Tom Felton: I'm so excited to see Rupert Grint play Ron Weasley again

Tom Felton: "Who Doesn't Want to See Rupert Grint Play Ron Weasley Again? Come On!"

There's something genuinely heartwarming happening on Broadway right now, and it has nothing to do with the show itself just yet — it's about two guys who met as kids on a movie set 25 years ago and are still, in every sense, best mates.

Tom Felton has spent the last 10 months back in the role that made him famous: Draco Malfoy, now grown up, in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He walks out every night expecting the applause to fade after the first week. It hasn't. "It's very humbling and lovely to know how much the characters still mean to people now," he says, "and if it brings them to the theatre, that's the best."

But the real story this month is what happens when Felton's run winds down. It was recently announced that Rupert Grint — the original, one-and-only Ron Weasley — is stepping into the show to play a grown-up version of the character he originated as an 11-year-old. And Felton's reaction was about as wholesome as it gets.

"I Called Him Immediately"

Felton admits that he and his old co-stars aren't exactly glued to their phones. "We are typically — and he will agree with me — pretty bad at our phone game," he said. But the moment he heard the news about Grint, that changed.

"When I heard the news I called him immediately and I'm so excited for him," Felton said. "Who doesn't want to see Rupert Grint play Ron Weasley again? Come on!"

He didn't stop at a phone call, either. Felton took to Instagram with a simple, sweet message — "Love you too Weasley x" — alongside a carousel of throwback photos of the two of them over the years, including one of Grint at a premiere wearing a shirt that said "I ❤️ Tom Felton," and another of Felton returning the favor in an "I ❤️ Ron Weasley" tee. It's the kind of friendship that's been photographed, documented, and teased on red carpets for over two decades.

Full Circle, Literally

Grint's own statement about returning to the role hits just as hard. "Ron Weasley has been a part of me since I was 11 years old and I can't wait to meet him again in this stage of life," he said. "There is something so full-circle and so special about stepping back into Ron's shoes now when we are both fathers; it is somehow both very familiar and completely new."

He'll take the stage for 17 weeks, from February 2 through May 30, 2027 — arriving about a month after Felton's own farewell performance as Draco on January 3, 2027. So while fans might dream of seeing the two share the stage together, timing means that won't quite happen. Still, Felton being the one to hand things over, in spirit if not literally, feels fitting.

A Friendship That Outlasted the Franchise

What makes all of this land so well isn't just nostalgia for the films — it's that the bond between the cast seems entirely real. Felton describes Grint, along with Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, as "best mates" and "family," even though these days they're usually scattered across "four different corners of the earth." He's been candid about how much their support meant to him during his own return to Draco.

It's rare for a cast from a franchise this big, spanning literal childhoods into adulthood, to stay this close and this supportive of one another. Watching Felton light up at the idea of Grint stepping back into Ron Weasley's shoes — after all these years, and now that both actors are fathers themselves — feels like a genuinely lovely full-circle moment for anyone who grew up with these characters too.