Rupert Fan-stories
I'd like to share with you stories of some fans who have luckily had close encounter/s with Rupert... these were just sent by them to some of his official fansites--
July 1. 2002
Rupert Fan-story #1: Taylor at the New York Premiere (HP1)
I acquired tickets to the Harry Potter Premiere in NYC through a Harry Potter birthday party hosted by the CBS's Early Show. I won the Hermione or Emma Watson look-a-like contest.
Upon arriving at the premiere I was desperate to meet Rupert Grint. While on the red carpet I look around but could not spot him. Being interviewed by the BBC and others, they asked what I was most looking forward to at the premiere other than seeing the movie, I told them that I wanted to see Rupert Grint very much. They laughed and told me they would tell me if they saw him.
Inside the theatre were many famous people includeing, Robin Williams, Chevy Chase and others. Yet there was no sign of the trio. While walking around the lobby with my friends we saw the lights dim twice and all the security guards told everyone in the lobby to make their way into the actual screening room as the movie was about to start. My friend, consulting her watched noticed it was still a good 30 minutes before the movie was to start so we headed to the bathrooms instead. She informed me that the stars were most likely to be appearing right now.
Agreeing nervously we walked out into the lobby and sure enough the trio was making its way up the escalator. I jumped and hurried my pace to meet them. I saw the trio being offered the candy and was offered a gummy snake. Rupert Grint then replied to me, 'Did you know that snake is the same one used in the movie? Well obviously not the *same* snake but the same kind.' I laughed and said I was glad that it was not the exactly same one then found my senses and asked for his autograph which he signed my ticket and then passed it over to Dan and Emma who signed it as well.
Then asking for a picture I got 3 of Rupert, Rupert and Dan, and the trio. Then Rupert asked, 'Would you like a picture with me?' clearly enjoying the whole being famous thing. Nodding energetically I handed my camera to my friend who snapped a picture and said, 'Why don't we take another one in case this one doesn't develop.' I agreed and she took another.
I said goodbye to Rupert and told him that I was a huge fan of his and that I read all his posts on Newsround and told him, 'I agree with you, Ham is way better than peanut butter!' he gave me a high five and then said goodbye and winked at me. I nearly died at his winking at me.
He is positively the cutest boy who ever walked the planet! He is also the nicest and I will never forgot how kind and funny he was to me. I can only hope that he still remembers me! 😄
After getting my pictures developed I noticed on the second picture he took with me there was bunny fingers over my head... I will treasure them forever.
July 11, 2002
Rupert Fan-story #2: Coconuttie went to London
When I went to London in February I wanted to visit all of the Harry Potter film locations. So the Sunday I arrived, I went to Kings Cross, expecting to take a photo of the train station. I got a lot more than I expected.
When I got to Platforms 4 and 5 (9 3/4 in the film), there was a big sign up that said Warner Bros. filming today.
So, I waited next to the guardrail and five minutes after I got there, Daniel Radcliffe left the set to get lunch!
Minutes later I saw Rupert with the rest of the Weasleys eating French fries from McDonalds.
I waited around for three more hours for them to come back, and I got Chris Columbus' autograph and I talked to him a little bit.
Then Rupert came by and I said, "Rupert! Rupert! Could I have your autograph?" he smiled very nicely and said sure and he wrote Rupert Grint in my notepad, with Ron underneath.
Dan came by next but he said he couldn't sign, unfortunately. It was great fun seeing the cast of Harry Potter! They are all so nice.
May 16, 2002
Rupert Fan-story #3: Amy posted on the BBC Messageboard
It was around this time last year when I first visited the Newsround Website, when Harry Potter Mania was hotting up everywhere... and I couldn't fail to notice that one of them was really nice.. ginger. My friends teased me, but I stuck to my guns. I made some good friends on Newsround who knew I really liked Rupert.
One day, we were discussing the perm he had acquired for Thunderpants. Some people were blatantly being rather unfair, so I stuck up for him (I was used to it by then!!!). Then I said to my friend, Harpy, that it would be so damn weird if he had been reading what I just said.
Lo and behold, the next day, there was a message from someone called Permboy, thanking me for sticking up for him and saying hi to me. He came back, telling us about his worries of returning to school after Harry Potter filming.
Although many didn't believe him, I did, and we had discussions 'bout strawberries, 'Amy and Rupert sitting in a tree' followed by 'Harpy and Dan up a tree' (lol) and of course, HAM (to clarify, I was the one who was WITH him-- on his side). He was very witty, and funny, and then... he left! But don't cry yet...
