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James Phelps on Fred Weasley's Death Scene: 'I Feel Like a Really Close Friend Has Died'
James Phelps, who plays one-half of the older identical twin brothers of Ron, talked to Parade.com about saying goodbye to his beloved character. Phelps, 25, also revealed that he has just seen the final version of the film, and he predicts fans will be "blown away."
On the last installment of the Harry Potter series.
"It's really good! I mean, really good. I wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest, but it blew me away."
On filming his character's death scene.
"It was surreal. I feel like a really close friend has died. It was more like a Saving Private Ryan scene thanHarry Potter, so it was kind of cool, because every guy wants to be in an action movie and that's what this is. But I pretty much just laid there and fell asleep. I think it was more of a challenge for the other guys than me. Rupert [Grint] and Oliver [Phelps], they really upped their game for that one. Hopefully people will like how it's been done."
On how his real-life brother, Oliver, handled the dramatic scene.
"I think that it was an emotional day for everyone when we shot Fred lying there. We did about five takes total, and then Oliver was done because it had emotionally drained him. It's really hard to put yourself in that position and imagine that kind of thing."
On sharing the Potter experience with his brother.
"It's been great. You go back and tell your family about it, but it's even cooler to actually experience it with a family member. We can share all these things with each other."
The twin brothers took their onscreen pranks — offscreen.
"We did do quite a few pranks on set to keep ourselves entertained, and then we could just fall back on the 'Oh, we're just in character' thing."
He managed to leave the set with a small memento.
"I always wanted to take my wand, but they kept those because they're doing a prop tour. But it would be quite cool to have one of those one day. But the one that I did actually get to take with me was money from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. The actual coins were really detailed."
On the Fred and George Weasley fanbase.
"It's quite cool. I never really understood it until we got going and we got the fans' reaction. A lot of people say that they enjoyed how we brought comic relief to the movie."
On his favorite Potter character.
I think Voldemort, to be honest. He's not like any bad guy around. Normally, the bad guy shows some kind of remorse, but Voldemort doesn't show any remorse to anybody. I think he's quite powerful in that sense. People who have read the book know the outcome, but you still watch the movie and think, 'How are you going to defeat this guy?'"
Looking back on his very first day of filming.
"I remember it very clearly. We were in a little village in Yorkshire, literally in the middle of the countryside, and we shot the last scene of the first movie when Harry gets back on the train. That's the first scene we ever shot, and I can remember being nervous as hell."
On seeing the series come to an end.
"We always thought that we wouldn't know what it would be like until we were on the promotional tour, so now it's starting to really sink in. I think the London premiere is going to be quite emotional."
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