to corner me, pull on my hair and hit me. Boys liked to spit on me and asked perverted questions about my hair and my freckles. I know not all gingers have it rough, but I guess in this case, I was one of the unlucky ones. It did such major damage to my self-esteem. I hated myself. I never wanted to go to school. I gave into what people said about me. I thought I was a freak and a monster. I thought I was hideous and I never wanted to look into the mirror. I could not tell my family. They have always taught me to be strong. Being Irish is hard enough and my family is used to hearing bad things, but adding on being a ginger, and it’s worse. I am an only child and neither of my parents have red hair, so, that was another reason for my hatred of myself. I wondered why I had to be ginger. I wondered why I couldn’t have blonde or brunette hair like them. It was terrible.

So, by the time I was about twelve I was pretty depressed with no way out. Sure, I could dye my hair but I couldn’t change my skin color or remove my freckles. I felt trapped in a body that I knew would be rejected for as long as I lived. Then it happened. I was watching the telly one afternoon and I saw it. It was a preview of some sort to “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. I had never read the books, but of course, I heard of them. I just never had any interest in them. However, I watched the preview and saw the most amazing thing. One of the main heroes, Ron Weasley, was ginger. In fact, his entire family was ginger. Instantly I was intrigued. Gingers are never really seen as heroes. The girls are either highly sexual or dangerous; and the blokes are usually nerds or too afraid and timid to save the day. However, Ron Weasley was a hero. He was strong, brave, funny, and completely attractive. Therefore, I was suddenly interested. I saw the movie when it hit theaters just to see him in action and I was in love. It had nothing to do with the plot, the special effects, or even the acting. I fell in love with Rupert Grint.

I loved seeing him be humorous, brave, confident, a bit sarcastic, and other things that I have never seen from such a young ginger on screen. In fact, I had never seen it at all. That’s why the previews to the movie drew me in. There was a whole bloody family of gingers kicking arse, and that was a wake-up call for me. For the first time, I saw a ginger hero. I saw one in the flesh. We don’t get too many of our own in such a major role, so there was no way I could stop. Therefore, automatically Rupert drew me in because of his hair and I instantly became a fan of his. After the first one, I knew I had to watch them all as soon as they came out, and I’m glad I did. The movies are great, Rupert is wicked as Ron, and represents us gingers perfectly in his role.

I felt an instant connection to Rupert when I’d watch him on screen, and I still do. I watched his interviews, read things he had to say, and did as much as I could to get to know him. There is this confidence about him that I really love and I can tell that he’s proud of what he is. It was strange to me. There I was, scared to go to school where I could be attacked; but Rupert Grint was out in the public eye. Millions of people could see him and make judgments, but it didn’t seem to bother him. In fact, sometimes he likes to draw attention to the fact that he’s a ginger. That takes a lot of courage!

As I watched Rupert more and more, I found a few things in myself. I was so happy and proud that he was a ginger. I felt so lucky that Rupert was one of our kind; and in being proud of him, I found pride in myself. It’s not easy. We live in a world of South Park episodes, terrible Halloween and Christmas cards, websites, and jokes made just for gingers. I don’t, and will never understand it. It’s just a hair color and pale skin; but apparently, it makes you something evil and it makes people want to make fun of you.

Over the years, I fell deeper and deeper in love with him and now it’s more than a feeling. I know I have a deep connection to him and I haven’t even met him. He is more than an actor or a celebrity to me. He is a hero. He is a role model and an example of what real gingers are like. I see so much of his personality in me and in my mates; it’s very easy to look up to him for strength and courage. In his interview on Rove in 2009, Rupert was asked if he thought he was a role model for ginger people. He said, “Yeah, I think I represent the ginger people.” He’s certainly correct! He has no idea what he does for the ginger community. He’s gaining so much attention and is used a lot now for famous ginger people. Every time I see an article using Rupert as one of the famous gingers, I just feel my heart melt a bit. He is so our Ginger Hero. He’s the ideal example that gingers are not freaks and we’re not the living dead. We are real people. We have lives and feelings just like everyone else. We can be successful, popular, and kind. We can be attractive, funny, and outgoing but more importantly, gingers can be shy, quiet, and display manners. Not every ginger is either a nerd or a bad arse. Rupert Grint breaks so many stereotypes for ginger people and more importantly, ginger males. One of my male cousins is a ginger, and he always uses Rupert as his example of what ginger men should be like. He looks up to him as a male role model and he respects him so much. Rupert has no idea that behind him is a ginger army of supporters.

Rupert is marvelous. The way he carries himself is inspiring. So many of my ginger friends and family members brag about having Rupert as our hero. He really is a star and a beacon of light for us. Rupert’s fan base is also inspiring. I think it is wonderful that all his fans just love him, his hair and porcelain skin. It’s great that so many people from so many different backgrounds all agree that he is beautiful. It’s touching and makes us ginger people feel even stronger. It can be hard feeling attractive when you have such pale skin, freckles, and really piercing eyes; but the fact that all his fans find those qualities so appealing about him gives me and the ginger community hope.

Over the years, my love and respect for him has grown to a level that I can’t even describe. I saw “Cherrybomb” in Dublin and it is one of my favorite movies of all time! Because of not only the plot, the location, and the acting, but Rupert was once again in control. He was smart, sexy, confident, and a ladies’ man as Malachy. He was all of these things while still being a ginger. I love that he didn’t dye his hair for the role. I love that he is always a ginger. Some celebrities are quick to dye their hair or want to cover it up, but I do not think Rupert is, or will be like that. It really lifts my spirits and gives me strength even on the worst of days. So many times I think, “Well, Rupert does it. I have no reason not to.”

However, it’s not always so easy. It’s really terrible feeling like you’ll never be loved or accepted. It can be lonely and terrifying as well. It’s so important that all gingers find something in themselves to love and hold on to. It’s also important, I think, to have a role model. Rupert Grint, and even Bonnie Wright, are great examples. Their Ron and Ginny Weasley characters are the epitome of strength and love. Watching them and watching Rupert, on and off the screen, has helped me love life and myself again. It’s a blessing really. When someone asks who my hero is, I proudly say Rupert Grint.

Now, I could not care less what people have to say about me. I am stronger and much prouder of myself. I love myself and what I look like. It’s easy for me to be proud of my skin, freckles, eyes, and my hair. Ten years ago, I would never have the stomach to say, “I’m ginger and I’m proud of it!”. But now, it’s like second nature for me, and it’s something I do often. I hate what has happened to me, but in a way, I’m thankful for it. My experiences have helped me to keep an open mind; because I know what it is like to be hated against for stupid things. I know what it’s like to be ridiculed for something out of one’s control. I feel a greater connection to people and I always try my hardest to be fair and kind. I could never do to others what has been done to me. If I hadn’t gone through it, I don’t think I could say that as confidently as I can now.

Rupert Grint is the main reason why I’m not afraid to go out and live and why I’ve been able to find some humor about bring ginger. Rupert is such a beautiful man. He has a light and a spirit behind him that is immeasurable. He is so kind, smart, brave and absolutely gorgeous. Rupert is my hero and I love him so much. The days that I feel down thinking about my past, and the days where I hear about something awful being said or done to a ginger, I think about Rupert. It lifts my head a bit higher and I’m able to get through it. I know he gets through it, and I know I can too. He takes everything that happens to him, good and bad, and is able to learn from it and keep that amazing smile on his face. It’s not easy for him at times. I know that, but he does not let it stop him. His confidence and courage bleeds out of him, and touches me and other gingers, who need him as our guidance. It’s such a powerful feeling and makes me so emotional and full of hope.

