In a new interview with the Globe and Mail James and Oliver Phelps discuss the end of filming Harry Potter and what it has been like.
What’s it been like being wrapped up in the frenzy around Harry Potter? Oliver: It’s been something totally different to what we thought it would be when we first started. I don’t think anyone involved assumed that it would get to the size it’s gotten to.
Have you had strange or frightening fan encounters? James: There was one when we were on holiday in Mexico and I was having a swim in the sea, and this Mexican lady swam over and said, “Are you in Harry Potter?” Like, “Yeah.” “Oh, okay.” And then she just swam back. It was so random and surreal. But Potter fans in general, they’re really cool. We went to a Raptors game last night and the Leafs game on Tuesday, and people there saw us and said, “Hello, how’s it going?” but let us get on with our evening.
Is there ever a point when you think, enough with Harry Potter? Oliver: I think we’ve been fortunate to play the characters where you can have a laugh, you know? It’s never too serious. It’s always really fun to play, you don’t get too down on it, and everyone treats us well at the studio. I think it’s coming to an end at the right time for everybody.
Were you readers of the series when you were cast? Oliver: I’d read the first three when we went for our first audition, I think the fourth book had just come out. But I was kind of in a bubble on the whole thing, I didn’t realize the magnitude of it. I just picked the first book up when I was in the school library once. So we turn up for the audition and we suddenly realized that there was about 6,000 people going for all different parts and we thought, oh, are we doing the right thing here?
Do you spend a lot of time promoting the films? Oliver: When the last film came out, we were fortunate to travel quite a lot around Europe and Scandinavia with our friends. And it’s great to go to new places because we’ve never been to Toronto, so it’s always a great excuse to check out the nightlife and everything.
Are you good friends with the cast? Oliver: Yeah, definitely. We play quite a lot of golf with a few of the guys, go to music concerts and everything, so there’s always something to do with each other.
This week I will be talking about the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince US Collectors Edition, as requested by reader Becky!
About: This edition of Half-Blood Prince differs from the normal US hardcover in a few ways; the book comes in a special collectors box with new art by Mary GrandPre, the dust jacket of the book also features the full version of the box art with no text covering the beautiful artwork, & the binding is full black as opposed to the purple /black on the regular hardcover. Lastly, the book features full page versions of all the chapter art in black and white and a GORGEOUS color drawing from a detail in the chapter ‘Spinners End’.
Value: These Collectors Editions of the books (the last 3) are all GREAT value for your money. If you buy one and keep it in mint condition it could be worth a lot of money down the road; especially if it is a first edition. So once again, this is a display only item!
Amazon.com has added Tom Felton’s new movie The Disappeared from 2008 to their website so you can pre-order it before it’s release on May 18th! Watch the movie trailer below:
Warwick Davis has let us know, through his Twitter, that he was interviewed by SciFiNow and in the interview he discusses Harry Potter and the fact that he finishes filming in June!
So, Harry Potter. How did you become involved with the films, was it through the audition process?
It was an audition process, yes. I’d had my ear out for a while, because I’d read the book and thought that it could be really good. And when I heard that they were doing it I knew that I had to get on to this. So the agent said that I had an audition, I prepared well for it, went in and did it. It was a great experience, I had lots of fun with it, and I came away with a good feeling. But sometimes, in an audition that’s not really a good sign. I’ve often done that and thought ‘Yes, yes I‘ve nailed it,’ and then you don’t. And other times I’ve come out a bit anxious and I’ve got it. So three weeks went by, and then I heard that ‘Yeah, you’ve got that, and you’ve got that as well’, I had two parts. But then, at that time, little did I know that it was going to become a part of my life for 10 years. It was 2000 then, it’s now 2010, and I’m still doing it. I still will be doing it until June.
How did you feel about the decision to split the final two films?
I think it was good, because I think sometimes in the past we could have done that with the other stories, because they are so rich. I’m never actually disappointed… well, I am disappointed because sometimes it leaves my parts out… but I think the readership is sometimes disappointed. They’ll read in their minds, and in the later books certainly, you were starting to think ‘Ooh, I wonder what this is going to look like in the movie, I bet this will look fantastic’ and then when certain sequences weren’t in there, there was possible disappointment. So I think it’s a really good decision, because we can do justice to what is the last book and what is the finale of, if you take it as a whole saga, the end has to build, do you know what I mean? I don’t remember a point in the films though, where we knew ‘Right, now we’re going all the way’. I just remember each time we were finishing, we were wondering if we were going to be back again. If I’d have known 10 years ago it would have been lovely. Because as an actor, you really live day-to-day, you live by each job you do. And my theory of really keeping my feet on the ground is to say that there is no rule to say a producer will use me again in a film. So I look at this job that I’m doing and relish it, because it may well be my last. Because who’s to know? It keeps you grounded, it keeps you humble, and it keeps you doing your best work, because you know that you’re only as good as your last movie. Val Kilmer said that once, actually, when he was disappointed because one of his films had flopped.
I just found a fun new video of Mary GrandPre talking to some lucky children & parents about illustrating with some parts about Harry Potter! She even draws Harry and reads a few segments from the books! This took place on August 2, 2005. Use this link to watch the video; the full video is over an hour long, but the first half is Potter related.
You can also find them in most bookstores still.
from 2008 to their website so you can 