Harry Potter, the most successful film franchise of all time, has kept fans thrilled for decades and now Hogwarts is set to open its doors to the millions of Muggles who want a piece of the magic, by way of an authentic studio tour.

For a first look at what it will be like, The Huffington Post UK were invited to the place where JK Rowling‘s phenomenal books were brought to life – Warner Brothers’ Leavesden Studios, just outside Watford.

This is where all eight Harry Potter films were made, plus the place the young stars grew up with their characters.

We met Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) in their previous on-set classroom. With them were their older co-stars Warwick Davis (who played both Professor Flitwick and Griphook), Nat Tena (Nymphadora Tonks) and Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), to talk about the making of the films and how they feel about the studios turning into a world famous attraction.

Over 100 million pounds has been invested in turning the studios into a place capable of receiving the millions of visitors who want to see a piece of magical movie history. And some of the most memorable sets from the films will be on show, including Dumbledore’s office (home of the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor), the boys’ dormitory (where the child actors outgrew their beds and could only be filmed sitting up in them in the last films), the Cupboard under the Stairs at 4 Privet Drive and the Great Hall.

All of the sets have been painstakingly moved across from old buildings on the site, including the Great Hall, with its heavy wooden doors, statues, and real York stone floor, which had to be un-laid and pieced back together, like a jigsaw.

However, the studio at present is still very much a building site, so with a hardhat and high-vis jacket adorned, we made our way around cautiously. But even when the building work is finished, visitors shouldn’t expect to enter the world of Harry Potter as it appeared on screen.

“You only usually see what the camera shows in the films and people assume what’s behind the camera is the same thing, but it’s not. It’s usually a bunch of people drinking tea and coffee and this tour paints that whole picture, which I think is really important”, explained Felton, who at the age of 24 knows more about film-making than most adults.

The studio tour plans to be a gritty, realistic behind-the-scenes look at the scale and detail of the sets, costumes, animatronics, special effects and props used in all eight films. The scaffolding will be left up and the prop cages won’t be hidden, plus there will be green-screens and rigs to show how Quidditch was really played.

If you thought the pupils at Hogwarts could fly, you might find yourself a little disappointed.

Talking about the labour that went into creating the sets, Davis said: “There’s things people will have never seen having watched the film, but if you come down to the studio tour here you can actually see stuff up close, like the parchments actually have things written on them.”

Davis was right. Walking around Dumbledore’s office, we learned that the old, intelligent-looking books lining his walls had great detail on them, even if they had been made from old phone books, as our guide explained.

Felton, who is thankfully very unlike his nasty character, said: “Even things they knew for a fact would never be seen on camera would be detailed, the designers were so passionate that they wouldn’t leave it, they would do it for their own satisfaction.”

Praising the people behind the film, who made it possible for the young inexperienced actors to feel like they were in a magical world, even if they didn’t get the same red carpet adoration as the franchise stars, Davis said: “A lot of the time it’s like real magic, the set is built and then these people come in and dress it and transform it and we walk in to film on a set like that and it’s all there in place.

“They’re the unsung heroes and I think that’s what the studio tour is all about, this is their time to show off their work.”

For the Potter actors at the press launch it was the first time they’d been back at Leavesden since the final film’s wrap party.

One-half of the cheeky Weasley twins, James Phelps, said: “The last scene we filmed here had the bulldozers waiting outside to get started and when we came in today it’s totally unrecognisable.”

Although the buildings and the layout of the studios have changed, Felton reassured us: “The sets are just as I remember them.”

Tickets to the tour will cost about the average for a theme park, at 28 pounds for adults and 21 pounds for children. However, there won’t be adrenaline-packed rides to match, so what do the cast think is the most impressive part of the tour?

For James Phelps it’s the Great Hall. “That’s the part that people always think of in Harry Potter,” he explained. “When we walked in there today it was really surreal, I remember going in there one day and thinking that they were knocking it down and that was it, it’s still really impressive.”