When Newsround updated their site, the old names were lost... but soon, he was on Newsround (TV) and we all heard it from his mouth that it was him. After jumping up and down for several minutes, I remembered that I promised I would pelt him with strawberries at the premiere.
Unfortunately, I found the new newsround site tediously slow, and never visited much more. But on a quick visit I heard he was very disappointed that I hadn't. Well, all I can say is, see you in London in November, Rupert!
Again, here is Rupert's post at the BBC Messageboard about ^Amy--
hi everyone, it`s permlessboy!!!!!!!
permlessboy - 19 Nov 2001 20:24 - 1st post
i have renamed myself because 1. the message board has changed; 2. they banned me because they thought i was a fake; 3. someone stole my user name; 4. I am no longer the proud owner of a perm ha ha!!! to prove it`s me, bam bam said she would pelt me with strawberries at the london premiere, she didnt which was most upsetting!!!! My little sister named my cat fillabettina but HE is now called percy, out of respect for my film brother, and the fact that HE has fuzzy ginger hair!!!! I think this message board is cool and it`s wicked to write to real harry potter fans, but some things on hear really make me blush. The truth is i smell and, at the moment i have a huge pimple on my nose that made even the makeup department gasp in horror!!!!! But apart from that i hope we can all be great harry potter pals!!! i`ll write again soon.. p.s ham rules!!!!!!! p.ss I don`t really smell!! p.sss actually i smell delicious (according to my nan) !!!!
^The story continues...
August 24, 2002
Rupert Fan-story #4: Amy's Rupert Report
Well, after a long time in traffic, and me nearly having a heart attack because I thought they would be gone, we made it to Virginia Water, Surrey. It's a lovely place - perfect for the Harry Potter films.
The second I walked up to the fence covered in a horrible green gauze mesh (presumably to stop the photographing everyone wanted to do) I could see a whole range of cast members:
*Rupert Grint
*Devon Murray (Seamus)
*Matthew Lewis (Neville)
*Alfie Enoch (Dean)
*Joshua Herdman (Goyle)
*Jamie Waylett (Crabbe)
*Emma Watson
*Tom Felton
*Robbie Coltrane
Daniel Radcliffe seemed to spend the entire day hiding, as did Tom and Emma, which disappointed a lot of young fans.
They were filming the hippogriff scene again today, with regular breaks, in which I viewed (several times -well, I was there all afternoon, you know!) the kids running away from what must have been the hippogriff stand-in of a big mechanical thingy, and then carefully approaching it again after about minute.
The filming of this seemed to take all day, although I was told that that morning, David Thewlis had been on set and had been filming round the corner with Radcliffe at a different set.
I caught the tail end of some signing, and then pretty soon after, the security people started to insist there would be no more signings today because it had gotten dangerous before and they were trying to keep all of us safe. Fair enough. but I hadn't sat in a 30 minute traffic jam to go straight back home again.
After walking up and down a couple of times, I went back to where I was standing before. They did not move me, seeing as I was on my own, my mum was sitting in the shade of a tree nearby, and so we were both happy. I had such a good view, and the kids quickly came onto their breaks.
They have all matured so much-- Matthew Lewis hardly looks like little Neville anymore, he's so tall! Devon Murray was lounging around doing what looked like fanning himself, and Joshua Herdman looks completely adorable when you ignore who he's (role)playing!
Other interesting tidbits of information I found is that Daniel Radcliffe can do fake burps, and from the looks of it, they have changed the school ties. Though THE UNIFORMS WERE STILL THERE.
Clasped in my hand I had my autograph book, and a bag of strawberries... I was determined Rupert was going to get his fruit. I asked a nearby helper something, and our conversation went a little something like this:
Me: "Hey, I know they can't talk to us, but can we give them things? Is that possible?"
Him: "Yeah, I'd say that's more than possible."
Me: "Would you give Rupert something for me, if I wrote a note to go with it?"
Him: "Sure!" (He looked slightly scared.)
I was squealing by this point, scribbling my note:
To Rupert,
I don't know if you'll remember this, it was a long time ago, but I was meant to throw some strawberries at you at the Philosopher's Stone premiere. Here they are, unthrown.
All my Love,
Amy (bam-bam)
P.S: Sorry they are slightly mushed!
So the man disappeared off to where Rupert was lurking behind a tree, and I saw him give him the bag. My heart was going so fast. Rupert opened the bag, looked in, grinned, and then read my note. He talked to the helper, and was obviously asking who had given them to him. He looked right at me. I waved and he grinned, giving me the thumbs up; and then I worked up the nerve to blow him a kiss and he winked back! He was smiling at me so much! Then he proceeded to show most of his friends in the cast the note (major embarrassment, people) and everyone was trying to nick his strawberries.
