In an interview with The Sunday Times published over the weekend, Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint offered a glimpse into his relationship with J.K. Rowling amid the author’s ongoing courtship with controversy.
“I liken J.K. Rowling to an auntie,” he revealed as part of the publication’s “What I’ve Learnt” column. “I don’t necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she’s still my auntie.”
Though he didn’t elaborate, Grint is likely referring to Rowling’s history of making transphobic comments. She first received backlash in 2019 when she tweeted in support of anti-trans activist Maya Forstater, who was fired from her job in the U.K. for declaring that “men cannot change into women.” In response to the criticism, Rowling only doubled down on her discriminatory views. Since then, she has spread dangerous misinformation about transgender people, fear-mongering about bathroom safety and the (nonexistent) threat trans rights pose to feminism.
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“It’s a tricky one,” Grint added of his feelings about Rowling, in what may be the understatement of the century.
The Harry Potter star’s acting career took off when he was cast in the first film adaptation of Rowling’s wildly popular novels at the age of 11. In a March 2021 interview with Esquire, he spoke in greater detail about reconciling his appreciation for Rowling’s role in his professional success with his disapproval of her transphobic comments.
“I am hugely grateful [for] everything that she’s done. I think that she’s extremely talented, and I mean, clearly, her works are genius,” he said. “But yeah, I think you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that.”
Grint’s comments in The Sunday Times come after Rowling was almost entirely excluded from the franchise’s momentous 20th anniversary special, which aired earlier this month on HBO Max. Rowling appeared on screen in Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts for less than 30 seconds, and only in archival footage. The streaming platform was adamant about her lack of direct involvement, volunteering disclaimers that the fleeting interviews with Rowling were filmed in 2019.
Even participating cast members, including Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson, seemed to largely avoid mentioning her during the reunion special. Back in 2020, when Rowling's controversy was just beginning, all three of the series' leads voiced their unambiguous support for the trans community.
“I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers. Trans women are women. Trans men are men,” Grint said at the time in a statement to The Sunday Times. “We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”