Davis agreed: “The Great Hall is so impressive and for me, who has worked on the film, there’s a lot of memories there. But for people like yourself who’ve grown up with the film it’s kind of iconic, you think of Hogwarts you think of the Great Hall, so many things have happened there, from the feasts, the sorting hat, a funeral, the Yule ball. In the last film you see it partially destroyed, so it’s quiet nice for us going back in there and seeing it restored.”

Grint, who, along with Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, worked across most of the sets in the studios, said: “The ministry of magic is really impressive too, you get the sense of the size.”

Wright, who played red-haired Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter’s love interest and the envy of plenty of teenage girls globally, added: “We’ve only seen a bit of what’s being created they’ve still got to put in our kitchen and there’s going to be a room celebrating all the things that creature effects and the art department did.”

Returning to the place where fantasy became reality must bring back some great memories for the cast?

“I remember the first time I walked into the Great Hall and it was all floating candles, I think Dan actually hyperventilated,” mused Grint.

Williams, best known as the Weasley’s father Arthur, confirmed the young actors’ amazement: “You could see it on their faces when they were little, there were plenty of times, particularly on the big sets, where they weren’t acting. They came in and you could see them go ‘wow, we’re in this film’ on their faces.”

For Felton, being back on set reminds him of his Potter family, “I think everyone assumes that it was a fed Warner Bros. line, us saying we’re all a family and get on very well, because it sounds like something they would tell us to say.

“But in my experience it’s very true and I really think fans will feel that when they come here. It wasn’t just a place where the films were made, it was a real place of joy and happiness for the 500 people that got to work here everyday.”

A more skeptical mind might think Warner Bros. are creating this studio tour purely for financial reasons – they know they are going to make millions from visitors for years, if not decades, to come. However, the cast all seem extremely pleased with the venture and see it as a place for all the fantastic things that were achieved over the ten years of Harry Potter production to be sealed in history.

“This as an extraordinary piece of investment and commitment from Warner Bros. and it’s right and proper, considering what the Harry Potter franchise has done for them. It has happened very quickly and has needed no prompting, so that’s a very heartening thing. There’s no bad feeling there,” Williams reassured us.

Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical story might have come to an end on the big screen, but the fans’ experience of Hogwarts is only just beginning, as Felton explained: “The kids faces are going to be priceless.”

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Original article found here: huffingtonpost.co.uk | October 14, 2011

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Says Rupert Grint ( Who’s worth £24m )

WITH around £24million in the bank, Rupert Grint is one of Britain’s richest young men.

But the 22-year-old Harry Potter star doesn’t splash his galleons about like Premier League players his age.

The actor, who has enchanted audiences as wizard Ron Weasley for more than a decade, astonishingly confessed to The Sun that he still lives at home with mum and dad – even though he has his own pad in London for occasional stays.

There aren’t even any fancy cars for the homely Hertfordshire lad.

When filming wrapped on the final JK Rowling movie, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, he treated himself to a £60 Vauxhall Carlton and headed off around Europe with mates in a “Wacky Rally”.

He said: “We did about nine countries, all the way to Barcelona. I went with James and Oliver Phelps, who play the twins, and we brought a mechanic along as well. It was a really good adventure. I do love cars but nothing too flash.”

In an exclusive interview with The Sun ahead of the final Potter film’s release on Friday, Rupert gave us a window into his unassuming life, where he is still close to sisters Georgina, 18, Samantha, 15 and Charlotte, 12, brother James, 21, and parents Nigel and Joanne.

Although he rarely splurges on himself, he says he can splash the cash on his family – sometimes on bizarre presents.

He said: “I have kind of got a miniature zoo. We have miniature pigs, donkeys, miniature hedgehogs. They are just smaller than the average hedgehog.

“I have quite a big family, I’m one of five and I have sisters who love animals.”

He has met the Queen and the family of President Obama so I ask Rupert which celebrity he has been most thrilled to meet.

The reply floors me.

“Alan Titchmarsh. Shakin’ Stevens came on to the set too. I only get star struck with really random people like Alan Titchmarsh and EastEnders actors,” he says.

