James and Oliver Phelps attended the press preview of the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre in Ontario, Canada today. The photos can be seen here.
Update:Â Here is a transcript of the telephone interview that TheDailySnitcher conducted with Eddie Newquist, the creative head of the Exhibit, and James and Oliver Phelps' answer to the question that was posed. Press Read more to view the transcript.
Update 2:Â Official images can be seen here.
Update 3:Â SnitchSeeker was in attendance at the press preview and you can read a full report of the experience and the round table interviews with James and Oliver Phelps and Eddie Newquist here.
Update 4:Â A new report from the Ontario press preview of Harry Potter: the Exhibition revealed that the Canadian leg of the tour is the only place that the exhibit will stop in that nation, but it is the third of four North American spots for the museum set. There is no word yet on where the fourth North American location for the Harry Potter exhibition will be. That information will be released later this year.
Update 5:Â Warner Bros just sent over a look at the Ontario set of the Harry Potter exhibition featuring James and Oliver Phelps. The exhibit resembles their very-familiar Leavesden Studio set back in England, as well as some of Fred and George Weasley's artifacts that were donated, including wands and Gryffindor uniforms. The video also tours the museum exhibit with young fans, through Hagrid's hut, Harry and Ron's Gryffindor dorms beds, and much more. It can be seen below.
James & Oliver Phelps:
Q: What would James & Oliver like to see added to the Exhibit from the latest Harry Potter movie, Deathly Hallows?
A: Oliver said he would like to see the Sword of Gryffindor added. And James said that he would like the costume from the wedding.
Eddie Newquist:
Q: Has anything from the latest Harry Potter movie been added to the Exhibit in Ontario?
A: No, we certainly have some elements from the sixth film, but because they’re still in active production on the seventh part one and part two we haven’t gotten any of those elements yet but we’re looking forward to it and we’re working with the studio literally on a weekly basis to try and identify those and to bring them in.Â
Q: How interactive is the Exhibit? Are you able to touch parts of the Exhibit?
A: Oh, yes. You can pull up a Mandrake in Herbology, which all the kids seem to have a great time doing. You can also walk into Hagrid’s Hut and sit in his chair which is very large and comfy given the fact that he’s a half-Giant. And then also what you can do is a Quidditch toss where you can walk past it and pick up a Quaffle and feel what a Quaffle feels like and toss it through one of the Quidditch hoops. We have a lot of those types of things throughout the Exhibition.
Q: What types of souvenirs do you have to offer visitors to purchase?
A: The entire Exhibition is quite large, but we have a very large Harry Potter store at the exit of the Exhibition. And we have just hundreds and hundreds of different items that fans can choose from and it’s really just amazing because you go through this Exhibition which everybody is just very excited about and then to get the chance to go into the retail and just look at a whole world of products from Harry Potter which seems to be quite successful and we’re very excited by it.
Q: What are some of the scarier sections of the Exhibit, for example how creepy are the Death Eaters when you see them in real life?Â
A: Well, they’re pretty scary, and we have Voldemort’s wardrobe in the Dark Forces area, that’s what we call it. It just really highlights a lot of villains. Lucius Malfoy is there. Draco is there. But we also have the Forbidden Forest where we have a dragon, you can see some of the centaurs, so that area of the Exhibit does get a little bit dramatic. Sometimes little kids get a little nervous but after they get past that part they do well. We wanted to build some drama into the overall experience and that seems to be an area that people really get a kick out of.
Update 6: The full transcript of James and Oliver's interview with the press from yesterday has been released, thanks to SanaBanana, and can be read below.Â
Q: What are your favourite pieces in the exhibition?
James Phelps: There’s a lot, really. My personal favourite is the Fred and George stuff. We only filmed with it for a couple of days, so it’s nice to see it up close with detail.
Oliver Phelps: I think mine would be Buckbeak. It shows the amount of detail put into making the creatures and that it’s not all CGI type of stuff.
Q: Universal has revealed in the past two weeks that you’re actually apart of the Universal experience opening this spring. What will Fred and George be doing and what was that experience like for you?
OP: We can’t really talk too much about it. All I can say is that you guys will enjoy it. Yeah, I can’t really say more.
Q: You probably get asked this all the time, but what’s your favourite joke shop item?
JP: I like the puking pastels. I dunno why, I just do. It would be fun to use them as a joke.
OP: One you see in the shop that I think would be really cool is the nose biting tea cups. When you take a drink, it would bite your nose. I think that would be quite cool.
Q: Your characters finish each other’s sentences a lot; do you guys have the same problem?
OP: Occasionally, it’s more about trying to be the last person heard.
Q: What was the overall experience of working with your brother?
JP: Well, it’s all we’ve ever known on the Potter set. It’s more weird to film a scene without the other in it.
Q: How has being a part of the movies changed your life?
JP: Well, we’ve got ginger hair for a start. It’s just great being able to travel the world for events like this.
Q: What’s your favourite Harry Potter book and why?
OP: I think mine would be Prisoner of Azkaban. I just thoroughly enjoyed it.
Q: What made you two decide to become Fred and George?
OP: As good as it sounds; my mum asked if we wanted a day off school. She obviously explained why. The weird thing was we had to travel to England. It was just one of those things, right place, and right time. We didn’t find out if we got Fred and George until the read through when all the cast was in the room. We had the scripts and all, but we went to the casting director and asked, “Who’s Fred and who’s George?†She was like, “You’re kidding, right?†So she went to David Heyman so they could sort it out themselves. So I don’t know why he plays Fred and I play George, but it just worked out that way.
Q: What was your reaction to Fred’s death?
JP: Fred dies? [Laughter] It was quite funny, I was in Japan at the time when the book came out and when I got to the part, I was shocked, I certainly wasn’t expecting that. A friend of mine texted me saying “You really must have pis--d off J.K Rowling.â€
Q: If you had a magical creature, what would it be?
JP: Possibly the dragon. Which is exactly in the exhibit [the Hungarian Horntail] I think the colours are just so cool. I don’t think you’d have a problem with anyone if you had that thing.
OP: I think a phoenix like Fawkes.
Q: Do you have any cool action sequences in the next two films?
OP: Yeah, but I can’t really discuss them. But there are some really cool action sequences that take place.
Q: After Harry Potter is over and done with, do you plan to continue acting?
JP: We’re definitely going to try and stick with acting for a while.
OP: Yeah, I can think of a lot worse jobs than acting.
Q: What’s been your favourite scene to film so far in all the movies?
JP: I’d say the Yule Ball from the 4th movie just because the Great Hall itself is a fantastic set, but for that particular one, they completely redid the inside. We all got new costumes and we had to learn how to dance which is different. It was just such a blast and we have a month to shoot that particular scene.
OP: There is a really cool scene we’re shooting now, but I can’t give it away. But before that I really liked the campsite in Goblet of Fire or even just the platform when we filmed for the first time.
Q: Have you pranked any of your castmates?
JP: Maybe one or two times. I’m trying to think of an example...Well, we hang out with Rupert [Grint] quite a lot when we’re filming and the televisions are always insane. So we were in his trailer sitting beside Rupert and I’d turn the volume up every time he got up. It got to the point where we were like, “Clap your hands together, mate!†He only caught on when we couldn’t control our laughter. I filmed it with my mobile, though quite sneakily.
Q: If anything could be added from the set of DH to this exhibition, what would you want to see added?
JP: I think the costumes we had to wear for the wedding of a certain character from a certain family marries another character from a certain family. The costumes we wore for that were absolutely amazing. They were tailor made to fit with a Weasley twist to them. I think they look really cool.
OP: I’d like to see the sword of Gryffindor on display.
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