SnitchSeeker.com - James & Oliver Phelps talk Fred & George's fates, 7 Potters, Rupert Grint

In a new interview with Total Film Indonesia, James and Oliver Phelps spoke about their working in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, especially the fates of their characters, Fred and George Weasley, and having Daniel Radcliffe portray them in for the seven Potters sequence. James spoke at some length about what it was like to portray Fred as a corpse on set; Oliver mused on his missing ear. The twins also discussed their close relationship with on-screen brother, Rupert Grint.

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We really have to ask you about what you think of the one scene everyone has been talking about, the Seven Potters. What was it like filming it, with Daniel Radcliffe studying you?
James Phelps (JP) Yeah, it was quite intense. I mean, the whole of that scene just went on… it was a two week shoot. It was night shoots, as well, for most of it, so we were just drained by the time we did it. Because literally you’d act what you’d do anyway and then Dan would come and David Yates and yourself would kind of direct Dan on what to do.

It’s proper scrutinising yourself, because it’s like… apparently I stand like I’m pigeon-toed. I stand weird or something. I never realised it until then. And my facial expressions, when I’m concentrating or something, were a bit odd. So, that was a bit weird, but Dan really did… We saw that scene, a couple of weeks ago…
Oliver Phelps (OP) The special effects, as well, and the visual effects… they’re pretty new technology…
JP Even the fact of how the faces change and everything… that was pretty cool!
OP I don’t know how Dan did it. It took something like 120 takes or something. It was something ridiculous, like that, to get every single one. That’s a testament to Dan’s character and stamina, that he would keep going, and do it. When we saw it, it looks fantastic.

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Oliver, don’t you lose an ear in the first movie? And what sort of ear would you like to get to replace that one you lost?
OP That scene was pretty cool – I always wanted to be a bit battered. In all the films, playing Quidditch and everything, you never see a scratch on Fred and George. And it was cool, watching the guys in the creature effects department… you really see how they earn their money because it’s fantastic. Without going into too much detail and taking too much away from the people watching it… it was really, really interesting… beforehand, they had to take a full cast of my head and shoulders, to mark the ear, and how they’re gonna do it.

Basically, when you go to the dentist, and you get that paste they put in your mouth, to mark out your teeth… but here they put it all over your whole head for fifteen minutes and you’re breathing through straws. And, any ear I could have? Gosh… uh… maybe, like a Simpsons ear, you know, just a little thing.

And James, you lose your life in Part 2. What was your experience filming this?
JP It was cold. I actually fell asleep. They said, “Lie there.” So I did. And then I opened my eyes and everyone had gone offstage, and gone to lunch, and I’d fallen asleep and they left me there. I said to Rupert, “Why didn’t anyone wake me up?” He went, “Well, you were so in character, we didn’t want to disturb you…”
OP The truth was, we saw him and thought, “We’ll leave him.” We like to wind each other up…

So George loses an ear and Fred dies. If you could change the ending at all, would you?
JP (laughs) I’d swap it round, to be honest, in case the sequel comes out… No, I guess it’s cool. I remember reading the part, in the book, and what I really enjoyed about it, if you were supposed to enjoy it, was the fact that it kind of separated them. A lot of people think of twins as together all the time, doing exactly the same thing, but this book splits them up… Obviously, you can’t split them up more than that but it splits them up and that was cool. A lot of people that we spoke to afterwards said, “Don’t you think it’s weird that you’re not going to the same thing?” And I was all, no, because I like it. I enjoy that it shows that twins are individuals, and not one set unit.
OP Even Fred and George’s dress sense, as well, certainly from Half-Blood Prince onwards, they dress in different suits or they wear different ties. I think the only time they wear the same gear is at the wedding but even their characters start to dress differently. I think that’s a really good thing. James and I are proud to do that for twins around the world so they’re not seen as stereotypical.

Overall, how was filming Deathly Hallows different for you?
OP The thing that stood out in my mind was when we were filming certain scenes and James wasn’t there. Normally, when we’re filming, we’ll be in eye contact but… Even to the point where you get picked up in the morning, from the hotel, in the same car, and I’ll be there, on my own… Stuff like that was quite strange.

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There’s a new Weasley in this one, Bill…
OP It was really cool. Domhnall [Gleeson]‘s such a nice guy, he fitted in so well. He makes me laugh… he’s one of those guys that are annoying because he’s so funny all the time, you know, he can just get you laughing. It was really good to have another member of the family. He and I actually support the same football team, so we went, when Villa were playing West Ham. We got one of the drivers to drop us off at Baker Street, we got the tube over, to watch the game, and that was about his third or second week filming. We got on really well and he’s a really nice chap.

And do you still see Rupert Grint?
OP Yeah, we actually played golf with him the other day.

So you basically kept him as a little brother?
OP Maybe, yeah. We went on a drive around Europe as well, in a thing called the Whacky Rally, which is… you have to spend £250 on a car and do it up. It was Rupert, myself, my friend Stuart, in our car, and we made it look like a lifeboat, with a propeller and everything on the back. We drove it to Lille and drove through Switzerland, North Italy, down the French Riviera, to Barcelona… and people couldn’t quite get over, in the different towns we stopped at, that we hang out outside of filming. Actually, there’s something that scared me – Rupert was driving that part of the journey and it was at nigh.

A terrible storm hit just as we crossed over the Swiss border and we were going round a corner on a motorway and we could just see lights, coming the other way… like, round the bend, reflecting off the wall. Rupert said, “I’m sure I’ve gone the right way.” And I said, “Yeah, you have, I’m sure you have.” We were all resigned to the fact we were going to get hit here by a massive lorry or something… And as we turned round the corner, all of us were like (makes a bracing self gesture) waiting for the inevitable. But actually there was an overpass that ran right next to it. So… the relief was… well, that was pretty scary…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I has now been released worldwide. Click on the banner below to order tickets for the film at Fandango. Tickets are also on sale now in the UK; head over to the Harry Potter official UK Facebook for more information.

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