“I met Alan at the Queen’s 80th when she had this big party in the Palace.

“I bumped into him. It’s not like I really watch Ground Force or anything like that.”

Never mind that the Queen and Prince Philip had been sitting right behind him or that Michelle Obama had visited the set with her daughters as a birthday surprise for one of them.

But if meeting heads of state doesn’t excite Rupert, surely there must have been magic in the air when he finally got to kiss co-star Emma Watson in the new film?

Ron Weasley and Emma’s character Hermione Granger finally spell out their feelings for each other in the series’ gripping finale by locking lips.

But Rupert says: “Neither of us were looking forward to it. It was a tricky one. That scene has been an anticipated moment, the relationship has built up from the early films.

“There was a pressure to get it right. I knew Emma when she was nine and we have closely watched each other grow up.

“So kissing this girl just seemed a strange thing to be doing, not right.”

Down-to-earth Rupert seems immune to the weaknesses of many young stars.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, recently had to give up booze because his drinking had got out of control.

Rupert insists that he felt no such need to release the pressure with alcohol.

He said: “No, no, no, there has always been this anticipation for us to fall into that stereotype and it has never really been an issue for me.

“It’s because we film in Watford, which isn’t the most glamorous of spots. If we had filmed in America or something it could have been disastrous. I never felt any pressure. It was just fun really.” The constant and intense attention of fans makes this level-headed approach even more remarkable.

Rupert isn’t even offended by strangers heckling him.

He smiled and said: “People do call me Ron in the street. I have grown up with it, it has become my second name almost.

“I do answer to it. Or they call me Weasley or Ginger.”

Although he doesn’t enjoy people taking sneaky photographs while he’s in a restaurant.

He said: “There are moments when you don’t really want to do it, if you are having a meal and people are taking their camera phones out and taking pictures of you.

“You can spot them. They pretend to take pictures of their friend and they slightly offset the camera so they can get you.”

But he is grateful for some aspects of fame – all the fan mail and presents. For some reason he gets sent lots of pyjamas.

Odd encounters with obsessed fans also raise a smile.

He said with a laugh: “There was a time when I was in LA, I think, I met this guy who had a tattoo of me, Dan and Emma on his arm.

“He hadn’t quite got the resemblance. I looked like Anne Robinson.”

But how does he feel now this immense experience is over?

Rupert said: “It is weird to think it was the last one. There is a scene right at the end, after the battle, with the three of us on the bridge.

“I found that scene emotional, I still haven’t got used to it.”

But surely the post-Potter future is bright for Rupert, offering the chance to make different kinds of films?

In between the magical movies he has already appeared in low-budget projects including Wild Target, Cherrybomb, Driving Lessons and Thunderpants.

Coming up is Comrade, in which he plays a British airman shot down over Norway in the Second World War.

And Rupert has been lined up to play Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards in a biopic of the Winter Olympics sensation.

He says: “I want to keep on acting, definitely.”

We can only hope his career fares better than the dreams of Brit ski jumper Eddie – who came dead last in two events at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

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Original article found here: The Sun| July 8th, 2011

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Question: How does it feel to be the most famous ginger person in the world?

Rupert: I don’t know if I am. It’s good, because they mess with us a lot and perhaps I’ve helped to improve our image.

Question: What are you planning to do after the Harry Potter films are over?

Rupert: I don’t know. Its been a year since we finished and I still don’t know what I am going to do. I did a film this year that will debut [...], its called Comrade.

James: We’ve been in the U.S filming a few things that will come out at the beginning of 2012

Question: Who has matured more, Rupert or Ron? Thank you for making me dream during my childhood.

Rupert: I don’t know, but I think we both have grown up together and we have become the same person, its been a great learning experience.

Question: How and where did you find out you had been selected to play Ron in Harry Potter?

Rupert: I remember that day very well. It was a long process, I did around five or six castings, and they called me for one more. They took me to David Hayman’s
office and they told us we would be in the movie. It was a shock because I went there as a fan of the books, it changed my life.