There are so many examples I could give about Rupert saying or doing something amazing in regards to him being ginger, but I picked this one because it’s recent and because it brought me automatically to tears. It’s a prime example of Rupert being one wonderful ginger! On the “Half Blood Prince” DVD, Tom Felton asked the question about what the stars would change most about the world. There were many great answers like war and poverty, but Rupert’s of course, really touched my heart and hit home. He simply replied with, “Everyone to be ginger would be good. A ginger world, that would be cool.” It melted my heart. I cried. It was unexpected, but completely expected coming from him. It’s comments like that that make me love Rupert a little more each day, and make me love myself more as well. It’s the way he said it, and the smile on his face, that makes him a true leader and a fantastic role model. I know he’s not just proving everyone wrong for himself. He’s proving people wrong for me and for all the other gingers who are cast aside because of minor details.

I give Rupert Grint so much credit for what he does, and I love him so much. Every day that I wake up and I’m able to look in the mirror and like what I see, I thank him. It’s because of him that I’m a proud ginger. It’s because of his courage that I have courage and strength to stand up for myself and others like me. If it weren’t for Rupert Grint, I don’t know where I’d be emotionally. He’s done more than entertain me. Rupert has reshaped my life just by leading with his confidence and pride.

Thank you Rupert Grint for being my muse and my Ginger Hero!

On May 1st, 2009 Ice Cream Man with the help of The Little Film Company which handles sales distribution of the film for around the world created the Cherrybomb Distribution Campaign . It was simple: Put together petitions in some of the biggest territories/regions interested in Rupert Grint and Cherrybomb and get the fans to sign the petition to show potential distributor companies the intense interest in the film. So the US, UK, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Australia/New Zealand, and Asia fans got together and signed, posted, and did whatever they could to help promote the movie in their regions. The result? Distribution!

It was revealed on October 4th by UK newspaper The Independent that the fan campaign had helped secure a release in the UK for the film as well as a potential interest in the US. In these two areas around 7,000 fans showed their support for Rupert and Cherrybomb. Not only was it mentioned that the UK had secured a distributor but also one of the UK’s biggest distributing company. Also, news came up how delighted Rupert himself was with the efforts of his fans.

This revelation also set off a fury of news stories coming out about how the fans had helped the movie. From controversial blogger Perez Hilton to the respected BBC; everyone had a story about this. It is big news. The only other movie to get help by fan support so far this year is paranormal thriller Paranormal Activity, which garnered a wider release because of fan support. However does it even come close? The movie had already been in theaters as a small independent film, and like so many independent films before it, the buzz surrounding the film got it a wider release. Cherrybomb is in a completely different boat. The truth is, this may never had seen the light of day, other than in film festivals and probably a DVD release, had it not been for fans who did their best to show support for the film.

No matter what happens from here, there is one thing we can be sure of: The fan campaign for Cherrybomb has shown that the power of the people still matters. If they can get together and get a film released, they can certainly do anything they want. One thing I had always heard was, “Internet petitions never work.” But we fans, the ones who believed, showed everyone. Every fan who helped in some capacity, no matter how large or small, should give themselves a pat on the back. They did it; the showed everyone, and they helped Rupert‘s film hit the big screen!

Unfortunately we still have a long way to go. While the UK is set, the US is still working on ironing out details, and the other countries and such listed above still have no word. We’re working hard, so don’t forget to check out the Cherrybomb Distribution Campaign site because if we have gotten this far, we can work it elsewhere!

You can read all about the campaign here, watch the trailer here, read rave reviews from critics here as well as fan reviews here. Keep the hope alive!

As if we needed anymore drama in our lives this year, Rupert’s photoshoot with high-fashion, art magazine DRAMA certainly brought more.

When the news first broke-along with a sneak peak pic–that another photoshoot with Rupert was in our future, there was much speculation as to the final outcome. Some of us were were hoping the photoshoot would be unlike anything Rupert has ever done; yet, others were a bit put off by the past content of DRAMA, considering it to be “artsy-fartsy” and not to their exact taste. However, everyone was ecstatic that our favorite ginger man would get his very own photoshoot. But who could have known all the drama and discussion that would ensue when we all laid our eyes on the much sought after pictures.

The DRAMA photoshoot revealed a rather obvious feminine, softer side of Rupert, that was by turns,  just as manly and rebellious. Seeing him in such a new way, captured many different and strong emotions from all of his fans. Some fans reveled in this bold and delicate sexiness, others were more than slightly disturbed by it. Critics, passers-by, and fans alike were using the word “gay” to either describe the photoshoot itself, and sometimes using it to beg the question, “Is Rupert gay?”.

“I spoke to Rupert prior to the shoot and told him I wanted like a kind of rebel cool feel… without any effort he gave me the looks and the moods I wanted, he almost reminded me of a Young Michael Caine in Alfie mixed with the rebellion of a ” Clockwork Orange “. It was hot.” DRAMA Photographer Ram Shergill on working with Rupert.

Rebellion in it’s truest sense, is to push away what is generally accepted as “the rules” , created by the status quo, on how someone should act, dress, look, or think. An individual who wants to break away from all of this, will challenge and question the ’rules’ , because not everything is as it seems or can be placed neatly in categories, or in this case, stereotypes. 

Ram Shergill’s ideas for ”rebel cool” were certainly not lost upon Rupert. While the photoshoot initially appears extremely feminine, it’s not. It can be noticed in nearly every picture, that Rupert is not without a bit of his ginger stubble framing his jawline and chin. Yet, with all of the stubble, his face itself is soft and contemplative; his lips are generous, feminine, and relaxed. However, his eyes are telling a different story altogether, they’re fierce, piercing, and challenging the onlooker.

Also, in certain pictures, his body posturing, or posing, is a combination of the two: feminine/masculine. For example, in the picture where he is pulling his collar of the sweater down, and I can only desribe this picture as “combatively coy.” The action of pulling down the collar of his sweater is a coy, come-hither action of a female. While his eyes have the piercing gaze of a soldier, challenging his enemy. Another picture that encapsulates the male/female aspects at the same time, is the shoulder picture. The sweater is clinging flirtaciously to his shoulder, begging for attention. But again, his eyes are burning desperately of a rebel, as if to say, “Yeah, so what! You like it? Come and get it.”

The pictures are all things at once: rebellious and submissive, masculine and feminine, fierce and soft. It cannot be categorized into a neat category, maybe that’s why the word “gay” was being used. The DRAMA photoshoot challenged the idea of how men should be portrayed, and having beliefs and ideas challenged isn’t always an easy thing to accept. It forces one to see things differently.

The fact that Rupert can display such complex,simultaneous emotions in just a photoshoot, without uttering a word, is a testament to his great talent. The DRAMA photoshoot proves, once again, that he’s going to push himself into territory he’s never been. He refuses to be judged by one particular character,  he’s not going to do something that is expected of him, he’s going to move forward and explore. And to me, that’s the ultimate rebellion.

Photo credits: Ram Shergill for DRAMA magazine

As ICM announced back in August, the main character in Julie Halpern’s new book “Into the wild nerd yonder” would be a huge Rupert Grint fan.
Julie Halpern herself had left a message in our comments: “Thanks so much for mentioning my book, INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER, on your page! I’m a big Rupert fan, and the main character of the book has pictures of him hanging around her bedroom”.
So, of course we made sure to check out the book, which has only been released on 29th September 2009.
I tried to keep the spoilers out so you can all enjoy the book yourselves, and therefore this review turned out to be pretty short.

