Rupert Grint is to make his stage debut in a new West End production of Jez Butterworth’s play Mojo.


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The 24-year-old actor – who made his name in the Harry Potter movies as the boy wizard’s best friend Ron Weasley – caught director Ian Rickson’s eye with his “ordinary” and “centred” approach to character acting.

Rickson, who directed the 1995 production of Mojo at the Royal Court, told the Daily Mail: “I’d seen the Potter films with my daughter and always thought Rupert was truthful as Ron Weasley.

“There’s something ordinary and centred about him, and in this world of Mojo you want that grittiness.”

David Yates – the director of the final four Potter films – had an influence on the casting decision, telling Rickson that Grint had “hidden depths” as an actor.

Grint has been cast as Sweets, an amphetamine-addicted criminal, in the play which is based in a 1950s club in London’s then-notorious Soho district. The story follows a rock singer with star potential who gets caught up in the seedy underworld of the club.

Grint will star alongside Brendon Coyle, Ben Whishaw and Daniel Mays in the production which is set to open at the Harold Pinter theatre on 26 October.

Daniel Radcliffe, the titular star of the Potter movies, has appeared in several stage shows since the film series ended, most recently starring as disabled 17-year-old Irish boy Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan.