James and Oliver Phelps are well-known for their roles as identical twins Fred and George Weasley in the “Harry Potter” films. While they had not acted before landing the roles of the Weasley twins, the two went to an open casting call and waited about three hours to audition in front of the head casting director. Several auditions later, the duo secured the parts.
However, they didn’t know who was who at first. In an interview with Cosmopolitan UK, Oliver explained how their first table read went, noting that they asked casting director Janet Hirshenson who had which role. “And she kind of laughed it off and said, ‘Oh, good one’. And we said, ‘No really, who’s who?’” After a quick discussion with Rowling, producer David Heyman, and director Chris Columbus, Oliver was George and James was Fred.
After “Harry Potter,” their careers changed trajectories. Together, they started the podcast “Normal Not Normal” in 2017, interviewing other celebrities and sharing information about their personal lives, like their travels. The duo took that a step further with the release of their travel series “Fantastic Friends” in 2022. Horror and thriller fans may recognize them from their roles as the cloakroom attendant in the Anya Taylor-Joy-led “Last Night in Soho.”
Separately, James appeared in the 2015 film “Patchwork” and made an appearance in Season 18 of “Silent Witness,” while Oliver was in the 2013 short film “Ears” and performed in the 2018 stage production of “The Case of the Frightened Lady.”