{"id":291423,"date":"2026-02-14T18:53:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/291423\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T18:53:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:53:06","slug":"rupert-grint-quizzed-on-u-k-fascism-in-berlin-youll-hear-from-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/291423\/","title":{"rendered":"Rupert Grint Quizzed on U.K. Fascism in Berlin: “You’ll Hear From Me”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt was Rupert Grint<\/a>\u2018s turn to talk politics as he and the Nightborn cast hit Berlin in back-to-back star-studded pressers Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Harry Potter star followed a host of talent screening their films at the Berlinale, including Pamela Anderson, Callum Turner (who addressed those Bond rumors<\/a>), and Charli xcx (waving goodbye to \u201cBrat\u201d in Aidan Zamiri\u2019s The Moment<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Hanna Bergholm\u2019s Nightborn, Saga (Seidi Haarla) and her British husband Jon (Grint), have moved to an isolated house in Finland<\/a> and dream of raising a family there. When they find out they\u2019re expecting, Saga and Jon are over the moon \u2014\u00a0but the newborn is not like other children, and Saga soon suspects a disturbing truth about their baby that threatens to tear the marriage apart.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the press conference for the film, Grint, who unpacked the film in depth with The Hollywood Reporter this week<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think it is important to shine a light on whatever issues we are facing because art is all about empathy,\u201d began Rautsi, when asked about world politics, war, and the rise of fascism. \u201cPoliticians or millionaires who don\u2019t do anything but cause problems, it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bergholm concurred and replied to a question about why she is wearing a watermelon pin: \u201cOf course, every film can\u2019t be about every topic in the world, and it doesn\u2019t need to be,\u201d the Finnish filmmaker said. \u201cBut 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\u2026 We don\u2019t tell other fellow artists that they shouldn\u2019t speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rupert Grint is asked about previously speaking out on J.K. Rowling\u2019s anti-trans stance and whether he has considered commenting \u201con the rise of fascism in Great Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I\u2019m against it,\u201d said the Harry Potter star at the Berlin Film Festival. \u201cI choose my moments to\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/gm2lX0ahIZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tGrint was then asked about previously condemning the anti-trans stance of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and whether he has considered commenting on \u201cthe rise of fascism in Great Britain\u201d as a Brit. He replied, \u201cObviously, I\u2019m against it, but I mean, I choose my moments when to speak but yeah, it\u2019s obviously hugely relevant now. I think, yeah\u2026 You\u2019ll hear from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEuropean journalists here at the Berlinale have expressed disapproval about talent\u2019s 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)\u00a0pulled out of the fest entirely<\/a>\u00a0on Friday\u00a0in response to comments\u00a0by Wenders<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cart should not be political.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNightborn\u2018s press conference did, of course, cover non-political sentiment. Haarla said about creating her eventually-crazed character alongside Grint: \u201cFor 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].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBergholm said she knew \u201cfrom very early on\u201d that she wanted to tell s tory about the difficult emotions appear when you become a parent. \u201cAnd 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 \u2014\u00a0not just her child, and not just herself as a mother, but who she is and how she feels like she\u2019s somehow different than others in one way or another,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGrint even told reporters that the experience made him reminisce on his own anxiety becoming a father. \u201cThe timing was very strange. I just found out I was having a baby\u2026 And it just really resonated. It\u2019s such a scary experience. And these babies can be quite scary creatures. You don\u2019t want to break them,\u201d he laughed. \u201cParts of their body are not quite formed yet, they\u2019re quite anxiety-inducing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Berlin Film Festival<\/a> 2026 runs Feb. 12-22.<\/p>\n