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The plot itself is simple:
Jessie Sloan has just started her sophomore year. Her two best friends, Bizza and Char, decide to become punks, and one of them goes after Jessie’s long-term crush Van. Jessie’s brother Barrett, in his final High School year, gives up his life as punk because of his budding romance with the homecoming queen. Which leaves Jessie to figure out who she is, who her friends are, and: What makes someone a nerd?
With Jessie as the narrator, the story is told in a funny, witty and somewhat sarcastic tone and describes typical teenage situations everyone can relate to: your best friends seem to be way cooler than yourself, the girl sitting next to you in class is just weird, and unlike you, even the nerds manage to find a boyfriend.
Instead of the “typical” teenage books, Jessie is not the school’s beauty queen, nor is she the outsider who will turn into the beautiful swan who gets the most handsome bloke ever. She’s a normal girl with normal problems. And with a crush on Rupert Grint.

So, what about Rupert? First off, Rupert Grint only gets mentioned four times. Beware, though, as these are moments where most of us will almost cringe because the situations are very well-known to every proper “Roupie Groupie”.
However, the entire book is peppered with little descriptions that will make you think of our gorgeous red-head or his film characters : A bloke called “Van” (we all know Rupert’s most famous vehicle), another guy with too-short jeans and far-to-white sneakers. The main character sharing the names with a co-star from HP and the stills photographer from Cherrybomb. The cool big brother (coincidence that his punk hair is orange?), funky t-shirts and a guy whose fringe keeps covering his eyes; and jealousy over a BJ…

So, yay or nay?
Definitely a big YAY! The book is easy to read, and I needed only one day to finish it. It is very funny and witty, and it is easy to feel with Jessie, who is a normal teen instead of the classical “teen-novel character”. Not to mention that Rupert (or what might be interpreted as hints to Rupert) keeps popping up in the most unexpected moments.
How much Rupert is there really? The more you know about Rupert and his films, the more you can pick up, laugh about, cringe at and agree to. If you only know his name and link him to Harry Potter, it’s not that much. If you know characteristics of the characters he has played, his co-stars, Rupert’s behaviour and interests, it’s quite a lot.
But maybe I only found that much Rupert because I’m a nerd.
And nerds can be pretty cool, too…

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You can order Into the wild nerd yonder here!

When I was lucky enough to meet Rupert Grint, it was at the Japanese premier of Prisoner of Azkaban. I was thirteen at the time, I was more than excited and ready to have my chance to meet him. When he walked over to our gate, I didn’t waste any time getting his attention. I gave him a bear that I had bought for him, he signed a picture for me, and I asked for a kiss. I was nervous but there was no way I couldn’t ask. He kindly obliged and when he pulled away from my cheek, I quickly kissed his cheek as well. It happened so fast that I was able to get the corner of his mouth in the kiss. After it happened, I was afraid he would be upset, but he was smiling and chuckling.
For me, it was just me being a lucky fan and getting the opportunity to meet him. But for some, I could understand it seemed  like the actions of an overzealous, wild Japanese fan.

While I think the love for the famous person is the same amongst different cultures, I think Japanese fans have a bit more guts and enthusiasm that is more obvious. In similar to other culture, in Japan, we are taught to respect the privacy and wishes of others, and we do believe in personal space.  In fact, privacy, respect, and personal space are huge themes all around Asia and Asian culture.  However, when it comes to celebrities, I think this is when the Japanese culture rather stems away from others. It’s almost blinded worship for us. We are very enthusiastic,  loud, and outspoken. We want to see and touch the person; we want to feel a connection deeper than just getting an autograph. We want to feel things on a spiritual and emotional level. There is this belief that Japanese fans are the most dedicated, and maybe it is me being biased, but I believe that is true.

 I know that fans from all around the world will do just about anything for their favorite celebrity.  However, I think that in sheer volumes of numbers, Japanese fans are more dedicated. I think the main reason for this is that we are less concerned about looking stupid or feeling guilty for indulging with the celebrity, if given the chance. I know in my case with Rupert, some might say that I took things too far; but I believe that I was given the opportunity and it would have been wrong to let it pass me by. There is this idea of keeping things “proper” and “censorship” that many other cultures are stricter about than in Japan. Our rules on censorship are more of a matter of personal choice than regulation, as it is elsewhere in the world.

However, there is one idea that I do get annoyed about and that’s the idea of the “crazy Asian fan”.  The idea that every Asian fan will just jump on the celebrity, lick, bite, scream and act out of order, almost animalistic. And why this may be true for some fans, it’s not an automatic stamp for all. While we can be overzealous, we do not intentionally want to annoy, hurt or scare the person. We do realize they are people too. and we do want to give them respect. I just think that we adore, love, and worship so whole-heartedly and so blindly that sometimes it can get out of hand. But it is always with the best intentions. We love and just want to show that love.  Over the top behavior can be seen in all cultures of fans. I just think once again it may seem like more in Japanese culture because of the volume of people and fans that we have and our beliefs of censorship.

Rupert is very well loved in Japan.  One of the main reasons why Rupert is so loved and popular here is because of his looks. While gingers may be perceived as “weird” or “awkward” elsewhere, here it is celebrated and thought as unique and endearing. In anime, the strong, brave, aggressive hero is usually a redhead. Red heads are seen as powerful and born leaders here. There are very few true redheads in Japan. The pale skin, freckles, and red hair is not something common in Japanese biology so Rupert is a symbol of that uniqueness and sexiness.

As a Japanese fan, I am very proud of my culture and how we as fans can express our love for celebrities. I don’t think we’re over the top so much as just being very devoted and honest about our feelings. We tend to act on what we feel and that takes courage. Therefore, I would also say Japanese fans are the most daring, lol. If given the opportunity to meet Rupert again, I will certainly not hold back and I will sneak my kiss in again.

Other people may call it being a “crazy Japanese fan”, but I call it being the only way I know how to be.

Hinoe picture courtesy of The Yumeta Company

Every week, we are bestowed a challenge, the challenge of writing to unknowing media sources. None of us have been a stranger to the long, heavily-linked diatribes we anxiously write, in an effort to get Rupert and his movie, Cherrybomb some much needed buzz. A challenge it is indeed, as it requires a decent amount of time to prepare and think of what you’d like to say.

However, maybe as you’re checking the email you’re about to send off, you start wondering who the mysterious person is, that is behind creating those challenges for us every week.

Meet Morgan, aka Cookimonstress, who creates these weekly challenges for the Cherrybomb Distribution Campaign. She took some time from her very busy life to answer some questions, that maybe shed some light on what it is she does exactly for the campaign!

1).  Were you approached about helping run the campaign, or did you offer?

Well, I wasn’t directly approached. But, the staff at ICM said that they needed help maintaining the petition site, so I volunteered.

2). What made you want to take on the Cherrybomb campaign?

My love for Rupert and his fandom. From the time ICM announced that they had launched the campaign and why, I knew I wanted to help out with it in some way. So, when ICM asked for volunteers to help with the petition site, of course I jumped right on it. Plus, I couldn’t wait to see Cherrybomb, myself. I have heard so many wonderful things about it!

3). What is your method of deciding which media outlets to contact?

I do internet searches on entertainment sites and magazines and such. There have been times where I have written challenges telling people to write to newspapers. And we have even written to television shows like BBC News.

4). How long does it take to do the research?

It really depends on what my search engine gives me when I’m looking for that sort of thing. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to find something immediately. Then, there are other times where it could take me several days before I find something good for challenges. I usually like to find media sources that reach broad audiences.

5). You mentioned to me that the campaign had stalled at one point, what were your thoughts and ideas at that time?

For several weeks, there were only 20 people who participated in the challenges each week. So, I tried to think of a way to get people more involved. I then decided to work on an article for the August edition of Grintastic. But, before I could finish, people who were regularly participating in the challenges got their friends and coworkers to participate. I believe the week after that started happening, we had 90 people to participate in a challenge writing to Variety Magazine.

6). How did it make you feel when you heard that CB had gained a distribution deal with the UK and were in talks with the US?

Very, very happy! I was so proud of the fandom and Rupert’s Army making this happen. Without the fans, Cherrybomb may not have gotten any distribution deals at all. I’m quite pleased with our accomplishments.

