It was Rupert Grint‘s turn to talk politics as he and the Nightborn cast hit Berlin in back-to-back star-studded pressers Saturday afternoon.
The Harry Potter star followed a host of talent screening their films at the Berlinale, including Pamela Anderson, Callum Turner (who addressed those Bond rumors), and Charli xcx (waving goodbye to “Brat” in Aidan Zamiri’s The Moment).
In Hanna Bergholm’s Nightborn, Saga (Seidi Haarla) and her British husband Jon (Grint), have moved to an isolated house in Finland and dream of raising a family there. When they find out they’re expecting, Saga and Jon are over the moon — but the newborn is not like other children, and Saga soon suspects a disturbing truth about their baby that threatens to tear the marriage apart.
At the press conference for the film, Grint, who unpacked the film in depth with The Hollywood Reporter this week, was joined by director-writer Bergholm, wearing a watermelon pin in support of Palestine, and co-star Haarla, as well as co-screenwriter Ilja Rautsi, producer Daniel Kuitunen, and composer Eicca Toppinen.
“I think it is important to shine a light on whatever issues we are facing because art is all about empathy,” began Rautsi, when asked about world politics, war, and the rise of fascism. “Politicians or millionaires who don’t do anything but cause problems, it’s maybe good to create some form of pressure, or just to get people aware of whatever is happening in the world, what are the wrongs that are taking place in Ukraine or genocide in Palestine.”
Bergholm concurred and replied to a question about why she is wearing a watermelon pin: “Of course, every film can’t be about every topic in the world, and it doesn’t need to be,” the Finnish filmmaker said. “But as grown-up human beings, I think we have a responsibility to speak up against violence and against injustice, because not speaking up is also a choice… We don’t tell other fellow artists that they shouldn’t speak up.”
Rupert Grint is asked about previously speaking out on J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans stance and whether he has considered commenting “on the rise of fascism in Great Britain.”
“Obviously I’m against it,” said the Harry Potter star at the Berlin Film Festival. “I choose my moments to… pic.twitter.com/gm2lX0ahIZ
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 14, 2026
Grint was then asked about previously condemning the anti-trans stance of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and whether he has considered commenting on “the rise of fascism in Great Britain” as a Brit. He replied, “Obviously, I’m against it, but I mean, I choose my moments when to speak but yeah, it’s obviously hugely relevant now. I think, yeah… You’ll hear from me.”
European journalists here at the Berlinale have expressed disapproval about talent’s shying away from politics so far this festival, with jury president Wim Wenders, Golden Bear recipient Michelle Yeoh and Sunny Dancer star Neil Patrick Harris declining to comment on U.S. politics, and instead saying politics should be separate from cinema. Indian author Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things) pulled out of the fest entirely on Friday in response to comments by Wenders that “art should not be political.”
Nightborn‘s press conference did, of course, cover non-political sentiment. Haarla said about creating her eventually-crazed character alongside Grint: “For me, acting and filmmaking is always improvising in that sense that we are all changing with every breath that we take. But yes, it was a special journey in the sense that every time you make film, you start the pre-work, and then when we start to shoot you realize that everyone has their own pre-work and places where they are coming [from].”
Bergholm said she knew “from very early on” that she wanted to tell s tory about the difficult emotions appear when you become a parent. “And while we were writing it with Ilja, then it actually also became more important to also tell a story about Saga and how she also has to face herself — not just her child, and not just herself as a mother, but who she is and how she feels like she’s somehow different than others in one way or another,” she said. “From the very beginning, it was important to set it up in the middle of this Finnish forest, to make it like a fable for grown-ups.”
Grint even told reporters that the experience made him reminisce on his own anxiety becoming a father. “The timing was very strange. I just found out I was having a baby… And it just really resonated. It’s such a scary experience. And these babies can be quite scary creatures. You don’t want to break them,” he laughed. “Parts of their body are not quite formed yet, they’re quite anxiety-inducing things.”
The Berlin Film Festival 2026 runs Feb. 12-22.