"About" em "on screen about"

Radcliffe gets harassed wherever he goes but he gets to be Harry, the hero with a tragic backstory and a dozen glamour moments per film. It has been Grint's lot to play the abiding best mate, Ron Weasley – on screen about as often as Harry but mainly there to chatter his teeth (cowardly foil to his friend's breezy grit), or say "bloody hell" (Ron's the defeatist, working-class one), or get injured, because nary does a film complete without Grint requiring medical treatment.

Qual a função e tradução de "about" nessa frase? Qaundo traduzi a frase, pelo menos, não o utilizei. Ele poderia, então, ser retirado sem prejudicar o sentido da frase?