7). You’re currently in college/university, how was it to juggle the campaign and your studies?

It’s difficult, but I manage. I write challenges whenever I can get to a stopping point in my schoolwork.

8). Is what you’re doing now for the campaign be applied to what you’re majoring in/studying?

I am majoring in Communications, so I would definitely have to say yes. Communications deals with things like writing for types of media, so writing challenges and updating the petition site has helped me understand a field I will be working in one day.

9.) Did you tell any of your friends, family, classmates about what you were doing for Rupert, CB, and the campaign? What did they say or think?

 

Yes, I did. Their thoughts on it depended on who I was talking to. But, I had a few people who said that they wanted to help out. I have a 10-year-old brother and when I told him about the campaign he immediately wanted to help out in any way he could even though he isn’t old enough to go see Cherrybomb. He just “wanted to be a good brother.” He’s so sweet!

10). Did you promote Rupert and CB in any other way, besides creating the challenges? What did you do?

Yes. I went to different sites and got on their forums and made threads about it. I also wrote to sites that weren’t posted on the petition site as challenges. And, of course, I told my friends about it.

11). What do you think it is about Rupert (or his fandom) that makes everyone ban together for such an important cause?

It’s because we all love Rupert and really look up to him. He’s such a great role model with his genuine warmth and kindness toward others. And the way he interacts with his fans is just amazing. I remember seeing this thing on YouTube where a Japanese fan had won a contest and got to interview the Harry Potter trio. And when she interviewed Rupert he let her touch his eyelashes and then ride on his back. That was awesome!

I think that Rupert taking part in Cherrybomb also makes him a positive role model. In an interview he did for Blag Magazine, they asked him what the message of the film was, he said:

 “It deals with consequences. The consequences of doing wrong. It deals with how drugs, lust, and violence can destroy your world. It is really a coming of story, especiially for my character who is seen growing out of that lifestyle and realizing there’s more to life. It may be a lesson to young people to try and keep to the right path, communicate with your friends and family, and don’t try and impress people to get liked.”

That quote in itself made me incredibly proud to be a Rupert fan. Cherrybomb deals with issues that are a big problem in society today and I think it can reach out to people who deal with things like peer pressure on a daily basis. And by being in this movie Rupert will also be reaching out to those people, which I think is absolutely wonderful.

The second edition of our Roncast is finally here! As you know, while we love and appreciate the entire story of Harry Potter, our goal is to focus on our favourite character Ron Weasley, who is portrayed in the movies by our favourite actor Rupert Grint.

As usual, your host is Sam aka Erudite Witch. This time she has invited several Ron-experts to join the discussion, namely Sabine (Galadriel 12), AJ, Joana (Wicked Jo), Emily (Mugglemama) and Dove! They delve deep into the character of Ron, focusing on the differences between the books and the movies, especially as regards the characterisation. Now that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has finally been released, our Ron lovers give their honest opinions on the movie, and attempt to predict what to expect in the latest two installments of the franchise, Deathly Hallows I and II.

Roncast 2

• Intro Song: Magic Man by Heart

• The Ron Quote of the month

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: impressions, reflections
  

• Fanfiction Corner
  

• Deathly Hallows Spoilers
  

• What to expect in Deathly Hallows
  

Download Roncast from the blue Roncast box in the top right corner, and ENJOY! (NOTE: the link will take you to a separate SendSpace page, where you’ll find the download link.)

As noted, the song in the background is Magic Man by Heart. Every podcast, we’ll pick a different song based on your suggestions. If you’ve got a song that you think fits Ron Weasley perfectly, just get a hold of us at grintasticonline@googlemail.com. Also, we would love to have you on show, so if you consider yourself a fellow Ron-expert, email us to land a guest spot! And no need to remind you, your comments and suggestions are always welcome!

UPDATE: We have now added all episodes of Roncast to our Media site, so if you missed an episode, you may download it from here. Enjoy!

Anyone who truly knows me knows one thing: I love to read. Obviously I have read the Harry Potter series, considering my love for Ron Weasley and subsequently Rupert Grint. However, I love a great many books in a variety of genres, and one set of stories I love in particular are vampire tales. Thanks to my mother I became a fan of the 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows which featured vampires, witches, werewolves and the like. Then came Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin off series, Angel. And then I got into the books: Dracula, Twilight and True Blood, also known as the Sookie Stackhouse Novels or Southern Vampire Tales written by Charlaine Harris. There are currently nine books in the series, and HBO is currently airing season 2 of the eponymous TV show. In other news, I am about to read The Vampire Diaries which is also set to come to the small screen on The CW Network in the US.

But let’s focus on True Blood which this article is about. The books are adult – and I mean, if you captured True Blood on HBO first assuming that was just their way of making it sexier, don’t be fooled. The novels are just as sexually explored as the show is. Obviously, the show will create some sexual scenes that you won’t find in the books, as they did with Sookie’s brother Jason. In the books Jason is only described as a sexual being, a ladies man, etc. On the TV show they had to be visual with this, so you can see Jason’s exploits. Of course, this is important because… SPOILER ALERT!!! … everyone Jason has sex with ends up dying! Naturally, this leads to him being suspected in every death that occurs.

Before I go into characters, let me tell you a little bit about the series and the books. The premise is basically that vampires have, as they put it, “come out of the coffin” a few years ago. Then one day a vampire walks into the bar that Sookie is working at. Sookie is a telepathic waitress but she cannot read vampires’ minds. I know what you’re thinking — “Wow, isn’t this the plot to Twilight?” As much as I love Twilight for its simplicity, it could well be said that the Twilight books are a rip off of these novels, because The Sookie Stackhouse books were published long before Twilight.

So, Sookie is telepathic and when she meets this new vampire, Bill, she is over the moon because she cannot hear his thoughts. As you can imagine, struggling to keep out of other people’s thoughts is constant work, so when she can be around Bill and hear — excuse the term — dead silence, it’s amazing to her; it attracts her even further to the vampire. Meanwhile, young girls are dying all over town. These girls have one thing in common: they’ve been around or slept with vampires! Sadly, this problem hits real close to Sookie when her grandmother, Adele, is found dead. (Plot point/spoiler alert: Sookie and Jason were raised by her grandmother when their parents were killed in a flash flood.) As Sookie races to find out why her grandmother was killed and why all these women are being knocked off, and to prove her brother’s innocence, she finds herself in danger from the killer.

As for the TV show, Sookie herself is pretty much on the mark. Anna Paquin has been criticized for not being the perfect Sookie, but I think she embodies the character well enough. In fact, I enjoy her take on Sookie more than how the character is written in the book. To me, Anna’s Sookie is more determined and human. On the other hand, Sookie of the novels is quite funny, whereas the writing for Anna’s Sookie tends to leave that side out. Her chemistry with Stephen Moyer‘s Bill is off the charts and that’s the only thing you can ask for. In the novels, Bill and Sookie are together for three books (this is a span of maybe a year and a half however).

Continuing on with main character is Bill. Looks wise Bill is a bit off, however written wise the character seems to be pretty spot on. However, book Bill always seems to be a little more deadpan to me, while TV Bill seems to be more interactive and interesting. Bill is a tough character to get your head around and the TV show does a good job of, forgive the term, humanizing him. When reading the novels you often wonder just how great his love for Sookie truly is — and this gets questioned further inside the series, as secrets are revealed about Bill’s intentions of walking into Merlott’s Bar in Bon Temps. It needs to be said that both in the books and in the TV series, Sookie and Bill end up into bed together quite early on, as the death of Sookie’s grandmother brings them closer. In the TV series, after her death, Sookie goes running to Bill and the consumate their love for one another, while in the books it’s a few days after.

