Why would the outlandish plot of "Knock At The Cabin" scare an adult like Rupert Grint? The answer will definitely surprise you.
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00:00 Why would the outlandish plot of Knock at the Cabin scare an adult like Rupert Grint?
00:05 The answer will definitely surprise you.
00:07 Most famous for playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, Grint has begun a burgeoning
00:11 relationship with Hollywood's twistiest director, M. Night Shyamalan.
00:15 Grint is part of the main cast of Shyamalan's television series, Servants, on Apple TV+,
00:20 in which he plays the brother of a woman who adopts a doll that may be a reincarnation
00:23 of her deceased son.
00:25 Shyamalan was reportedly enamored with Grint's initial audition, calling the actor a "secret
00:29 weapon on the show" that wrapped up its final season in March 2023.
00:33 In a more-than-a-coincidence moment of true Shyamalan fashion, the two seemed destined
00:37 to work together years after the director turned down offers to direct Harry Potter
00:41 at several points.
00:43 Shyamalan's newest film, Knock at the Cabin, puts an apocalyptic spin on the home invasion
00:47 thriller.
00:48 The story follows a family having a peaceful vacation in the woods when a mysterious group
00:51 of strangers suddenly accosts them.
00:53 Unlike the usually sadistic monsters of other home invasion films, though, these four intruders
00:58 seem reluctant and even mournful about having to tie up their targets.
01:02 Despite the invaders' relative politeness, Grint brings a sense of malice to the one
01:06 named Redmond, who seems a lot more aggressive and violence-prone than his mild-mannered
01:10 comrades.
01:11 "I'm not here to hurt you."
01:12 "If we wanted to hurt you, we would have used duct tape instead of rubber."
01:17 "Will you stop?"
01:19 Perhaps that's because Grint was channeling a real-life experience he had that directly
01:23 informed his character.
01:24 In an interview with Rolling Stone, Grint mentioned that when the director approached
01:27 him about Knock at the Cabin, the pitch was "quite vague," which is kind of his style.
01:32 However, Grint knew that he wanted to take the role because the subject matter tackled
01:36 his "biggest fears" — the end of the world and home invasions.
01:39 The actor recalled the nerve-wracking incident that planted the seeds for his completely
01:42 rational anxiety.
01:44 "My house was robbed a few years ago, and I saw the guy come in.
01:47 I was watching the Irishman, and I could see, through the bedroom door, this guy in my living
01:51 room on all fours looking for things.
01:53 In the end, he just took some Kit-Kats.
01:55 That's all he got."
01:56 Grint went on to explain another weird element of the event.
01:59 "He was also wearing my coat, which was a strange experience.
02:02 It kind of stays with you, almost like PTSD.
02:05 It really froze me.
02:06 You don't know if he's got a weapon or what his intentions are.
02:08 The movie kind of triggers that slightly."
02:10 The would-be burglar didn't break in with the blunt and bladed weapons that Redmond
02:14 and his crew use in Knock at the Cabin, either.
02:16 Grint mentioned that he, quote, "waltzed in fairly effortlessly" and most likely didn't
02:20 even know about the homeowner's famous identity.
02:23 His acting in Shyamalan's film allowed Grint to therapeutically mirror that harrowing situation,
02:28 though his character's intentions are much more sinister than searching for Kit-Kats.
02:31 While the apocalypse and home invasions may rank as numbers one and two on Grint's personal
02:35 list of scariest things in the world, the fears he has felt after becoming a father
02:39 also helped him with an acting job.
02:41 In 2021, the actor told Esquire a story about what it was like for him and his partner when
02:46 their young daughter, Wednesday, came home the first night after being born.
02:50 He said,
02:51 "I don't want to go too into detail, but the first night was just terrifying.
02:54 You can't sleep at all, just constantly checking that she's breathing.
02:57 Sleeping, in general, for me, is something I've really struggled with.
03:00 I think as a kid, people always said, 'They died in their sleep.'
03:03 So I always thought sleep was a really dangerous, dangerous thing."
03:06 While most parents have to deal with those fears in more traditional ways, Grint was
03:09 able to work through some of them while acting on Servant, a show that's very much tapped
03:13 into the anxieties and anguish of what happens when a family loses a child.
03:17 He explained to Esquire,
03:18 "It's that thing that you'd do anything to get your kid back.
03:21 Parenthood really helped me understand that.
03:23 I guess I already had some concept of it, obviously, but I think having a kid of your
03:26 own really nails that down."
03:28 Actors are frequently searching for an edge, something to help them understand and relate
03:32 to their characters in ways that will help them slip deeper into their skin and disappear
03:35 in the performance of it all.
03:37 It's a shame Grint had to go through that uneasy relationship with sleep, both for himself
03:41 and his daughter, but as long as he and his family are okay, at least that fear helped
03:45 him understand and relate to his Servant character on a deeper level.
03:48 "
03:50 "
03:51 (upbeat music)