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 #26]

I want to know are they as mischevious in real life as their characters in the HP series? Love their work though and hope to see more of them.

[Comment #27]

Wow, that was insightful information. I just want to say to Oliver and James that you guys play my favorite people in the books, and you do an awesome job at it. Keep it up and if you ever do another movie besides Harry Potter i'll be sure to watch it.

[Comment #28]

Snape rules! :3

[Comment #29]

hahha:))
I love it!!!

[Comment #30]

It's not just twins who finish each other's sentences! My sister and I are seventeen months apart and we do it all the time. Other times, we're sitting in complete silence and then we say the same thing at the exact same time. It's a bit creepy, but I really think it is just living together for too long. :)

[Comment #31]

I'm a twin and yes, it does happen, not too often but I can recall a few times that it did. If we're talking to someone at the same time or they as us both a question we sometimes reply at the same time.

[Comment #32]

dear fred,george

best harry potter movies

have a good day,

love brenda

[Comment #33]

i'm a twin!
and that doesn't happen to us. just because i guess we are TOTALY different
and aren't like the best friend sort of twins you see on TV ;)

[Comment #34]

Really
After watching Oliver and James on screen as Fred and George you would never imagine them so mature!
The interview was so funny cant wait for more interviews to come.

[Comment #35]

Oh thank you so much for posting this, I love the Phelps twins. They're absolutely marvelous as Fred and George and I can't wait to see them again in Deathly Hallows.

[Comment #36]

I wonder who is going to be interviewed next?!

[Comment #37]

Nice

[Comment #38]

good interview. the twins are my fav characters in the book.

[Comment #39]

WOW! I wish i could meet them in real life! They seemnice and funny

[Comment #40]

The interview is very good. i like these twin very much. great work. :)

[Comment #41]

Great interview! I would love to meet James and Oliver.

[Comment #42]

I have read a lot of interviews in my time, and I could have done without the interviewer's green colored inputs. Not to step on any toes, but from a writer's standpoint, just let the questions be answered and that would suffice.

[Comment #43]

Kool! I'm rereading harry potter 4 d 3rd time! weasleys rock!

[Comment #44]

I started reading Harry Potter when I was six. I think I've read them all ten or so times. Every time I read DH, I cry when Fred dies... The Phelps twins are such amazing actors. I love the scene in the sixth movie where they tell Ron he has to pay MORE for being their brother.

[Comment #45]

Oh my gosh. Love those guys. I think Fred and George are the best characters in the ENTIRE series.

[Comment #46]

Loved the interview! But i don't think that the two main girls of the two most popular books would ever hang out. Emma and Kristin, geez i can see some serious conflict.
haha lol.
but that's just me. i'm not a Twilight fan.

[Comment #47]

Oliver's cute! :-)

[Comment #48]

Loved it! :D Fred and George are one of my favorite charcters and I think the Phelps twins protray them amazingly. Keep up the good work guys!:)

[Comment #49]

Gosh,am I dumb I just figured out that the actors who played Fred and George were twins.

[Comment #50]

I'm a twin. Me and my sister always say the same thing at the same time and finish each others sentences and thoughts.