Rupert Grint to Play Friend of Hitler in “The Artist”

You may remember that back in August, Rupert Grint was filming a mystery project in Poland. We’ve now learned that the project is titled The Artist, and Rupert will be playing August “Gustl” Kubizek, a childhood friend of Adolf Hitler.

Kubizek and Hitler met in 1904 as teenagers and bonded over a passion for music. They became roommates for a short period in 1908 in Vienna. Kubizek was then accepted to study music at the Vienna Conservatory, while Hitler was twice denied acceptance to Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts. Hitler broke off their friendship, and it wasn’t until 1938 that the two reunited. Kubizek later published his memoir, Adolf Hitler, Mein Jugendfreund (Adolf Hitler, My Childhood Friend).

It will be interesting to see whether the story of The Artist focuses on Kubizek, who worked briefly as an orchestra conductor before the First World War, or Hitler, who himself wanted to become a professional painter.

The Artist is produced by Sky Arts television network and directed by Dan Zeff (Lost in Austen).

You can check out set photos of Rupert in costume that we previously shared here.

Are you excited to see Rupert take on this interesting new role?