'Servant': Will the Apple TV+ show from M. Night Shyamalan finally give Harry Potter-fame Rupert Grint a platform to show his talent?
Of the famous trio associated with the 'Harry Potter' franchise, Rupert Grint has perhaps had the hardest time of leaving his character of Ron Weasley behind. While Daniel Radcliffe went on to do roles in 'Kill Your Darlings' and 'Victor Frankenstein', Emma Watson carved out the role of an activist while doing movies like 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' and 'Beauty and the Beast.'
But, it is not for lack of trying that Grint has not been able to shed his image of the youngest Weasley brother and Ed Sheeran-lookalike. In addition to acting in movies like 'The Unbeatables' and 'Postman Pat: The Movie', Grint had been trying to carve out space for himself in a different setting than from his former co-stars - one in television.
To that end, Grint has acted in a few shows, and though his performances in all of them have been lauded by critics and fans alike, the TV shows never seemed to offer the right kind of platform that Grint's talent needed.
Grint's first major television role was in Crackle's 'Snatch', an adaptation of the Guy Ritchie movie of the same name. In it, he played Charlie Cavendish-Scott, a chain-smoking aristocrat - a character that has been called "the anti-Weasley." While the comedy-drama series received mixed reviews, it was the beginning of the recognition that Rupert Grint could be a solid television star.
In the same year, 'Sick Note' premiered on Sky One, in which Grint plays a man who is initially misdiagnosed with cancer, who does not correct others when he realizes that people treat him better after hearing about the diagnosis. Yet again, the show was panned by critics, but they still acknowledged Grint's talent in portraying yet another different character.
Rupert Grint's first true television success was BBC One's 'The ABC Murders', in which he played Inspector Crome opposite John Malkovich's Hercule Poirot. Grint's look in the miniseries prompted many headlines on how different he looked.
Of course, when one acts opposite someone with the caliber of John Malkovich, it is hard to draw attention to their own performance, yet Grint did just that. His performance was lauded by many and it seemed to be a genre that Grint could become used to - something dark, as opposed to playing the sidekick, Grint could command his own show, even while playing a character secondary to the reputable Hercule Poirot.
In an interview with Radio Times, Grint says that he liked the dark script for 'The ABC Murders', saying, "I’ve always been into crimes and murderers. That side of humanity has always interested me."
Of course, with the upcoming Apple TV+ show from M. Night Shyamalan, 'Servant', Rupert Grint may just be doubling down on that darkness. He plays Julian Pearce, brother-in-law to Toby Kebbell's ('Black Mirror') Sean Turner.
Sean and his wife, Dorothy, lost their son at 13 weeks, and so to help Dorothy cope with the trauma, the couple gets a creepy, lifelike doll in place of their son. To look after their son, the Turners get a nanny, who is quite mysterious, and possibly dangerous as well.
Grint's Julian is loud-mouthed and according to Grint himself who spoke to TV & Sattelite Week, he is "someone you’d think would be good in a crisis because he’s always got answers." Grint says, "But it’s almost a façade, and when he comes face to face with Leanne, that façade starts to break. You realize that he’s quite a vulnerable guy.”
The director of the series, M. Night Shyamalan, also has words of praise for Grint's performance in the upcoming psychological thriller. Says Shyamalan to Entertainment Weekly, "He came in and he auditioned and this second life of his as an adult actor is incredible. He is absolutely incredible, steals every scene he’s in. It was almost like this role was like custom written for him. It was just one of many things about the show that felt very much like the universe going all right, we’re gonna give you another little thing here.”
Shyamalan himself has had ups and lows with his movies, though of late, he has been receiving rave reviews for movies like 'Split' and 'Glass', as well as the short-lived Fox television series, 'Wayward Pines.'
Rupert Grint may be itching for a role that could finally break him out of his Ronald Weasley fame, and perhaps teaming up with the M. Night Shyamalan, a master of thrillers is the break that will finally show Grint to be the television star he really is.
'Servant' will start streaming on Apple TV+ from November 28th.