After being part of the beloved Harry Potter cast as Fred and George Weasley, fans can watch James and Oliver Phelps return to the sets of the Harry Potter movies for Food Network’s Wizards of Baking series. Amidst new episodes of the competition TV show coming to those with a Max subscription every week, CinemaBlend talked to the twins about the standout moments regarding going back to Hogwarts.
The series has ten teams of two (each consisting of an expert baker and expert chocolatier), crafting some incredible tributes to the wizarding world for a chance to win the first Wizards of Baking Cup and inclusion in the new Harry Potter cookbook. During our interview, Oliver Phelps had this to say about going back to the original sets to film the cooking show:
This was the first time we'd been back on the sets filming, it was like we'd never been away, to be honest with you. I remember on the last day actually when we were filming the finale set in the Great Hall and it was actually quite emotional to a point because I never thought I'd ever be back there again filming certainly like that. So that was really sweet to be able to do. And, being able to share it with some other castmates as well, was really cool. And you see, like we had some Harry Potter fans in the Great Hall as well as the Bakers presenting these absolutely out of this world designs. It was so special to be able to go back and do that.
As you can imagine, the actors behind the Weasley twins were especially starstruck by the Great Hall, where so many iconic scenes from the film series took place. Viewers will have to wait because that location is featured in the finale, but it sounds like it will be worth it considering the Wizards of Baking trailer and the hosts teased special guests from the original reuniting in the Hogwarts dining hall.
While the Great Hall was Oliver's favorite set to return to, they also shared a great moment that happened while shooting the series when one baker and Harry Potter fan found themselves in one of the other major locations from the films: the Forbidden Forest. As James Phelps shared:
We didn't actually shoot there [during the movies], but we were there when they were filming scenes on it and just, it looks awesome. Like, it looks like just the atmosphere, you can actually see the atmosphere. And that episode, I remember Lisa [Altfest] is a huge Harry [Potter fan]. She knows everything. Anything and everything you can tell, she'll tell you. And I can remember when we got there, she was literally like, ‘I'm so, so excited’, she was literally shaking at how excited she was about it. So it was cool to see it from someone else's point of view.
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The Forbidden Forest was so key to the Harry Potter movies, because it was such a dangerous spot full of so many magical creatures for Harry, Hermione and Ron to meet. While the Phelps twins said they weren’t part of any Forbidden Forest sequences, seeing how much one contestant was affected by being there was really memorable for them.
That’s one especially fun element of the series in general. Seeing the Phelps’ twins interact with the baking wizards is wonderful, and we can’t wait to see them geek out as the competition continues. During the interview, James Phelps also talked about how the late Maggie Smith played into the series after her death at the age of 89 in September. So, it's clear that the Harry Potter legacy is being honored and celebrated on these epic sets.
You can stream the first episode on Max now, make sure to check out the next episode when it airs this Thursday on the 2024 TV schedule.