Question: Hello Rupert! What is your favourite film? I like very much Cherrybomb and Harry Potter!

James: Forest Gump, without a doubt.

Oliver: The Fire

Question: Which song would you choose as the soundtrack to your life and why?

Oliver: Newborn by Muse. It starts quiet and then it goes crazy, that’s how my days are.

James: Find by The Real Alter Bridge

Rupert: Theres a song by a band called Does it Offend you Yeah, ‘The attach of the lesbian squid of 60 meters’. I love it

Question: Is Emma Watson a good kisser

Rupert: Yes. I don’t really remember. It has been erased from my memory. It was strange because I have known her for a very long time and it didn’t feel natural to do it. But we always knew we would have to do it.

James: He went red.

Oliver: It was difficult because she had more experience.

Question: What is the biggest lie the press have said about you? Are you used to people talking about you without them really knowing the facts? Hugs

Oliver: That I’m married.

Rupert: Someone published that my dad was a hypnotist.

James: That I didn’t leave my room until I had finished Call Of Duty.

Question: Which movie character would you like to play and why?

Oliver: Ernst Blowfeld in You only Live Twice.

Rupert: One of the droogs in Clockwork Orange.

James: the Clint Eastwood character in The Unforgivenc

Question: Whats your favourite Ron and Hermione moment in the entire series?

Rupert: Theres been many, I think in this last film, the scene where we appear as adults is the nicest of them all.

Question: What is the strangest thing you’ve experienced with a fan?

James: They sent me a watermelon to sign.

Rupert: I met a guy who had a tattoo on his arm of Dan and I, but it wasn’t well done.

Oliver: Some drunk guy approached me shakily and shouted at me ‘Ey, Weasley!!’.

Question: If you were a woman, which character would you have liked to played in Harry Potter?

Rupert: It wouldn’t be Bonnie because I would have to kiss Dan!

James: The Spider.

Oliver: The teacher, Mrs Sprout.

Question: What is the most important thing in life for you?

Oliver: Family

James: Enjoying life

Rupert: I agree with both. Its important to enjoy life.

Question: How do you feel now that Harry Potter Saga is over?

Rupert: There’s a lot of emotion. It has been such an important part of our lives that it is impressive to know it has finished. It took me a while to get used to it and I will miss everyone a lot. It’s been long and exhausting, so it has also been a relief.

Oliver: I don’t think we are aware that it is over.

James: I feel like we have closed a chapter.

Question: Hi Rupert! I still can’t believe you’re in spain! Before you filmed Harry Potter, did you have in mind to study anything at Uni? Good luckkkk I will
follow you everywhere

Oliver: Yes, Geology.

Rupert: I never liked school, and luckily Harry Potter freed me from it. If I hadn’t become an actor I guess I would have finished my studies.

James: I would have studied graphic design.

Question: Hi Rupert my question is, how would you like people to remember you? Are you comfortable to know that everyone recognizes you for your success in
Harry Potter?

James: Like a non-ginger.

Rupert: Like a proud ginger.

Oliver: Like a happy person.

Question: Hello Rupert! I have sent you lots of questions, I hope you answer one of them. Which is your favorite actor and actress? I hope you come back to
Spain, specially to San Sebastian!

Rupert: Bill Murray

Oliver: Tom Hanks

James: Rupert Grint

Question: What are you looking for in a girl?

Oliver: a non smoker

Rupert: to be fun, funny and a good dresser

James: a good sense of humour and good teeth

Question: Are you a natural red head?

Rupert: Yes, I am one of the few natural red heads of the Weasley family.

Question: If you weren’t an actor what would you like to do?

Rupert: When I was younger, it was never something I wanted to do. I wanted to be an ice cream man or hat designer. It’s thanks to Harry Potter that I have realized that acting is wonderful.

Oliver: As a child I wanted to be a farmer but when I started to study I liked geology.

James: I wanted to be a designer.

What’s the one thing Rupert Grint has in common with his “Harry Potter” character, Ron Weasley? Does the star think Ron will survive the final chapter? And does Rupert think Snape is good or evil at heart?

TODAYshow.com caught up with Rupert while he was promoting his new film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which hits theaters on July 11, to get all these answers and more.

TODAYshow.com: After a relatively long break between movies four and five, did you notice any big changes in your co-stars?

Rupert: It was quite a big gap, really. It was really good coming back and seeing everyone again, because we don’t really see each other that much. I do see the twins (James and Oliver Phelps, who play Fred and George Weasley) quite a bit because we play golf.

TODAYshow.com: Ron finally makes the Quidditch team this year and Quidditch gets cut from the film. Do you feel slighted?

Rupert: I was pretty disappointed. But it’s such a big book, I sort of understand. Next year they’ll do it. Apparently it’s supposed to be quite painful.

TODAYshow.com: How did you console yourself?

Rupert: There’s quite a few stunts in this one, and with Dumbledore’s Army, and I got to do a big stunt for that.

TODAYshow.com: All of the characters seem more complex in “Order of the Phoenix.” What was your strategy for advancing Ron’s character? Do you feel it was easier to relate to Ron in this film?

Rupert: This one is pretty dark and the story line throughout it pretty intense, and Ron has really grown up — we’ve all really grown up a bit. In the last one, he was a bit all over the place emotionally, with getting jealous of Hermione and falling out with everyone. This one he’s stronger and focused.

I always thought I could relate to him in all aspects. We’ve sort of grown up together, which helps.

TODAYshow.com: What’s scarier — a giant spider or a giant?

Rupert: Definitely a spider. I hate spiders in real life. Most of the people in my family are all [arachnophobics]. It’s not the big ones I’m really scared of. If it was a massive giant spider, I don’t think I’d be so scared of it. It’s more the little ones. A big one can’t really crawl on you like a small one can.

TODAYshow.com: Who do you like better, Fred or George?

Rupert: I can’t remember which one’s which. I like them both the same, really. They’re really different as well, which is funny.

TODAYshow.com: Do you think Snape is good or evil?

Rupert: I don’t know. It’s quite a complicated, that one. He’s definitely pretty evil, I think.

TODAYshow.com: I’ve seen a lot of theories lately that Ron won’t survive the final Harry Potter installment. What do you think?

Rupert: I heard a lot of rumors on that, but the majority of people reckon Dan [Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter] is going to be the one [who dies]. I think it’s going to be Dan or Voldemort.

I need to know what happens. I’m desperate to know how it’s going to end.

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Original article found here: The Today Show | July 6th, 2007

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Rupert Grint, best known for playing the role of Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, recalls his best and worst holiday experiences.

Great holidays…

What’s been your best holiday?

We went to the Isle of Wight as a family, three summers in a row. I’m the eldest of five children, but only James, now 19, and Georgina, now 16, were around then. We had a great time as there was so much to do there. We got up to a lot of mischief, exploring the caves and beaches. Our favourite attraction was a theme park called Blackgang Chine, which was set in a Victorian mansion and its estate grounds. It had ghosts and goblins, a Wild West section and a small train ride. You couldn’t ask for a better holiday for a kid.

And the best hotel you’ve stayed in?

Each year when the cast of Harry Potter stay in New York City for press interviews and the premieres, we stay at Essex House, an Art Deco hotel right on Central Park. My room had a great view of it. The first time we stayed there was not long after 9/11, so that was really eerie. The staff get to know us well because of our repeat visits and it’s a good location for sightseeing or shopping – not that our schedules allow for much downtime. For us, the best bit about our room is obviously the minibar.

What do you need for a perfect holiday?

