James and Oliver Phelps Harry Potter Interviews!

SURPRISE: Harry Potter Post-Holiday Present!
Ever wish the gift giving of the holidays could last just a tad longer? I always look forward to getting together post-holidays with my girlfriends I wasn't able to see before the holidays. . . to swap belated gifts. (That's a shout-out to you Karin L!)

Well, if you're wishing for one extra gift for the holidays, sorry, I can't help you. But if you're wishing for TWO extra holiday gifts, you got it! Because our own Marie Morreale traveled to London to the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I for exclusive cast interviews, and this week we're bringing you not ONE, but TWO Weasley twins. So get comfy, snuggle up with your computer, and enjoy the chat with James and Oliver Phelps, aka Fred and George Weasley.

Q: Can you tell us how you got the roles for Harry Potter?
James: Our friend had seen the advert in the paper. We'd never done any acting or anything so Mum came into our room and said, “You fancy it? It's there if you want to.”
[Ratha: I love how those Brits talk!]
It's like near the end of school term and she says, “Unfortunately it's a Wednesday. So that would mean you're going to have to take a day off of school.” So we were like, “Oh, Gosh no!”
Oliver: Any fourteen year old would probably say the same thing. So we go to this audition and they're auditioning for every single part in the film. There's probably three thousand people there going for different parts. And I've never seen so many people with glasses with just frames, no lenses or anything. Kids walking around with lipstick lightning bolts on their head!
James: There were loads of guys there with huge portfolios from the acting schools and everything, and we turned up with nothing. We didn't even have shirts that matched because we never ever wore the same thing, apart from our school uniform.
[Ratha: In England, many schools require a uniform. Usually it's a polo shirt/sweater, and trousers/skirts/shorts. I also had to wear a uniform when I was in grade school, and let me tell you, it cut way down on clothing expenses at the mall!]
So we quickly legged it over to the nearest department store and just grabbed two shirts off the rail. Then we waited for two and a half hours and eventually met the main casting director. Then six or seven auditions and screen tests later we got the parts. And that was nine years ago.
[Ratha: Boy does time fly.]

 

Q: How many other sets of twins auditioning were there?
Oliver: We saw about five [but] I'm sure there was more. And the two guys who came out as we were going in, Si and Chris, actually turned out to be our doubles on the first film and we still keep in contact to this day. It's quite nice. Being our first audition, we didn't know how it worked, so we didn't have anything to get nervous about. And we always went with this attitude, “Well if this doesn't work out I'm not going to see these people again. Why should I care?” I think that kind of carried over into the characters, how they are.

Q: In the films you guys speak in unison. Does that ever happen in real life?
James: It kind of came across because of that. In the films that happened because Oliver said something and I just cut him up to carry on pretty much exactly what he was saying. And Alfonso [the director of Prisoner of Azkaban] said, “I like that. Let's put it in.” So he literally got the script, crossed a load out and mixed it all up and it came from there. So I guess we do. I don't know why. Probably been around each other too much.
[Ratha: Any twins reading this? Does this happen with you too? Let us know in the Comments!]

Q: Have you managed to take any of the props as souvenirs?
Oliver: A few may have found their way into my bag. We were on tour for the Half-Blood Prince and I was going through one airport. I took my laptop out of my bag and I found a puking pastie. And the [security] dude who was working was like, “What's that?” And I was like, “. . . puking pastie?” And he says, “What does that do?” “It makes you sick.” “Why have you got that?” And I said, “You're not gonna believe me if I told you.”
[Ratha: What I wouldn't do for a pair of extendable ears. . .]

Q: In which situation is it most obvious that Oliver is thirteen minutes older?
Oliver: I'm probably a bit more sensible than James!

Q: During the years you've both had different haircuts. Which ones did you like most?
Oliver: It was kind of an accident, how they got longer and longer, between the third and fourth film. And when we finished filming I actually kept it even longer than that. Looking back at the photos now I think how did I think that looked good? But at the time, maybe I thought I looked cool.
[Ratha: I can relate. In 8th grade, I used to curl my bangs with a curling iron every morning, then spray them with a half can of Rave hairspray until they looked perfectly immobile and fabulous standing 2 inches above my head. NOT!]
Oliver: Our natural hair color is brown, and they had to dye it back [red] recently and it took four or five hours to get the color back to match the continuity of the film. So I think I'll be quite glad when I'm not having a load of dye put in every three weeks or so.
[Ratha: That's what Tom Felton [Draco Malfoy] said about dying HIS hair blond for the Harry Potter movies.]

Q: Can you tell us any secrets about some of the stars in the film?
Oliver: [laughs] I think Rupert's [Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley] math skills are something to be desired, especially if you're playing him at a sport. We play a lot of golf and table tennis, and it's amazing when you finish playing a hole of golf. “It was six Rupe.” And he'll say, “No it was a four. It was a four!” And he'll start inventing new rules like, “Oh I'm allowed to throw off the tee on every nine holes," or something.
James: Alan Rickman [who plays Severus Snape] his deep voice and everything and the kind of character he plays, you're quite intimidated. But he's such an outgoing and funny guy!

