Fans of the Harry Potter series may know actor Chris Rankin as Ron Weasley’s older brother Percy, but some people in Monmouth, South Wales know him as their former bartender. During a recent interview, the 36-year-old actor revealed that after the franchise wrapped, he got a job at a U.K. pub chain called Wetherspoons.
“I worked in Wetherspoons in Monmouth for four or five months when I didn’t have any other work, I needed a job and I had bills to pay,” he revealed. “Could I not have worked there? Yes but I would probably have gone mad sitting on my own doing nothing.”
Chris was cast in the Harry Potter series as a 16-year-old and after he appeared in all eight movies, the actor struggled to find steady roles.
“People know actors don’t get paid a lot of money, there’s not a lot of work and there’s a lot of unemployed actors,” Chris explained. “But there’s a misconception that if you have a job in a high profile thing that it pays really well and you’re made with your mansion.”
Other than having to work in order to live, the HP star said working was something he wanted to do.
“As much as it’s about the need to work because you need the bills to be paid, there’s also something about needing to work regardless of what that is,” he said. “You need something to do, you need to keep sane.”
When it came to talking about his role in the fan-favorite films, the actor shared that he loved playing Percy even though it was more of a smaller role.
“Percy was quite a nice part because it’s small enough that it doesn’t completely consume your life,” he admitted. “I mean it does because it’s Warner Bros and Harry Potter and it’s still here now and still going, so it has consumed my life, but in the best way possible. There are always new people discovering it and discovering you —although it’s a different me, it’s a 36-year-old not a 16-year-old me.”
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