The actor told an interviewer that he can detach himself from his younger self in the first films

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban type Movie

Rupert Grint is almost unrecognizable in the new trailer for Amazon Prime’s upcoming series adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders. With the slicked hair and thin mustache of Inspector Crome, Grint looks completely different from the way he did as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies — and that’s just the way he likes it.

Everyone has their own favorite Harry Potter installment, but Grint recently told the Radio Times that he personally can’t watch any of the films later than the third. The overwhelming experience of starring in that franchise, and dealing with the maddening fame that came with it, still feels too close to home otherwise.

Image zoom Everett Collection

“I think those early ones are OK. More time has passed. I can detach myself a bit more from that kid. I did see Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone not long ago, for the first time since the premiere, and I actually enjoyed looking back,” Grint said, using the original British title for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. “But the more recent ones I definitely couldn’t do. I could probably go up to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”

Harry Potter may always define the course of Grint’s career, but just as he has tried to move beyond Ron Weasley, so too has the role evolved behind him. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the critically acclaimed play that has wowed both London and Broadway, featured an older version of Ron played by Paul Thornley.

Related content:

Episode Recaps Previous New Harry Potter LEGO sets go back to Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire By Nick Romano

Every Harry Potter director's favorite scene By EW Staff

10 things you (probably) didn't know about the making of the Harry Potter movies By EW Staff Next