Why Rupert Grint’s career went downhill after Harry Potter ended

He was one of the most recognisable child stars with the world at his feet but while his co-stars became in demand actors, his career stalled.

Rupert Grint rose to global superstardom at the age of just 11 when he scored the role of a lifetime as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.

He was part of the movie’s famous trio, along with Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and the blockbuster’s leading star Daniel Radcliffe as the one and only Harry Potter.

The three youngsters were taking over the world as the stars of the most successful fictional story of all time, racking in tens of millions of dollars for their work on the franchise in the course of a decade.

Based on the fantasy novels of J.K Rowling, the eight movies, which are all available to stream on Foxtel, continue to make millions of dollars every year.

When the final Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, premiered in 2011 Grint’s net worth was said to be up to $US50 million. He was 22 at the time.

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So little! Emma, Rupert and Daniel in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

At the height of his fame and with money to burn, Grint seemingly had the world at his feet as he left Hogwarts behind for good.

One of Hollywood’s best directors, Martin Scorsese, was quoted as saying Grint’s gift for acting was far greater than those of Radcliffe’s and Watson’s.

Grint’s own director Alfonso Cuaron, who was in charge of filming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, went as far as saying: “I’ve never seen a young actor with such a brilliant timing for comedy.”

Radcliffe, 29, has gone onto to star in several big budget films over the years and has three movies slated to come out in the next year. He’s also had success onstage in London.

Watson, 29, is considered one of tinsel town’s most beautiful and fashionable women, fronting campaigns for designer labels including Burberry and Lancome.

She has also had success on the big screen, most recently as Belle in Disney’s live adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

Unfortunately for Grint, he hasn’t had the same impact as his fellow Harry Potter alumni.

Name a more famous trio.

Grint, who took a gap year after the last movie premiered — only appearing in an Ed Sheeran music video — became a hotelier and opened boutique hotel Rigsy’s Guesthouse in Hereford, England.

It was a giant financial fail, with Grint shutting it down after four years reportedly making about $AU3000 from it.

He waited two years post Harry Potter before dabbling in acting again, with most of his relatively low budget films proving both critical and commercial failures.

Into the White, a Norwegian World War II film, was dubbed “bland” and only had a limited release. He then starred in CBGB, a punk rock drama that earned a dire 8 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

But his lowest point was his role as a wannabe porn star in the psychological drama/comedy Charlie Countryman, which also featured Shia LaBeouf.

It received mostly negative reviews from critics, with Stephen Holden of The New York Times writing: “This catastrophe of a movie zigzags drunkenly between action-adventure and surreal comedy with some magical realism slopped over it like ketchup.”

He had some success with a 2015 stint on Broadway with the show It’s Only a Play, but then starred in another flop in the 2016 movie Moonwalkers, in which he plays a seedy band manager.

Ron Weasley was a fan favourite.

Rupert hasn’t quite seen the heights of his HP days. Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Triumph Motorcycles

Even Grint couldn’t give it a good wrap during an interview about it.

“I just thought it was so ridiculous,” Grint told MTV News.

“It really at no moment takes itself seriously.” 

The Sun reported in 2016 Grint was at a personal and professional low point after a series of

movie flops, some of which struggled to even get a release.

“Rupert is exceptionally unfocused right now, ” a friend told the publication.

“He wanted to be a leading man on stage and screen but at the moment he is neither. He’s really disillusioned with his life and work.”

Grint has previously admitted to being lost without the routine of making Harry Potter movies.

After the project ended he said: “It’s just been a really weird year since we finished. I’ve felt quite empty.

“Initially I was looking forward to freedom, because these films have taken a big chunk of our lives.

“But I’ve felt a little bit lost without it, not really knowing what to do with myself.”

In an attempt to pull himself out of his career rut, Grint has appeared in a number of safe TV shows in the past couple of years, including Snatch, Sick Note and The ABC Murders.

He is currently in pre-production for the action fantasy Instruments of Darkness, which will also star Sean Bean and Charles Dance.