Emma Watson found her kiss with Rupert Grint in the final Harry Potter film to be extremely cringeworthy owing to their close friendship.

The Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling that became hugely popular with kids and young adults all over the world, gained iconic status when they were adapted into films. The blockbuster movies also made Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson huge stars and gave them their first foothold into the industry.
Hollywood star Emma Watson as Hermione Granger (image credit: Everett)
The three young actors who shared screen space together in 8 films, also formed a really close bond together over the years. This camaraderie turned out to be a pretty cringeworthy situation for Watson and Grint whose characters Ron and Hermione share a famous kiss in the final film. Watson even compared the moment to an incestuous relationship and revealed that it was one of the toughest scenes to do.

Emma Watson Recalled The Challenges She Faced While Kissing Rupert Grint

While the Harry Potter films followed the central protagonist’s destiny as a wizard, the narratives also dealt with many pivotal relationships between various characters. The heart of the story revolved around the close friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione played by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.

Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (image credit: Warner Brothers)
The romantic undertones between Ron and Hermione which were evident through the course of the events in the books, finally culminated in a much awaited kiss between the two characters in the 7th novel which was seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This scene was highly anticipated by fans mainly for the chemistry between Grint and Watson.

But the two actors in question were dreading this particular moment. Having known each other since the inception of the series, both young stars had developed a close friendship that was almost equal to a love between a brother and sister. This proved to be extremely difficult for Watson to surmount while preparing for the kiss.

In the Harry Potter 20th anniversary special that was filmed immediately after the final film, but aired on HBO Max in 2022 (via Ladbible), Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson went down memory lane and reminisced about the wonderful experiences they had over many years. During the course of the conversation, Watson addressed the kiss and stated,

“It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to do. Not because Rupert isn’t lovely, and there are millions of girls out there who would probably chop their left arm off to kiss him, but it just felt like incest. That’s the only way I can describe it.”

The star revealed that while this was a harrowing proposition for her, she managed to pull through the scene owing to the usual tactic that actors adopted while filming intimate kissing sequences.

“The great thing about kissing is that you close your eyes, so it was fine when I was actually kissing him because I had my eyes closed. So I could not think about the fact that it was him.”

Grint too echoed Watson’s sentiments while also adding that the whole situation turned out to be a comedy of errors once the two actors opened their eyes.

Emma Watson Went All Out While Kissing Daniel Radcliffe

While Hermione and Ron turn out to be romantically involved in the Harry Potter books and films and seal it with a kiss, Emma Watson also shared an intimate scene with Daniel Radcliffe which was a part of Ron’s jealous vision. While Watson spoke of how uncomfortable she felt when kissing Grint who was her close friend, her scene with Radcliffe was memorable too.
Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger (image credit: Warner Brothers)
In an interview with Daybreak (via Express UK), Radcliffe revealed how his co-star jumped right into the kiss with a force and boldness that completely took him unawares. Recalling the moment, the celebrity jokingly pulled Watson’s leg and said,

“I always thought it was going to be this soft sensual sort of moment, and suddenly there was this vigorous kissing happening to me… She is a bit of an animal. But then, I’m not complaining. There are tens of thousands of men that would cut off limbs to be in that position.”

Radcliffe added that the scene took on such a comical turn that his other co-star Rupert Grint could not control his laughter and had to be escorted off the set to regain control once again.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is streaming on Max.