Both in the TV show and the books, Sookie is beaten up badly by a couple who sell vampire blood for money — the so-called “drainers”. Sookie had saved Bill’s life from this couple, and for revenge they beat her up and try to kill her. Bill comes to her rescue killing this couple and has Sookie drink from him — it heels her completely. All the injuries she suffers are instantly fixed. The other effects of vampire blood? Her sex drive is increased, her senses are more in-tuned, and Bill can feel her when she’s in danger.

Speaking of Merlott’s, the bar is much how I imagined it; however, the owner, not so much. In the books Sam Marlott has red hair (probably lighter than Rupert’s), but TV Sam has light brown hair going slightly gray — though his build and height seem right. In the book, Sam doesn’t have much of a back story but the TV series gives him an interesting one. What I mean is (SPOILER ALERT!!!) in the books Sam comes from pure breed shape shifters. Both his mother and father can shape shift and thus, as Sam was first born, he can too. Both in the books and in the TV show Sam prefers shifting into a border collie. We learn in later books that Sam’s mother married someone else who was not a shape shifter and they are from Texas. In the TV show, we hear a reference to Texas, though it seems to be mostly made up. Sam doesn’t “exist” until he arrives in Bon Temps. We learn that he was adopted and that his adoptive parents left when they saw him shift into a dog one night. This makes for an interesting background, and continues a story that is presently playing out in season 2.

Then there are lesser known characters. In the books Sookie’s best friend, Tara Thorton, tends to be someone who just pops up every once in a while. From the description you tend to believe that she is well adjusted and doesn’t hold a grudge from her childhood. In the TV show however they decided to be a bit more inventive. Tara is a fast talking, hard nosed woman who takes her family situation to heart. Her mother is an alcoholic (in the books — SPOILER ALERT — Tara’s parents are dead) and would beat her and Sookie’s grandmother always took her in, fed her, clothed her. In the series Tara has a huge crush on Jason.

Tara’s cousin Layfette Reynolds is a character in the books but like Tara his part had changed drastically. While in both mediums he is a gay short order cook at Merlott’s, in the books he is barely visible. However, Layfette in the show sells V (vampire blood) and other assorted drugs, he is a male prostitute, and one of Jason’s best friends.

Some characters who take a back seat in Season 1 were more prominent in the books. For instance, Eric Northman, the owner of Vampire Bar “Fangtasia” (the bar is for humans to gawk at vampires who dress the way they are perceived, though not necessarily accurately). Like in the books, he is a tall blond viking vampire. His personality seems to be pretty much intact leaving out one detail: his attraction to Sookie. While it somewhat exists, in the books Eric makes no bones about it, including scenes that did not appear in the show such as Sookie ending up in the hospital after her encounter with the murderer (more on this later) and Eric floating outside the window and sending her flowers, flirting with her, calling her his future lover.

Then there is Pam. Eric sired her long ago and she now works for him in Fangtasia. Pam in the books becomes Sookie’s friend and is much more interesting. She’s funny and witty. They make sure in the show to show off how different her persona in the bar is from her true self outside. In the TV show, she’s more modern and button down. However that does not take away from her wit, sarcasm, and interestingly enough her good nature. Of course, this doesn’t mean she’ll throw back a bottle of True Blood!

Of course, there is Rene too. While I describe him, you must know that there will be spoilers abound. So if you do not wish to know the basic plot to the first novel and season 1 of the TV show, please stop reading now! Rene in the books and TV show are definitely different as well as their fates by the end. On the TV show, Rene has a Cajun accent: this is to help Sookie realize there isn’t something “quite right” about him, because when she hears his thoughts, he speaks in his regular, American accent. Rene is engaged to Sookie’s friend and co-worker Arleen and tries to settle down in the city of Bon Temps. In the books we learn that Rene’s sister has died; however in the TV series we know nothing about his family or his life. We do get a “weird moment” from him in the beginning of the show where Rene stands up for Sookie at the bar and tells her, “You remind me of my sister…” But nothing else is made of it.

As the series continues and young girls die, Sookie is becoming more endangered. Both series of course have Sookie’s grandmother dying and both series have her cat being killed and strung up. But in the TV show we learn the second to the last episode who the killer is. I’m sure you guessed by now that Rene is the killer. He does so because his sister has had sex with a vampire and it sets him off in his brain. So now he goes around killing any young girl who has sex with vampires. In the books Sookie hurts Rene as she tries to get away from him, but she never kills him. In the show though, when she finally figures it out, having heard his thoughts while in her home, she runs away through the cemetery to Bill’s house. Earlier I told you about the bond made when Sookie drank Bill’s blood; so now Bill can sense when Sookie is in trouble. This does not happen in the books, but in the show Bill senses Sookie is in danger and runs out in the sun to try and save her. Fortunately while she is being beaten by Rene, Sam is to the rescue as the dog! He sniffed out Rene’s scent (he picked this up from one of the crime scenes) and tracked them. However, Rene begins to beat on Sam. This gives Sookie plenty of time to pick up a shovel and kill Rene with it.

By the end, all is well in Bon Temps until one of the detectives who was assigned to the case and believed Jason was the murderer, gets stinking drunk in Merlott’s. Sookie and Tara lead him out to his car only to find another dead body! In the books it’s Layfette who’s discovered in the car; but in the series, due to the immense popularity of the character, someone else, a lesser known character who does not have anything to do with Tara’s background story, meets this fate instead.

Season 2 has just started so it’s hard to comment on any similarities or differences. There are some, but I’d have to watch the entire season to give it a run down. Perhaps soon enough.

All in all, both the TV show and the books are worth your time and I highly recommend them. The show does the books justice and even sometimes turns out better than the books. Of course, the books have some parts better than the TV show. As mentioned, Eric’s role in the first season is sadly missed and there is also a great vampire character in the books that does not appear in the series. His name is Bubba and he technically is The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll himself; Elvis! He’s a great, funny character who isn’t “quite right in the head” because of all the drugs he had in his system when he was found dead.

To keep this Rupert related, I often read books trying to find a character Rupert Grint could play. Honestly, nothing pops up in the True Blood books, but because the TV show goes its own course, clearly one could be written for him. Wouldn’t it be fun to see Rupert as a bad ass vampire? I think so. His hair slicked back like in Blag and a smirk on his face…

Stop any Rupert Grint fan in the street, or online, and we’ll be more than happy to tell any clueless stranger the myriad of reasons why we love Rupes so much. Ranging from his ability to climb inside of a character and completely own it, to his humble, kind personality, to his wonderfully quirky sense of humor, to the breathtakingly gingery eyelashes, we’ll most certainly sing his praises.

However, we all remember the interviews conducted in the past, and back then Rupert was hardly an easy guy to interview. Rupert could hardly have been called “articulate”; often resorting to his now infamous verbal ticks, such as “uhh”, “err”, and everyone’s favorite and often imitated, “dunno really,” and more than once, sticking with very generic answers for a lot of questions. He was also known to get rather fidgety, constantly touching his face, rubbing his thighs and knees, playing with his hair, and almost constantly shifting in his seat. He wasn’t the most talkative or candid guy either, which seemed to irritate some “journalists” who had just interviewed Dan or Emma, and who sometimes made snide remarks about how “inarticulate” Rupert was in their articles. However, as fans, we all knew better that there was so much more to Rupert than all of his verbal hiccups and his deceptively generic question-answering. However, it’s been proven time and time again, that when Rupert had a good interview, or a good interviewer more likely, he and the interview were simply golden.

As in the “Moviefone” interview he did with director, Jeremy Brock, for the promotion of “Driving Lessons” at the Tribeca film festival.