Then someone tipped me off that if you asked a certain person nicely, they would get you Rupert's autograph. And they did!!!! They came back, grinning, and said, "He says he remembers you!" By this point, I was up on cloud nine! I haven't come down yet.
Later, he was being interviewed by a tree, and I was a stones throw away from him, I could have ran forward and touched him, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures of him (boo to you, Mr Warner Bros!). He was so friendly to everyone, trying to stop and give autographs. He was very sweet.
By that point, it was getting late, and a lovely security guard decided to take pity on me, saying that the next time Rupert was over that way, he would ask him to come and talk to me, seeing as I had been there so long. Pity they finished shooting, and the next time I saw Rupert was behind tinted windows leaving the main car park! I could have got a hug! But, never mind. I got enough to be going on with!
June 29th 2002
Rupert Fan-story #5: Lucy met Rupert last summer
I know this was ages ago, but I wanted to tell you about when I met Rupert. I live in Hertfordshire and one evening when I came home from school, my mum told me about this summer fete that was happening in this place called Castle Hall that Rupert was going to be at. She said that he was going to be judging a wizard's hat competition.
As soon as she said this I was so excited! I had wanted to meet Rupert for ages and ages and now this was my chance!
I phoned my friend up and we decided that my friend, my mum and I were all going to go to this fete on Saturday, June 29th 2002. I was really nervous that morning and I had to go to orchestra first, so when I finished, I rushed straight to Castle Hall and I was shaking! I found my mum and my friend and I ran towards them.
"Where is he?" I asked, breathless.
They both just smiled and my friend said to me, "Turn around Lucy!"
So I turned around and there he was, standing right behind me! I couldn't believe it!!!
He was just leaving so my friend and I ran to him and asked for his autograph. He was so nice and friendly and then my mum asked if she could take a picture of us so I stood next to him while she did that!!!
Then he had to go so I said bye and he said: "See you!" I was so happy after that day and showed everyone the photo when I got it developed! 🙂
Rupert Fan-story #6: I hugged Rupert on Oprah!!!
Hi my name is Elizabeth I live in Chicago, IL and I hugged Rupert Grint on Oprah!!!!!
I'm the biggest fan of HP in the world and everybody knows it. That´s why 1 of my parents friends called to tell us that Oprah was having a show about HP & the CoS. So I e-mailed them. About 1 day later they called back and said they'd like to talk to me. They asked me so many things and then they said to record a tape showing all my stuff and talking about way I loved HP sooo much.
2 days later I went to dinner and was feeling really down because they hadn't called. I got home that night and the phone rang. My dad asked me to guess-- I mentioned like.. 4 of my friends... then he said "I think it's the person from Oprah."
She said that I was to go to the studio Sunday and see the 2nd movie, 4 weeks before it came out, and that I was going to get to see the show, and that Rupert, Dan & Emma were gonna be on it.. I was so happy!
So we go there the day it's going to be filmed and they put us 1 row away from them.
It was so cool at the end of the show they have this little thing called "Oprah after the show" when everybody can ask something. I asked if I could have a hug from Rupert. He said "yeah sure." I met him half stage and wrapped my arms around him.. it was so cool! So after I got the tape I showed it to my friends they said he looks so happy!!! It was the best day of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well that's pretty much it (p.s.) I'll see you again Rupert 😛
November 3, 2002
Rupert Fan-story #7: Angie at the London CoS Premiere
My friend Louise and I were fortunate enough to make it to the London world premiere of 'Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets'. I left on sat 2nd November and arrived at king's cross station (home of platform 9and 3 quarters) in the early evening, Louise arrived very early on the Sunday morning. Once we were both there, we left our hostel near king's cross and got the tube to Leicester square were the premiere took place.
We got there around 8:15am were a small crowd had already began to gather, there we met Tanya and her family.... hiya Tanya... we just hung around watching everything being set up for the big event, I didn't realise how much work went into organizing these events. Once there was quite a crowd and everything was set up, security started to randomly handout these special wrist-bands that allowed ppl to get a seat in the grandstand, without these wrist-bands you could forget about getting in. They were 'sought-after' seats cos this is were the cast came to sign autographs for fans, hence the reason we needed wrist-bands.
Louise and I hadn't managed to get a wrist-band (Tanya and her family did), so we resigned to just standing at the barriers but we were at the front, so we would survive but I'd be lying if I said we weren't disappointed. However luck turned in our direction in the form of a policeman and a police-woman who were also on duty at the event, they gave Louise and me wristbands for the special seating.