Being ginger and pale-skinned, I don’t really get a tan, so sitting on the beach doesn’t do it for me. I like activity-based holidays where I’m not going to fry, which is why I’ve really got into rally car driving – my brother James is an aspiring driver. I recently went on holiday to Blackpool with Oliver Phelps, who plays one of the Weasley twins. We both play golf – I’ve got a handicap of 13, which is not bad – and there’s a really good golf course in the area. I think it was quite surreal for people to see two Harry Potter actors walking down the promenade – they kept stopping dead in their tracks to do a double take.

What do you always take with you?

I can’t live without my iPhone – it comes everywhere with me. It’s got so many applications on it it practically runs my life. And a couple of my favourite T-shirts. Apart from that, I’m a pretty light traveller.

What’s your best piece of travel advice?

Always check your room thoroughly before you leave. Wherever I go, I always leave something behind. I’ve left suits, phones and even my wallet because I always spread my stuff about. I need someone to do a security sweep after me.

Where do you want to go next?

Thailand would be cool, but I’m not sure how sensible that would be given my hair and skin tone. I’ve not done the United States properly, even though we go there a lot, because we don’t have much free time, so I’d like the chance to wander around, shop and visit the sights without having to constantly check my diary for the day.

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…and disasters?

What was your worst holiday?

Even if things aren’t going as well as I’d hoped, I always try to make the most if it. Probably the worst holiday was a couple of summers ago in Italy, when it stormed the entire time. We were staying at a really posh villa with antiques and were given a long list of rules to follow, so it was like being in a museum exhibit – not much fun after we’d been cooped up for several days driving. We were supposed to be there for two weeks, but we cut it short and went to Switzerland, where the weather was much better.

And your worst experience on holiday?

The family had decided to drive in convoy to Italy from England on the way to our ill-fated Lake Como trip. I think the entire trip was cursed from the start. I was in traffic in my Range Rover behind Dad’s and crashed straight into the back of his. Once that was sorted, we continued on our way through the steep roads through the Swiss Alps, as we’d wanted to enjoy the scenery en route. Unfortunately, just when we’d reached the top of one of the remotest passes, Dad’s car broke down. We probably needed a holiday after that holiday.

What’s the biggest packing mistake you’ve made?

I was recently visiting Paris and went to unload the car, only to picture my haphazardly packed bag still sitting on my bed at home. I’d entirely forgotten to put it in the car. I had to go buy an entire holiday wardrobe, and it wasn’t cheap.

What is the worst hotel you’ve stayed in?

Probably the one in Lake Como. But when I was nine, the family, who by now included baby Samantha, stayed in a caravan park in Bognor. It was pretty bad – leaky roofs, cramped conditions and not enough for us four kids to keep occupied.

What do you avoid on holiday?

Flash celebrity-type destinations in the sun. I’m not going away to be seen and I’m quite softly spoken and laid-back, so I like to blend in. Being with my friends or my family is the most important thing.

Is there anything you hate about holidays?

Airports because they’re noisy and stressful. Plus it’s like being stuck in a giant fishbowl with no escape as people are always looking at me. Once I’m on the plane, I can relax.

* Rupert Grint was speaking at the FIA World Rally Championship in Wales. For more information see www.wrc.com. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released in cinemas later this year

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Original article found here: The Telegraph | January 14th, 2010

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Jo Whiley BBC Radio One Interview

Rupert Grint interviewed along with the Phelps Twins April of 2006.

Jo Whiley: We’ve dragged you away from filming. I know Rupert, you were filming today weren’t you?

Rupert Grint: Yeah, I’ve just got back, yeah.

Jo: Ok, so it’s the fifth installment of Harry Potter which is Order of the Phoenix.

Rupert: Yup that’s the one.

Jo: It’s so confusing, isn’t it? I mean it is for me and I’m sure for people listening, do you get confused yourselves?

Rupert: I do get them mixed up a little bit. ‘Cause they take ages to make as well, they’re like a year each. They sort of blend together.

Jo: Can I just ask what you were filming today? Briefly, what scenes you were doing…

Rupert: We were doing one of the final scenes, in Umbridge’s Office, and it was really cool.

Jo: What did you have to do?

Rupert: I’m getting restrained by one of Malfoy’s henchmen and Dan gets slapped in it.