Rupert seemed a little more anxious and self conscious than usual, which was to be expected and forgiven, as this was his first break out role as a leading man in a film that had nothing to do with Harry Potter. Rupert was quite flushed during the entire interview, and his verbal ticks and fidgeting were obviously in high gear the whole time. I would like to point out now, that when Rupert did have something important to say, he had a tendency to dive in with an answer rather quickly, with very little thought, which caused him to become tongue-tied and maybe not say exactly what he wanted. But I digress. Putting all of this aside, this is one of the “golden” interviews that I simply adore. Any thoughts of Rupert not being candid were delightfully laid to rest in this interview. When asked what three of his favorite things about movies were, Rupert had answers that revealed an incredibly thoughtful, sensitive person. One of my favorite was when he said that he wasn’t the most confident upfront person, hence he loved the fact that he can use a character to hide behind, and get to be someone else.

But as the years have gone on, we have witnessed Rupert become a little more confident, a little more sure of himself. It had become ubundantly clear that he had reached a personal milestone when he was promoting “Cherrybomb” at the Berlinale film festival this year. An interview in particular was the Spiegel TV interview he did with co-star, Kimberley Nixon.

While this had no brilliant revelations in it, Rupert presented himself in a way that made me realize how much he has changed and matured. His fiddling, while still present, was noticeably less. He seemed to gain control of his nervous hands by interlacing his fingers; in addition to that, he was also using his hands more demonstratively when he spoke. Overall, he seemed more relaxed, and quieter. But in a way that was helpful to him, he still had the verbal ticks, but these were fewer and far between than in the past. He seemed more comfortable with pausing before he spoke, and was able to articulate what he wanted to say. But this was just a small taste of what was to come at us in the months to follow.

If any Rupert fan had been waiting for the best, most candid interview in printed media, they certainly got what was a long to coming. One of them was in the form of BLAG magazine. A massive pictorial spread, complete with a six-page interview, that made every Rupert fan finally get a glimpse of who he really was as a person, how candid he could get, and a Rupert that was a bit bolder in what he said. Revealing how weird his sense of humor is, how he’d love to be in a Quentin Tarantino movie, and how he’d be happy to get offered interesting, diverse roles in his career.

Whatever glass roof Rupert was operating under, was gloriously torn asunder during the promotion of “Half-Blood Prince.” The more interviews he gave, Rupert got that much better at controlling his nervousness, his verbal ticks, and obviously, got better at expressing himself. While I love watching all the videoed interviews, a majority of the “golden” interviews are in printed form. One of my favorites is the Daily Mail interview, in which he makes the most rock and roll statement of all time:

From here on, I don’t want to play it safe. I need to take on roles that are as far away from Harry Potter as it’s possible to get. If I’m to continue as an actor, I need to play characters that are nothing like me at all.

A man addressing his future, with his fist in the air, ready to take on the world. A far cry from the nervous, fidgety guy who was more often times than not, misunderstood or judged because he wasn’t able to articulate himself very well.

This year has been a revelation for Rupert, and for his fandom. Evolution comes in small steps, takes years, and a lot of mistakes need to be made in order to get to the goal. We are witnessing the evolution, the era, the realization of the true Rupert Grint. A boy who couldn’t quite get the words right, but who now speaks boldy and honestly, and yet he is still the same humble, kind-hearted, quirky, talented, driven guy who can really surprise you sometimes. This is the real Rupert that we’ve all been waiting for years to see, and it’s finally arrived. I can’t help but think that in years to come, Rupert, and being his fan, will only get better and better.

Photo credits: Ian Derry for Mail Online, Tom Stockill for Times Online

Video credits: MSN Moviefone, Spiegel TV (the clip uses footage from the film Cherrybomb, courtesy of Generator Entertainment and The Little Film Company)

What it means to be a man today is not what it meant a hundred or fifty years ago. What my father taught me about being a man is not what his father had told him or what I would tell my son. However, no matter the decade, I think the consensus is that it’s a tough job. There is so much hypocrisy and contradiction when it comes to being a man and, even more so, being a gentleman. In Hollywood, it must be even harder to preserve the notion of gentleman when there is temptation, greed, egoism, and pressure all around. There are so many examples of young men walking into fame and having it turn their lives upside down. It is a hard candy to chew and many get lost in it all. However, there is an elite group of the men who exemplify the “last of the gentlemen,” and Rupert Grint is a proud member.

Rupert embodies what it means to be a gentleman. He is the last of his kind. These days, being a “real man” is a false memory: it’s all about the looks, the girls, and the money. No one cares for subtleties: honor, respect, or kindness in Tinsel Town. But Rupert does not care to follow the rules of Hollywood and fame. He does not compromise what is in his heart and what his family has taught him for what is in the magazines or on TV. He is a modern day gentleman and he wears his membership badge proudly.

One of the great things about Rupert is his relationship with his co-stars. He isn’t pompous and extremely competitive as “true men” are supposed to be. He treats them like his friends and he genuinely wants them to succeed. To many, a “man” means beating everyone to the punch and not caring about anything else in your way. This is not the case for Rupert Grint. He has no problem giving praise to his fellow cast members, even at his expense. A true gentleman knows when to put pride aside. In 2007, Rupert was nominated for best male performance at the NMAs for his role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; however, fellow actor Daniel Radcliffe took the award. Rupert did not frown, he did not act standoffish, but he gave a huge smile and hugged his mate. Even if he was upset, he held it in and was respectful.

It would be easy for Rupert to be mean and talk trash on Daniel Radcliffe. They are the two leading males of the Harry Potter franchise and are often compared side by side. All the tension would create feuds and bad blood for many male stars. However, Rupert is nothing but a gentleman and a friend. He has stated that he really cares for Daniel and that they get along great. He texted Dan before his first performance in Equus and he even went to see the play himself. They are close and Rupert doesn’t talk bad about him and does not feel the need to. A true gentleman feels relaxed and secure in his manhood and Rupert’s lack of cattiness toward Daniel proves this statement true. In fact, he defends Dan if need be. On the Australian Rove TV show in 2009, the host Rove McManus was playfully teasing Dan about his magic tricks. Rupert could have easily bought into it and teased him as well, but instead he defended him and even seemed a bit upset that Dan was being teased. It is rare to see such dedication to a co-star.

However, it is not just his male costars but his female ones as well who Rupert treats with respect as a true gentleman would. He and Emma Watson are good friends. Rupert treats Emma like a lady and he often compliments and encourages her. While there is speculation about their romantic relationship, Rupert is honest about it. He does not try to lead people on to seem more interesting. He says Emma is like a sister to him and he supports her. As a gentleman Rupert does not see the point in creating drama and making people think he has a relationship with her if he doesn’t.

In Hollywood, romantic relationship, moreover, a romantic relationship with co-stars gets you in the papers. It is an easy way to get exposure, but Rupert does not do it. He is decent and he respects Emma too much to make up things about her. A perfect example is in a recent interview, he was asked if there was something going on between him and Emma: he stated that they were just friends and that Emma had a boyfriend. He didn’t make a face. He didn’t lead the interviewer on. He simply told the truth.

Kimberley Nixon has also received some of Rupert’s gentleman tendencies. While filming their love scene for Cherrybomb, Rupert brought crossword puzzles to the set to take their minds off it and to keep them calm. Kim has admitted to being very nervous about the scene, but Rupert helped her relax. He coached Kim through their scene so they could get it done. He could have praised himself and had a big grin because he would film a racy scene, but he did not. He does not have an ego, as some would expect him to have. He is completely selfless and a good friend.

Rupert not only treats his costars with care but his family as well. He is very close to his dad. He is his manager and they spend a lot of time together. They travel, go to sporting events, and eat together often. Rupert is not ashamed to be a homebody. He likes to take his family on trips to various tourist destinations and he helps support them. They go to a place like TGIF and Rupert says that he likes to be the big brother. He does not alienate himself from his family and he does not try to seem better than they are. He’s proud to be from a normal middle class family and it shows. He is not worried about “what people might think” if they see him hanging with him family. He is committed to remembering where he comes from. It’s an important quality of a true gentleman.