As you can imagine we were both ecstatic, so we went to stand where ppl with these wristbands were queuing, Tanya and her family kept us a place (thanx Tanya). That was the longest and most infuriating 2hrs ever. Ppl wee pushing and shoving and everyone was being crushed, it was terrible but that's another story.
Finally the time came to get to our seats, everyone was really excited by now and our good luck continued cos Louise, Tanya and her family and myself got FRONT ROW seats, we were also quite CENTRAL, we couldn't believe our luck, we got the best seats in the house.
As the cast and crew began to arrive, the atmosphere was electric, before we knew, the cast had arrived and came over to sign some autographs for the fans. I got autographs from.. Robbie Coltrane - Sean Biggerstaff - Shirley Henderson - Devon Murray - Harry Melling - James Phelps - Kenneth Branagh - JK Rowling - Chris Columbus and of course RUPERT and OMG, I got a HUG from him, as you can imagine, I was sssooooooo happy, I'm going all giddy just thinking about it. He really is as sweet as ppl say, he's made me the happiest I've been in a very long time. His hug will live with me forever.
I just wish I was able to talk more to him but I've met him and I can't ask for more. Soon it was all over, but we had to wait behind cos ppl from the French news and media and another foreign news team (don't know where they came from) wanted to interview us, it was really weird being on tv and stuff but good fun. We were also lucky enough to get one of the enormous posters that were tied onto the barriers, so my son also got a souvenir from the premiere.
I can honestly say it has been one of the happiest days of my life ever, definitely an experience of a lifetime and well worth braving the cold, wet weather for, but the best part for me was RUPERT'S HUG. I'd recommend it to any HP fan. I'm already planning for the premiere of POA in 2004 and I cannot wait...
November 3, 2002
Rupert Fan-story #8: I MET RUPERT AT THE PREM!
Hey people! Well the Prem is over and done with now and I'm gonna tell u all what happened.....I BLOODY MET RUPERT DIDN'T I? OMG I AM SO EXCITED STILL! AAAARGHHH! Well I'd better get on with the story...
We got to Leicester square in London at 6 in morning and stood around till 3. Because we were there early we got grandstand passes to sit in the stands right opposite the front of the cinema so we were guaranteed to see all the stars.
I was just sat there after meeting a few people and I saw Rupert come round the corner...wearing a dark purple suit and a black t-shirt and he had spiky hair! He was going down the lines of interviewers, cameras etc opposite and me and Louise and Angie were like "RUPERT! COME OVER HERE!" and he turned round, waved and said "I will do!" ....but then this woman started leading him away from us, but then he turned and came straight over to where I was standing!
He signed Louise's autograph and then mine and I said "Can I have a hug please Rupert?" and he said "Yeah sure" but he sounded really nervous! Then the second he put his arms around me everyone just literally exploded! They were screaming, shouting, jumping over seats to try to get to him because I was the first to be hugged!
I was just there like "OMG OMG I cant believe this". We were hugging for ages because he wasn't letting go or pulling away or anything! But after a while I thought well I'm gonna have to let go otherwise the security guards will pull me off, so I gave him a little kiss and let go.
And...my friend saw me on tv hugging him! I dunno if I was on worldwide tv so dunno if anyone saw me...I was wearing this bright yellow coat and I had my hair loose...lol!
so anyway, we took a few photos (which I will send in once there developed, as well as autograph scans!) and he was signing my sisters autograph and we were talking.
I said "I like your hair Rupert!" and I started re-styling his hair so it was a bit more spiky! So he did the rest of his interviews with the hair style I had given him! He didn't even mind when I was doing it he was just smiling!
Then he went off to do more interviews and stuff across the road, and he was being taken into the cinema and I shouted "Can I have another hug please Rupert?" and he went "Yeah sure!" (not sounding nervous!) and walked towards me with his arms out! OMG I AM SO EXCITED!
I also met Tom Felton, Sean Biggerstaff, James Phelps, Chris Rankin (Percy), Robbie Coltrane, Seamus, Harry Melling (Dudley) and a few more. I saw absolutely everyone from the cast, as well as J.K Rowling and Chris Columbus. I didn't meet Emma or Dan properly, but I got a wave off Dan and said a few words to Emma!
So yeah, Rupert is the sweetest boy I have ever met, and he is even more good looking in the flesh! Before I had met him I was like totally star struck by him, but he really is just so normal! I love him... It was so sweet, he was so nervous and excited about the prem, he was lovely to talk to and lovely to hug!
Tom Felton, James Phelps and Chris Rankin were really nice too, but Sean Biggerstaff and Emma Watson were really unfriendly! I was quite surprised!
So here's my story....it still hasn't sunk in yet properly that I actually met Rupert! AAAARGH!