Jo: Many times? Were there many re-takes?

Rupert: Yeah, there were a lot of takes.

Jo: None of them necessary.

[laughing]

Jo: Goblet of Fire really kind of raised the stakes, didn’t it? It was properly scary, I know I wouldn’t take my kids to see it. Madonna was talking about Lola, she had to cover Lola’s eyes at one point cause it was particularly scary.

James Phelps: It was such a great time and we had such a great experience filming it that you forget parts you’ve filmed and when they’re suddenly up on the screen then they are a bit scarier, I suppose. It’s strange. When we were filming the campsite scene and there were all explosions going on and everything.

Jo: Remind us what this is.

James: At the world cup. When they’re in the campsite for the world cup and that took about 3 weeks to shoot all together. Night shoots and everything. And all the explosions that were going on.

Oliver Phelps: But also the campsite was based on Glastonbury.

Jo: Was it?

Rupert: Thousands of tents.

James: Being torched to pieces.

Rupert: With a bit more dwarves and llamas.

Jo: So was that 1 take or did you have to do loads of takes or was it all kind of set up for one massive scene?

James: It was over the series of a week, I suppose.

Rupert: Well some of the sequences we were doing could only be done once because of the huge explosions, with all sorts of complicated pyro work.

Jo: Pyro technics.

Rupert: Yeah so some of them were just one take and so we just had to get it right the first time.

Jo: A lot of pressure on you!

Rupert: A lot of us fell over a lot of times.

Oliver: One time it started to rain when we were doing it and our shoes aren’t very well made for running in slippery surfaces. And there were quite a few takes where we ended up on our backs, slipping over all the time.

Jo: What a nightmare!

Oliver: But luckily we were out of shot by that point.

Jo: So of all the films you’ve done so far, which is your favourite? It is possible to say?

Rupert: The first one was good fun because it was all new. I’d never done anything like it before.

Jo: And what age were you, Rupert, at that point?

Rupert: I was 11 when I first started. So that was a long time ago.

Jo: And working with big name actors, that must have been…

Rupert: Scary? Yeah. You know, like Alan Rickman, he’s quite scary.

Jo: Oh no, come on, do tell. I love Alan Rickman. What’s he really like?

Rupert: He’s wicked, he is. Really nice guy. Just his voice and he’s like huge. He was a bit scary at first but he’s a really nice guy.

Jo: I mean, I guess there are moments where it’s really boring there on set and there’s just nothing going on and you’re not called to do anything. So how’d you keep yourselves amused? Come on, Rupert! Tell us about your trailer or your room or whatever.

Rupert: I’ve actually got a wicked dressing room.

Jo: What’s in there?

Rupert: I used to do school in there too. We’ve got a massive school room too. But now I’ve turned it into a snooker room.

Jo: So it’s some kind of pad?

Rupert: I’ve got table-tennis, dart board, massive plasma screen, playstation…

Jo: And do you let your twin brothers in there at all?

Rupert: I let them come in ocassionally.

Jo: It’s family! Come on! They’re the Weasleys! You’ve got to let them in! I wanna talk to you about music as well because I know you’re music fans

[...]

Jo: Met you at the NME awards, when you were obviously out enjoying yourselves. We’ll talk about that in just a little while. First of all, James & Oliver, you play the Weasley twins, Fred and George. When you went for your auditions, were there a lot of people there? ‘Cause, I mean, it’s quite a specialist role in a way.

James: Well, we went for an open audition in Leeds and there was a few sets of twins there. If you can imagine, there’s a hotel and a massive two floors of the hotel and there’s thousands of kids going through all parts. Oliver and myself had never done anything like but we went because a] it’d be a day off school and we got nothing else to lose so why not? So we…

Jo: So you didn’t go to acting school?

James: No.

Jo: No drama classes?

James: No. Normal school.

Jo: So how did you know you could act?

[laughing]

James: So we went to this audition and we waited for about 2 hours to go into the room for 5 minutes.

