James Phelps is an actor best known for playing Fred Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise from 2001 to 2011. James is an autodidact with passions ranging from astronomy to history. In this conversation, we discussed what it was like being cast in one of the biggest film franchises of all time, a few of his other projects (including a horror comedy that Aaron produced called Patchwork), the travel series he starred in alongside his brother, Oliver, and more.
We recorded this episode last summer while traveling in Europe. We didn't have proper lighting and it was one of the first episodes we recorded, so the video quality is a bit lower than normal.
00:00 - Intro
00:26 - Why James missed Aaron's wedding
1:06 - How James and Aaron met
1:49 - American High School parties
3:22 - Life before Harry Potter
3:59 - A jack of all trades
4:51 - Astronomy
7:58 - Fantastic Friends - James' travel show and Patagonia
11:23 - What if James had not been cast?
13:28 - How James discovered Harry Potter
15:41 - Auditioning against other sets of twins
17:16 - Do you remember how you got the news that you'd been cast?
18:42 - Friends response to the news
20:52 - First friendships on set
22:25 - Child Actors / Harry Potter Cast pretty well-grounded
23:38 - The cast had a profoundly unique experience
24:35 - Was there anything James wished he had done differently?
25:37 - Getting recognized
26:51 - If you had a kid, would you want your kid to get into acting?
27:50 - Education and teachers
28:25 - Fail big
30:25 - Relationship with brother
33:09 - Marathon training and Endometriosis awareness
34:44 - Working as a crew member on Harry Potter 6
37:18 - How James felt about Harry Potter ending
40:18 - Patchwork horror comedy and the mountain lion of Silverlake
42:20 - Harry Potter appearances and theme park
43:51 - Legendary theme park designer
45:20 - Does James ever mess with fans at the park?
46:36 - Aaron's idea for a Curb Your Enthusiasm type show starring James and Oliver called "After Harry"
48:32 - Fans and Cameo
52:18 - Aaron and James at 24 at Proms - UK patriotism
55:12 - Learning Finnish
55:44 - British Royalty
57:59 - Replacing royals with modern day influencers
59:06 - When James met JK Rowling
26 июн 2024