Rupert handles his fame very differently than most young stars his age. He does not do drugs or go to wild parties to ensure his face is plastered all over magazines. He has said himself that he has the brains not to get drunk in the public because he does not want to be in the tabloids. He does not use his riches to buy flashy cars and houses. He purchases things such as an ice cream van, chickens, and a hovercraft. He drives an old truck for crying out loud! It is so easy for men to be caught up in the “must haves.” Apparently being a man is judged on what you buy with your earnings. This is a mistake. A true man, a true gentleman knows how to indulge but not go overboard.

It is the same with Rupert’s outfits. While it is important to look presentable, it is even more important do it in such a way that is not arrogant and is original. Rupert Grint demonstrates this well. He does not wear flashy clothes. He is usually in jeans, dirty converses and a t-shirt that he has worn many times before. He does not care about glamor. He fixes up when he needs to, but he is much more comfortable in everyday clothes. It shows his comfortableness in his own skin, as well as and his levelheaded outlook on life. He has not forgotten himself in his fame and staying true to himself is very important in being a gentleman.

Being a true gentleman isn’t just about how you treat yourself and those close to you. It is also about how you treat others who have helped you. In the case of an actor, it is how you treat the fans. Rupert treats his fans with all the respect in the world. Some believe that once you have “made it” that is it. You can forget about the dedicated people who cheered and helped you get where you are. Rupert doesn’t believe in such things. He is very thankful for every fan he has and it is obvious. He doesn’t do “one autograph per person” and he doesn’t ignore his fans. He is the first one out of his cast mates to start signing and he is the last to stop signing autographs and taking pictures.

An outstanding example of Rupert’s respect for his fans in the World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in London. It was pouring outside, and Rupert had just recovered from illness, but he still signed as many autographs as possible. He even bent down out of the protection of his umbrella to reach down and shake the hand of an elderly man. He doesn’t mind staying late to hug and pose for fans. There have been many occasions where he was working late on set or leaving hotels to travel, but when asked for autographs and photos he told his security “it’s okay” and proceeded to fulfill the fans’ wishes. The way he gives himself to his fans is breathtaking. He knows that he would not he where he is without them and his humility is amazing.

How Rupert handles his career is also the epitome of a gentleman. He takes his job seriously and he is a very hard worker. He doesn’t just sit and wait for things to happen. He is not just basking in the riches of Harry Potter. He wants and has done outside projects. He wants to be a successful actor. He wants to prove that he genuinely has talent and his drive and passion for his craft is how a real man handles his talent. He does not take the safe road and doesn’t mind learning from mistakes.

However, though he is tough and hardworking, in his interviews and appearances Rupert is always polite, charming, funny, and sweet. It is even more amazing that he doesn’t try to be someone he is not. There is so much pressure to be fake and beef things up a bit, but he does not need to. He has been taught to be true to himself and that is what he presents. One of the most important features in being a part of the elite few of true gentlemen is modesty. Rupert is king of being modest. He has perfected telling just enough without seeming cold. He does just blab off for shock value. He does not depend on being loud and risqué to be noticed.

In fact, Rupert is a very private person. He does not have his business out for everyone to see. It is very refreshing. Today, being a man means getting all the women and showing them off. Rupert knows better. Though he has stated that he likes to casually date, people do not see him in tabloids with a new girl every other night. He is respectful and knows how to treat women. Chivalry is not dead; it is simply hidden behind “player” and “stud” ideas. Being a gentleman does not mean being macho or having a new “it” girlfriend of the week. It means being able to talk to women, treat them well, and be respectful. I am sure Rupert gets his fair share of female attention. He has been called a sex symbol on many occasions, but he doesn’t take this in his stride. He is quiet, shy, and sometimes embarrassed when it comes to all the romance and sexual attention. It is not often that a young, good looking, successful guy does not boost about his sex appeal but it is what a true gentleman would do. It is what Rupert Grint does.

Being a gentleman these days is not as important as it used to be. Flash and fame are the main ingredients in success, but for the last of the gentleman, it is so much more than that. Yes, indulgences, riches, fame, glamor, these are a part of the business he is a part of, but there are so many more important things. Rupert Grint is a modern day gentleman because he is still the same boy raised and nurtured by his parents. He is the same brother and friend he has always been. He remembers to be respectful, honest, kind, and low key. He is sincere, quiet, and unassuming. I do not think it is accidental that there is never any bad talk about him. He is comfortable with himself and does not need to back talk or boost his ego. Rupert is a true man and his qualities are atypical. It is a shame that there are not more men like him but it is an honor that he is how he is. I am so proud to be a fan of his. Any young guy would be lucky to use him as a guidance as to how to be a man these days.

Rupert Grint is a true gentleman. In the next generation to come people will be looking up to him, and will mimic his grace. While he is the last of his kind, he may just be the seed needed to sprout a new race of gentlemen.

Throughout the years, we have watched Emma Watson grow up on screen, alongside her co-stars Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe. From a cute 9-year-old, she has developed into a glamourous young woman. In the process, she has acquired many fans, but probably as many haters too. Some praise her looks, talent and personality, others are annoyed by her mug and less than impressed by her acting skills. Her ubiquitous media presence, her numerous photoshoots and the front seats at major fashion shows have only added up to the controversy. Is she a serious actress, or just a pin-up? Is she a nice, polite girl or a bitchy spoiled diva? Has she been given undeserved credit? Does her popularity overshadow her, more talented, co-stars? The questions abound, and the answers are extremely diverse.

There is no denying that Emma has the biggest following of all Harry Potter stars – there are hundreds of fansites dedicated to her, she usually tops popularity polls, she wins acting awards based on the public vote, and she has landed numerous lucrative modelling jobs. Maybe it’s because she’s the only girl of the Trio — and a beautiful one at that — or maybe because she’s very charming and articulate in interviews. Moreover, despite all the media scrutiny, she hasn’t succumbed to the pressure and she presents herself as a strong, clever, ambitious, well-educated and level-headed young woman, untainted by fame and money. But is this “the real Emma” or not? And more importantly, is Emma’s cocktail of good looks, powerful intellect and the position of media darling enough to secure her a post-Potter career?

I’ve been a part of the Harry Potter fandom for many years now, and it always seemed to me that Emma was the most controversial cast member. The opinions on her acting potential, her portrayal of Hermione, her on-screen presence and off-screen interests have always been extremely divided. On top of that, legions of fans wanted her to end up in an emotional relationship with either Daniel or Rupert, and the debates re: which one would have been a better match just added to the controversy. Of course, our opinion(s) on Emma are, to a great degree, mediated by the media: Emma the celebrity is probably a very different person from the real deal. Emma herself has stated many times that she’d rather be less popular, and her decision to take a break from acting and pursue her University degree after Harry Potter wraps seems to confirm her words.

However, whether she’s happy about that or not, Emma is a public person and, as such, exposed to scrutiny by millions of people who have never met her. We – the movie lovers, Harry Potter fans, movie tickets and magazine buyers – all have our own perceptions of Emma, which have been mediated by the interviews we’ve read, rumours we’ve heard, photos we’ve admired, and last but not least, the movies we’ve seen her in. Thus, my idea was to ask our forum members to share their thoughts and opinions on Emma with us. The fans were asked to answer a questionnaire, comprising ten questions, on various aspects of Emma’s public persona, in order to create a most accurate psychological “photo-robot” of Emma as an actor and a person. My only request to the participating fans was to give honest, detailed and good-spirited answers, and I promised that I wouldn’t reveal their names (unless they insisted lol).

