Moulton Chapel Ron Weasley lookalike goes ‘viral’ after shouting ‘expensive petroleum’ in TikTok video
An official Ron Weasley lookalike hopes to become the next viral internet meme – after gaining worldwide attention from a social media post.
Lewis Parker, of Moulton Chapel, has channelled his inner wizard and spent nearly 15 years building a career as a lookalike for Rupert Grint – who is most well known for playing the fictional character, Ron Weasley in Harry Potter.
The 33 year-old recently recorded a 14-second video of him shouting ‘expensive petroleum’ at a petrol station in the manner of a famous Hogwarts spell — and he later uploaded it social media platform TikTok.
The video has attracted big interest — including from news outlets in Japan and Australia — and has been seen by more than 2.8 million people, with thousands of likes and comments.
Lewis describes the experience as overwhelming, and hopes it will open doors to various opportunities in the future. He said: “The expecto patronum spell is well known to those who have watched Harry Potter and I thought it sounded like expensive petroleum.
“I told my fiancé to film me from a distance and she had no idea what I was going to do. I shouted it as loud as I could and passers-by and people at the checkout gave me funny looks.
“As I am now building my career on TikTok, my fiancé has got used to me having brainwave ideas of new funny videos to make – she is very supportive and even appears in some of them.
“It’s surreal that I can shout something at a petrol station and everyone thinks it’s the real Rupert Grint – I’ve done an amazing job at convincing everyone.”
Lewis first contacted a look-alike agency after being compared to the actor throughout his childhood. He has also appeared on Channel 4 series ‘Lookalikes’, and has attended celebrity birthday parties, corporate events, opened a shop and meet and greets.
He recently decided to continue his lookalike persona on TikTok and pursue his influencer dreams.
Lewis believes his video can be the next viral meme and compared it to a well known clip – which gained lots of attention last summer – of an American girl making a suggestive remark during a vox pop street interview.
Following the launch of his channel in December last year, the Ron Weasley look-alike page is now fast approaching 110,000 followers and more than 1.5 million likes.
Lewis added: “The response from the world is massive and I'm very proud that the video went viral.
“Without knowing, I've created a meme and slogan – I wonder if it's as big as the hawk tuah girl.
“I’m desperately trying to find out what to do next and I’ve obviously made something here which I need to make good out of.
“When I drop my kids off at school, some of the parents have told me they find themselves saying ‘expensive petroleum’ when they are filling up their own cars and I’ve also seen some people online making stickers of the phrase.
“I’m a humble guy and I don’t know what to do with this fame.”
