HORROR SHOW: THE RON AND HERMIONE KISS TRAGEDY
It was the moment millions of fans waited for—the culmination of a decade of simmering sexual tension and snarky banter: the kiss between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. But according to the stars themselves, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, filming that iconic scene was a “horrifying” and utterly chaotic nightmare that almost brought production to a standstill!
In the Return to Hogwarts special, Watson confessed the experience was so awkward, despite being prepped by director David Yates, that she called it “horrifying.” Why the extreme reaction? She admitted: “It just felt wrong. So wrong on every level because Dan, Rupert, and I are so much like siblings.”
Grint’s reaction was even more dramatic. He revealed that he literally “blacked out” when the time came, and Watson confessed they were so racked with nervous laughter that they were scared they would never successfully film the scene! The supposed ‘soulmate’ moment was, in reality, a traumatic, deeply uncomfortable obligation for the actors.
THE ‘I LOVE YOU’ CONFESSION AND THE TEARY PAUSE
Despite the kissing trauma, the non-romantic bond between Watson and Grint is startlingly deep. The reunion special captured an intensely vulnerable moment where Grint, teary-eyed, spoke about their relationship, saying, “We’ve watched each other grow up. We grew up together. We’re family. We don’t need to see each—Oh, my God.” He had to pause as he got teary-eyed, proving the depth of the emotion was overwhelming him.
Grint then dropped a massive, public “I love you” to his co-star, which they immediately clarified was strictly platonic. This intense display of affection surprised even Watson, who told Vogue that hearing Grint talk about his feelings was her most emotional moment of the entire reunion. She was “taken aback by how vulnerable and kind he was deciding to be so publicly.”
The intensity suggests that years of shared trauma and childhood fame have bonded them as tightly as biological siblings—making the kiss all the more disturbing and wrong on a psychological level.
Rupert saying “I love you” was the most genuine moment of the whole special. The cast is basically family, and they went through a war together. It makes the kiss so much weirder. It’s like they were forced to make out with their cousin.
THE PING PONG POWER STRUGGLE AND THE QUIET QUITTER
Beyond the emotional confessionals, the friendship was marked by intense, quiet rivalries. Grint brought a ping pong table to the set of Half-Blood Prince, hoping to dominate Daniel Radcliffe and Watson. Instead, Watson crushed both of them relentlessly.
Grint hilariously complained: “We rarely play her now because it gets quite embarrassing.” Watson, the ultimate swot, couldn’t even let her best friend win a simple game. It proves that Hermione’s competitive streak was percent real and terrified her co-stars into submission.
Adding to the behind-the-scenes drama, Grint revealed that both he and Watson seriously considered quitting the franchise throughout the filming. Grint confessed he thought of quitting “through every movie,” contemplating what life would be like if he “called it a day.” Watson admitted she felt the fame reach a “tipping point” where she was scared it was “kind of forever now.” This shared, secret desire to flee the franchise is a dark piece of their shared history.
GRINT’S CRUSH CONFESSION AND THE ‘PRETTY GIRL’ ANTICIPATION
While the kiss was “horrifying,” Grint admitted that, before they filmed it, he was actually looking forward to it! In a interview with FHM, Grint revealed that both he and Daniel Radcliffe had a crush on Watson.
He cheekily said: “She’s quite popular with the cast. As for who has the worst crush on her – me or Radcliffe – I’d rather not say.” He claimed he wasn’t dreading the kiss because “Emma’s a pretty girl.” This anticipation makes the final, deeply awkward, blacked-out kiss even more tragic—the reality was a horrific letdown compared to the teenage fantasy!
The contrast between Grint’s teenage crush and the eventual, shared traumatic experience of the kiss highlights the extreme psychological pressure put on these young actors to manufacture chemistry while battling genuine sibling feelings.
CHAMBER OF SECRETS HUG HYSTERIA
The awkwardness between Ron and Hermione was so palpable that it was present even in the early films. Watson revealed that for the original Chamber of Secrets screenplay, she was supposed to run through the Great Hall and hug both Harry and Ron. But she was so shy about it, she protested!
She remembered thinking: “How could he make me run through the Great Hall and throw my arms around a boy in front of everyone? I thought it was so embarrassing.” Director Chris Columbus had to settle for a quick hug with Radcliffe and an awkward handshake with Grint. Even the hug with Radcliffe was so brief, Columbus had to “freeze-frame the hug so that the moment lasted long enough for it to be anything.”
This early, visible shyness proves that the difficulty in their onscreen intimacy was not just reserved for the kiss; it was a decade-long professional hurdle that plagued their performances.
CLIFFHANGER: WHAT DOES GRINT’S DAUGHTER THINK?
The platonic, sibling-like bond between Rupert Grint and Emma Watson is unbreakable, defined by shared secrets, emotional honesty, and a mutual loathing for kissing each other. Despite their aversion to cellphones, the friendship continues, especially now that Grint is a father.
Watson gushed that Grint sends her pictures of his daughter, Wednesday, and she “die[s]” over the adorable pictures. This is the ultimate proof of their familial status—sharing baby pictures with your first co-star. But here’s the burning question: when Wednesday is old enough to watch Deathly Hallows, what will Rupert tell her about the “horrifying” kiss with Auntie Emma? The story of the awkward kiss is far from over!