When choosing who to send my questions to, I did not specifically target the self-proclaimed Emma-lovers or Emma-haters: all these nice people who sent their responses are Rupert fans first and foremost, and they have learned to appreciate Emma as a part of the Harry Potter franchise. Of course, some of them like her better than the others, but overall none of them is too biased. They just gave their honest opinions, that’s all. The paragraphs to follow sum up their answers, and hopefully provide additional insight into the Emma Watson phenomenon.

Many thanks to all fans who took the time and effort to answer my questions; and if you are interested in reading everyone’s full responses, you will find the links to the questionnaires below.

The first group of questions focused on Emma as a person and the way she presents herself to the fans and media. The opinions of fans have been overwhelmingly positive – a majority agree that Emma is a clever and down-to-Earth girl, a good role model for other teenagers. They also appreciated her academic ambitions: as summed up by someone, “As an actress making millions of dollars, she could easily play down the necessity of a good education. However, her determination to finish (and excel!) in her studies is such a positive thing for young fans to see.”

As for Emma’s attitude, many fans perceive her as a nice and decent person overall, although some have noticed that Emma can also appear grumpy or aloof in the images. However, we may never know whether this is just a defense mechanism on Emma’s part, a way of protecting her privacy, or a true sign of her moodiness. Although she is very young, Emma has already been on a receiving end of some downright ruthless media intrusiveness – be it speculation about her present and past boyfriends, or paparazzi catching her in compromising poses and plastering photos of Emma flashing her underwear all over the Internet. Some tabloids have described her a b*tchy drama queen, some have hacked into her personal e-mail and published her private correspondence, some have proclaimed her to be a descendant of a true witch, some have declared her dead. None of these is easy to deal with, especially for a girl who is still only 19 years old, and all fans who responded to my questionnaire seem to agree that, so far, Emma has handled the media exposure and pressures that come with it quite admirably.

Related to this is the group of questions about Emma’s career plans and prospects. As we all know, Emma has expressed uncertainty about her future career direction on several occasions, and it definitely looks like she has no idea what she will be doing for living in ten years time! Besides, as noted by a few fans, she seems to contradict herself all the time. She is starting the University in September, so she is definitely interested in academics, and apparently eager to turn her back to living in the spotlight… but no, she also says she would love to do more films during her summer breaks! When asked to choose between acting and modelling she has opted for acting – and yet, she has only done two roles outside of Harry Potter (one voice-over and one TV drama) while at the same time she has accepted numerous modelling jobs.

The fans who responded to the questionnaire seem to think that Emma is expecting too much of herself, and should focus on doing one thing at the time – be it her studies, acting or anything else. In any case, as noted by a fan, “she is in the fortunate situation that she can afford to be uncertain for a while. Others her age have to make decisions for their future life. But she won’t ever have to worry about her income or earning her living, so she can still decide in three years time when she’s finished studying.”

We also “talked” about the way Emma has treated her co-star Rupert Grint over the years. A majority of fans seem to agree that Emma likes and respects Rupert and thinks of him as a good friend. However, quite a few people were disappointed by Emma’s remark that kissing Rupert was “the most horrible thing she’s ever done” (or something). Of course, we all know the context behind this statement (or, should I say, slip): Emma thinks of Rupert as a sibling, thus kissing him in front of the cameras must have been a weird experience for her. Still, the fans felt that she should have worded it differently. And this remark didn’t help excite the fans about the upcoming Ron/Hermione kiss in Deathly Hallows either — despite the fact that all fans agree that Emma is a huge Ron/Hermione shipper who was definitely pleased to learn that these two ended up together.

Allow me to add that, if Emma is serious about continuing with acting, she should better get used to kissing other actors, no matter how she felt about them in real life! In that respect, perhaps she should take some advice from none other than Rupert, who has already kissed four girls on screen (Michelle Duncan, Jessie Cave, Kimberley Nixon and Emma herself). Although he has admitted to feeling uncomfortable when filming those scenes, he’s had nothing but words of praise for his on-screen partners and he made us feel excited about all that snogging. Practice makes perfection, dear Emma!

As for Emma’s acting abilities, a majority of fans are quite doubtful about her acting potential and unhappy with her portrayal of Hermione. When it comes to describing her performance in Harry Potter movies, most opinions have ranged from “decent” to “sh*tty”; and only two interviewed persons have actually been happy with Emma as Hermione. Most fans seem to think that Emma did her best job in the first two movies; one fan voted for Prisoner of Azkaban, and a few have noted that Emma has improved in Half-Blood Prince as compared to Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. But not a single one of them has described Emma’s acting as “brilliant”. It seems to me that Rupert fans in general do like Emma the person, Emma the beauty and Emma the wisecracker, but not so much Emma the actress. She is rarely referred to as a “natural” actress, someone who was “born to do it”.

To be fair, lots of fans have noted that a part of the reason why they’re disappointed with movie!Hermione is the way the character has been written and directed; as one fan has put it: “This may be the fault of the directors more than Emma the actress. She only performs the way the director asks, and the director gets to choose which scenes to select/edit out.” Still, there’s no denying that Emma’s less-than-impressive acting has also contributed to the fans’ dissatisfaction with Hermione in the movies.

The opinions of those who have seen Emma’s other movies have also been divided: while some fans enjoyed Ballet Shoes and thought that Emma was more comfortable playing Pauline than Hermione, others didn’t notice much change/improvement. A majority of fans agreed that Emma should have done more roles outside of the franchise, in order to gain more experience and learn a thing or two about acting; but they also admitted that it must have been difficult for Emma to joggle her education with acting commitments. Most fans believe that Emma should really start taking acting more seriously if she has any plans of making it in the business after her Harry Potter days are over. But in order to do so, she would have to decide first whether she wants to be an actress at all. Looks like Emma herself, with her reluctance to fully commit herself to acting, has contributed quite a lot to the general concensus that she was not born to be an actress. The fans seem to believe that, as long as she is doubtful about her acting future and reluctant to devote herself 100% to acting, she won’t be using her full potential; and in the long run it might cost her a post-Potter career.

The final group of questions was about Emma’s looks, her celebrity status and the recent media conviction that she is the next “it” girl, the new fashion icon. Again, the fans’ opinions have been divided: while a majority believe that Emma getting all that media attention is good for the Harry Potter franchise in general, on the other hand, they also think that Emma has been getting too much attention at the expense of her more talented co-stars. While all fans agreed that Emma is cute and pretty, some think that her looks are slightly overrated – let me quote a fan opinion here: “She’s a pretty girl, but she’ll never be in the same sex bomb category as, say, Megan Fox or Scarlett Johansson.” And although most fans have no objections to Emma’s interest in and involvement with the fashion industry, they can’t help but note that “good looks alone do not make her a good actress,” and if she is serious about continuing as an actress, “she can’t count on her looks alone to score her new roles” – due to fierce competition she’s about to face once her Harry Potter days are over.

It is beyond doubt that Emma herself is aware of this, and maybe her reluctance to commit herself to acting career at the moment really has to do with her insecurity about her looks and her acting abilities. If this is the case, the only advise the fans seem to have agreed upon is that she should take her time, try out different things in the next couple of years, and then make a firm decision about her future and stick to it. In either case, Emma Watson has definitely grown on us all over the years we have watched her as Hermione Granger, so we all hope she’ll make the best decisions for her, and grow into a happy and accomplished person.

Emma Watson Questionnaire: Fans’ Feedback
Questionnaire 1
Questionnaire 2
Questionnaire 3
Questionnaire 4
Questionnaire 5
Questionnaire 6
Questionnaire 7
Questionnaire 8
Questionnaire 9
Questionnaire 10
Questionnaire 11
Questionnaire 12
Questionnaire 13
Questionnaire 14