Q: Which movie was your favorite to work on?
James: I'd have to say Goblet of Fire. Oliver and I were always the oldest out of the junior cast, but at that time there were guys our age there. It just so happens Rob Pattinson was in it who has now gone on to do Twilight (rated PG-13).
[Ratha: From Cedric Diggory to Edward – not a bad move!]
Oliver: I didn't realize how big Rob was until we came to America and I'd say eighty percent of the magazines on there have his face on the cover.
James: It's quite surreal for us because Rob's a mate we know from here.
Oliver: We can remember going through the pub in London with him, and no one would say a word to us!
[Ratha: Wow – these talented British actors hang together – how cool! I know she's not British, but I wonder if Kristin Stewart and Emma Watson would ever hang out?]

Q: Would you like to keep acting?
Oliver: I'd like to yeah. I'd like to definitely give it a go for a while any way. We kind of learned from a who's-who of British TV and film.
James: As Robbie Coltrane said to us on the first movie, “This is like having a Rolls Royce for your first car.” So you're never gonna get better than this.

Well I'm not sure about that. I think James and Oliver would be fab in their own movie someday. Or maybe they could have a Weasley Brothers spin-off. Could be a twisted comedy. Hmm. . . 

Hope you enjoyed the interview! Let us know in the Comments. Check back next Friday for another exclusive Harry Potter movie interview. The next movie won't be released in theaters until November 2010, but in the meantime you can check out the Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince DVD, and of course, you can always reread your Harry Potter books! Bye for now!

— Ratha, Stacks Writer

Interview by Marie Morreale.
Photos Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Comments

[Comment #1]

Cool! I'm re-reading Harry Potter (Nearly eleven, as five was too scary the first time, I'm going to try again!). You know, I look like Emma Watson did when she was a kid according to a website. But my hair got darker. And shorter!

[Comment #2]

Great Actors, Great interview!

[Comment #3]

These two guys are my favorite characters on the Harry Potter films... particularly the goblet of fire. I think it'd be awesome for them to have a spinoff of their own, but I'd have to say, if Fred dies, how will there be a spinoff...?

[Comment #4]

I absolutely love harry potter and their cast is so awesome....

[Comment #5]

OMG!! They are amazing

[Comment #6]

Interested article on Weasley twins. I thought their red hair was natural. I enjoyed Oliver Phelp's comment on trying to take a puking pastie through airport security.

[Comment #7]

Me and my bro usually do that talking in the sometime thing or we finish each others sentences, but its weird cause you just get a urge to say whatever it is and it turned out to be the thing he was going to say. Oh and yeah I'm a Twin.

[Comment #8]

This was SOOOOO cool! You should put up interviews like this from Harry Potter all the time...

[Comment #9]

Im a twin also and yes my sister and I do talk at the same time like Oliver and James :) were also the same age as Oliver and James so weve been doing it for a long time!

[Comment #10]

Twins sometimes talk together, just 'cause we're thinking the same thing. We start out with identical DNA for identical twins, so the brains can't be TOO different...

[Comment #11]

The interview was amazing.
But have you read the books? How can there be a spin off if (spoiler alert!) Fred dies in Deathly Hallows?

[Comment #12]

Oh my God! This was so fun to read! thanks for the interview

[Comment #13]

Nice one! Thank you.

[Comment #14]

Firstly, why would Emma Watson hang out with Kristin Stewart? Emma is way cooler and a better actress!

Also...Rupert. Just wow. I knew we had things in common! LOL. Bad math skills, etc.

[Comment #15]

This was a great interview! I love those guys...:)

[Comment #16]

Love, love, LOVE the Weasley twins, both books and films...the Phelps twins are possibly the cutest actors in the movies...I don't see why they aren't the focal point on screen!

[Comment #17]

Awesome interview ratha!
thanks!

[Comment #18]

We know what uniforms are... Oh, and most potter fans hate twilight!!!

[Comment #19]

harry potter is the best book and movie in the world

[Comment #20]

They are great guys, i am sure they will do great on future movies! good luck!

[Comment #21]

i dont really get this articl

[Comment #22]

i dont really get this

[Comment #23]

hey peple!!! do any of u guys have uggs??? if u do wut kind/color n how many do u have???

[Comment #24]

i have the cable knit stripes in pink n purple i have the tall chestnut n tall black n i have the brown buckle 1s n short pink red grey n blak n blue n the chestnut n brown baily button 1s!! wut do u guyd have???

[Comment #25]

Thanks for this interview! Fred and George are my favorite Potter characters, and the Phelps twins have done a terrific job with them in the films. Only wish they'd have gotten more screen time, especially in Half Blood Prince.