Interview: James and Oliver Phelps

2:4PM, Dec 9

Fred and George Weasley on Harry Potter coming to an end.

The mischeviously wicked Weasley twins never cease to make us smile. We chat to the boys about what it's like to be part of the Harry Potter magic and how they felt when they had to say goodbye for the last time.

It really hit home just how much this is coming to an end.

Having worked on all the films for so long, and having felt so at home in so many of the sets, it must have been a strangely emotive thing seeing them all destroyed. How was that in the great hall or the courtyard?

James: Well, we're in the great hall and that's on B stage, and it always has been on B stage, on A stage has been the common room. We went in and the common room was gone because it wasn't needed. It kinda hit home that this is gonna be the last film. Then we were going into the great hall and half of that was knocked down. There are holes in the walls and rubble everywhere.
It really hit home just how much this is coming to an end, but also how much Hogwarts as a school takes a battering, like the poster, pretty much half of it is all burned down. It's not as if a little battle goes on in one little section, it goes on for the whole thing.

Over the course of films Fred and George are characterized largely as jokesters, but there's a particularly harrowing scene in the last film, a dramatic death scene. What was it like to shoot such a disturbing moment?
Oliver: It was really strange for me to watch James lay there like that, knowing we had to get into character and try and to have George react to it, but to see your own brother there pretty much like a dead person was really weird and quite hard to film. We did about six versions of it. The hall was actually packed with people. Sometimes you do a crying scene and it's a closed set. But this time there were loads of people everywhere; so we pretty much just had to go full force on to it.
James: There were 400 people on that.
Oliver: About 400 people on the set, yeah. But I wasn't the only one crying. Rupert was crying as well, but apparently he cried on the last day of filming, which I didn't do.

The final film has been loved by fans all around the world. What scene in particular do think blows audience away?
James: I think there's quite a few to be honest with you. Obviously, the ultimate scene, where you see Voldemort and Harry squaring up to each other. That'll be something that will live in memories forever. It'll be like a "Luke, I'm your father" episode that everyone will remember.
Oliver: There's also when you see Voldemort turn about school, because you hear that he's this nasty guy. You've seen him take on older the wizards, but it's when you see him attacking innocent children who can't defend themselves. You see that this is a bad guy who doesn't care. He'll kill anything to get what's his; not even what's his, to get what he wants. I think that's one thing that everyone's really looking forward to seeing that portrayal on camera.

If you could each take a souvenir from Leavesden with you what would you choose and why?
Oliver: I think mine would be my wand. They were very close knit on taking that as soon as we finished. Each wand for each character is totally different. I'd take my wand. I've dropped it twice, it's broken twice. I know which one's mine because it's gotta big glue around the middle of it.
James: I think mine would be the Weasley and Weasley brief cases, which they describe as snap boxes. Although you never really see it opened, it's proper laid out in a special way presenting everything. That was really cool. Just a kind of sentimental value, this is our kind of thing. So I'd take that.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.