Rupert Grint and M Night Shyamalan discuss their creative bond

Rupert Grint says he and director M Night Shyamalan have been friends for almost 20 years, since the director almost made a Harry Potter movie.

The star has now worked with Shyamalan on several occasions, appearing in new thriller Knock at the Cabin as well as his role in Shyamalan's mysterious TV series Servant.

Knock at the Cabin is in UK cinemas from 3 February.

Video transcript

TOM BEASLEY: Rupert, I actually spoke to both of you when the first season of Servant came out.

RUPERT GRINT: Oh.

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: Oh.

TOM BEASLEY: And Rupert, given the freedom that you've got, having made "Potter" and having done all that, why is it Knight that you've gone back to work with again after "Servant?"

RUPERT GRINT: Well, we've been-- we nearly worked together. Knight almost did a "Potter" movie. So it could have--

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: That's how we first got to know each other was the potential to do a "Harry Potter."

RUPERT GRINT: Which one?

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: Three, right.

RUPERT GRINT: Three. But yeah, no, I love working with Knight. I think we know each other quite well now. We've got-- it feels like there's a kind of a shorthand. I know kind of what he wants from me. And it's-- yeah, it works really well.

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: I even got Rupert to swim in my swimming pool, which is-- wear swim trunks, which is-- that's like--

RUPERT GRINT: A little tight.

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: Yeah. For Rupert, that's like going all the way. That's like--

[LAUGHTER]

That's a big deal. They were like, you're never getting him in the pool. Never get him--

RUPERT GRINT: I can't swim, to be honest.

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: And he was-- he's been in the pool. It was great.

TOM BEASLEY: I've got you in the pool.

M NIGHT SHYAMALAN: I get teary-eyed thinking about what that means.

TOM BEASLEY: That's it. It's a lifelong connection.