Jo: What did you do to win them over? How did you impress them?

James: I don’t know really.

Jo: You just arrived?

Oliver: We didn’t have ginger hair…and we saw twins there with ginger hair and we were thinking….uhhh we’ve got brown hair.

[laughing]

Jo: And Rupert, how did you get your role? You did a rap, is that right?

Rupert: I was at school doing plays and that and I always enjoyed acting. And I saw it on Newsround and they were telling you how to audition and they said you had to send in this form. I waited for a reply for months and months and nothing happened. My mum filmed me doing a video tape thing…

Jo: That must’ve been embarassing!

Rupert: I had to write a rap about how much I wanted to be in the film. And I sent it off and it just went from there really. Got a couple of auditions and that was it.

Oliver: Can you remember it?

Jo: Go on, do it for us now! Go on, we all want you too!

Rupert: No. I wouldn’t do it anyway, even if I knew it.

Jo: We’ll let you off. So you’re all into rock music isn’t it, yeah? Rupert, tell me who your favourite bands are.

Rupert: We saw the Foo Fighters recently, that was really cool. I like them.

Jo: Okay, and Oliver?

Oliver: I don’t really have a set band. I like Bon Jovi, we went to see Weezer, back in the summer. They were really good live. Foo Fighters, as Rupert said. Green Day. So many.

Jo: James?

James: I’m gunna echo both those guys but I also like hard stuff like Metallica.

Jo: So if you can pick a band, any band in the world, and I’ll play a track by them…

James: Foo Fighters.

Jo: It’ll be a pleasure.

[...]

Jo: Have you all read Half-Blood Prince yet? I’m looking at these vacant stares. You haven’t, have you?

James: We’ve read bits of it, yeah. I’m half-way through it.

Jo: Surely you want to read it!

James: But I think the main thing is trying to keep up with the film we’re doing. It helps to read that one.

Jo: That’s what I’m wondering. ‘Cause if you’re promoting the fourth one and filming the fifth one and then there’s the sixth one to read…

James: It can get a bit confusing, yeah.

Rupert: When you’re reading them, you imagine all the characters speaking…like I imagine Harry as Dan and it’s really cause you lose like the…when I first read the book…

Jo: And they were fictional characters?

Rupert: Yeah. You get what you imagine.

Jo: And now it’s your mates!

Rupert: Yeah, exactly! It’s weird.

Jo: Do you ever have issues or are you really pleased with what she makes you do?

Oliver: I think just please really.

Jo: I mean, the way the Weasley twins have turned out…

Oliver: Yeah, I don’t think you could imagine it going any better or more diverse than the stories are going. Really pleased with how they’re going and hopefully we’ll get to act it one day.

Jo: And if I can just throw a load of names at you and you give me a word each, to describe various characters that you work with. So first of all, we’ll start with Daniel. Harry Potter. James, one word…

James: How about two words? Music lover.

Jo: Okay, Rupert? You don’t have to be so nice.

Rupert: Hyperactive.

Jo: Yeah okay that figures, having met him.

Rupert: He’s really funny actually.

Jo: Okay, Gary Oldman, who plays Sirius…Rupert?

Rupert: One word…cool.

Jo: Okay, Robbie Coltrane…

James: Sound.

Rupert: Robbie, he’s hilarious, he’s really funny

Oliver: I’ll have to say tall then, change it a bit.

Jo: Okay, Hermione…Emma Watson…

Oliver: Different, in a sense. Different to her character, totally.

Jo: That’s 11 words! If I’d have known this was gunna be so difficult…Right so Harry Potter 4, Goblet of Fire is out now on DVD. When can we expect to see you all on the big screen again for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, do you know when it’s coming out?

Oliver: Summer/Spring 2007. Something like that.

Jo: So until that point, it’s all hard work for you?

James: Yeah, it’s good hard work though.

Rupert: Could be worse.

Jo: Thank you very much for coming in today. Take care.

---

Original article from Snitchseeker.comI April 16th, 2006

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