Rupert Grint says reconnecting with his Harry Potter costars was 'instant': 'It's like we're cousins'

When the stars of the Harry Potter movies reunited for the new special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, it had been a while since Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were in the same room together. But they did, after all, spend most of their childhoods together.

"It's a big moment," Grint tells EW about the reunion, which marks 20 years since the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. "It was our entire childhood. We grew up on those sets, so it has incredible meaning to me and Dan and Emma and everyone else."

Grint continues, "It was really nice to reminisce, because we had some great times. I mean, it was am immensely strange childhood, but it was one that was really fun."

Alongside Radcliffe, Watson, and a host of other costars, Grint filmed eight Harry Potter movies over the course of a decade (the last of J.K. Rowling's seven-book series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was split into two films). The bonds they forged in that time persist, even when they go years without seeing each other.

"It's an instant thing. We know each other so well," says Grint, who played Ron Weasley. "Even though we hadn't really caught up much in between seeing each other, on the reunion day, it was like we didn't need to. It's like we're cousins. There's that kind of ease about it. It's always nice."

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts will begin streaming Saturday on HBO Max.

Related content:

• Everything we know about Harry Potter reunion special Return to Hogwarts
• Harry Potter stars get emotional over reunion in Return to Hogwarts trailer: 'We're family'
• See Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint reunite for Harry Potter anniversary special