Rupert Grint of ‘Harry Potter’ fame to debut on Broadway

Rupert Grint, who played aspiring wizard Ron Weasley in the “Harry Potter” movies, will be following his on-screen pal Daniel Radcliffe to Broadway in a revival of the Terrence McNally drama “It’s Only a Play,” scheduled to open Oct. 9 in New York.

Grint is joining an impressive cast that includes Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Stockard Channing, F. Murray Abraham and Megan Mullally. McNally’s play is a meta-drama about the cast and crew of a theater production gathered together to await their first critical notices. Grint will play the role of Frank Finger, a young director.

“It’s Only a Play” was produced off-Broadway in 1985 by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York and in 1992 by Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles at the Doolittle Theatre, now the Montalban, in Hollywood. The L.A. production featured Dana Ivey, David Hyde Pierce and Charles Nelson Reilly.

The new production is being directed by Jack O’Brien and is set to begin preview performances Sept. 4. at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. It will be Grint’s first Broadway outing. He previously acted on stage in London in a 2013 production of Jez Butterworth’s “Mojo.”

Radcliffe is on Broadway in a production of Martin McDonagh’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” set to close July 20 at the Cort Theatre.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT