--- title: People Still Can't Tell Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran Apart description: The 'Harry Potter' actor and "Shape of You" singer are still getting mixed up by fans, Grint explained to James Corden. canonical: https://time.com/4693544/rupert-grint-ed-sheeran-mixup/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-07T20:15:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:41.308Z og:title: People Still Can't Tell Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran Apart og:description: The 'Harry Potter' actor and "Shape of You" singer get mixed up all the time. og:url: https://time.com/4693544/rupert-grint-ed-sheeran-mixup/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Still Can't Tell Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran Apart twitter:description: The 'Harry Potter' actor and "Shape of You" singer get mixed up all the time. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # People Still Can't Tell Fellow Famous Gingers Ed Sheeran and Rupert Grint Apart > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e2fa20d4-a235-4e90-9244-3448e2fb9252&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 7, 2017 8:15 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 7, 2017 8:15 PM UTC It’s hard out here for a famous ginger. At least, that’s the case for _Harry Potter_ [actor Rupert Grint](http://time.com/4182989/rupert-grint-harry-potter-moonwalkers/) (forever synonymous with playing Ron Weasley) and international [pop star Ed Sheeran](http://time.com/4688432/taylor-swift-album-2017/). While the two Brits are near the same age, it’s Grint who first skyrocketed to global stardom with his childhood turn in the fantastical wizardry universe as jokester Ron. Today, meanwhile, Sheeran has claimed the fame crown thanks to his blockbuster albums, including his latest [chart-topping _Divide_](http://time.com/4653758/shape-of-you-ed-sheeran-video/). But the two are known lookalikes, which can be odd when it comes to fan interactions, as James Corden elucidated during Grint’s appearance on the _Late Late Show_ Monday night. “It’s kind of 50-50 now. It could go either way. I could be Ed, or I could be me,” Grint explained of the ongoing mix-ups between the two. (For the record, they haven’t exactly avoided the doppelgänger trap, even dressing up to match each other on occasion. Grint also starred as Sheeran in one of [Sheeran’s early music videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4BLVznuWnU), furthering the confusion.) Corden’s other guest, [Sir Patrick Stewart](http://time.com/4689875/patrick-stewart-is-applying-for-u-s-citizenship-to-fight-trump/) of longtime _Star Trek_ fame, also could sympathize. He gets mistaken for [Sir Ben Kingsley](http://time.com/4266260/jungle-book-actor-animal-counterparts/) all the time, he says—and it goes both ways. Looks like fans need to improve their star-spotting game if they’re going to go up to these famous names. 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