The Harry Potter convention “Hubwarts” hosted by Hub Productions on Sunday 27th March in Melbourne Australia was a hoot! The special guests included Stanislav Ianevski (Victor Krum), Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks) and James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley, respectively).
The day started with everyone being sorted by none other than the Sorting Hat, who actually talked! Awesome!!! The house names were the invention of the Hub Productions crew.
It was interesting to hear each of the guests stories about their audition and casting process, all except Natalia (Tonks) had not done any professional acting previously and all had no idea what Harry Potter was, or what they were getting themselves into.
Stan (Krum) had been studying business at university when one of the casting agents spotted him while he was late for class (playing footy). Stan’s mother actually did not believe he had a part in a movie until he showed her his flight information for the first filming session.
The Phelps twins got their role as the Weasley twins because their mother heard about the auditions from a friend who had read about it in a local news paper. They drove a few hours for the auditions and arrived to see a line of over 100 people, they would have gone home if they hadn’t have driven so far already. James favourite Weasley product is Nose Bleed Nougat.
Natalia (Tonks) had done some acting previously, however had no idea what the Harry Potter series was about when she went for her first audition, in which she tripped over something (picture perfect for Tonks). It was not until her later auditions that she felt she needed to read the books because she wasn’t quite getting the character. She started with Order of the Phoenix which is where the charter of Tonks is first introduced, and then started from the beginning of the series. Natalia also mentioned that if she could have played any other role it would have been Professor Snape, if she was a man.
Each cast member was asked the following questions and pretty much gave the same answer:
What is something you would have liked to keep from the Harry Potter sets? My Wand (these were carefully and greedily guarded by the prop crew so that they wouldn’t go missing. Who knows they may eventually get them as a present?)
Which cast member do you wish you could have spent more time with? Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort)
Which cast member do you most admire (either before filming Harry Potter, or now)? Julie Walters (Mrs Molly Weasley)
These are some interesting stories that Stan (Krum) told us:
Once upon a time he actually had a crush on Emma Watson!!!!! So he decided to get a Lilly and place it in her shoe box on the step of her trailer. Romantic right? Emma thought that it was the security guys that put it there and didn’t find out it was Stan until much later.
When asked about pranks on set Stan (Krum) told us about someone (most likely the Phelps/Weasley Twins) put vinegar in his dessert and stirred it all up so he couldn’t tell. Stan (Krum) raved to them that they should go and get some dessert because it was really yum (he couldn’t taste the vinegar), to which they were baffled and said “um… do you know that we put half a cup of vinegar in that?” PRANK FAIL!
When asked what actor Stan (Krum) would like to work with in the future, and/or that he really admires he responded “Jonny Deep” which of course encouraged a lot of wolf whistling and the like. I really hope he gets his wish!
These are some interesting things that Natalia is now doing:
Being married to Harry Potter cast member David Legeno (Fenrir Greyback), whom she says is the funniest guy in the world!
Playing in her band Molotov Jukebox, which she describes as “Gypstep” a new genre that the band are trying to carve. Basically her new mission in life is to make people feel happy and dance! Check them out here www.molotovjukebox.co.uk they are pretty awesome!
Some cool things about the Phelps Twins:
Oliver is the “big brother”, as he entered the world 13 minutes before James did. It just seems natural that therefore Oliver (George) is the more organised twin. Apart from their hair at the moment (Oliver’s (George) is a bit longer than James’ (Fred)) you can tell them apart because Oliver (George) has two moles on the right side of his neck. The twins had to have their hair dyed orange (they called it Ginger) for 10 whole years! They were not allowed to play contact sport during the whole time they were filming the potter series, so instead have a keen interest in Golf, as this was pretty much the only sport they were allowed to play. Most of the time when they get a chance to catch up with Rupert (Ron Weasley) and Daniel (Harry Potter) they play Golf. Whilst filming the Harry Potter series they never swapped places as a joke, they would have gotten into a lot of trouble and had to reshoot! However they did say that they played a lot of other pranks on set, most of which they could not tell us about ‘sad face’.
They also mentioned that they are currently working on some new projects, mostly separately. They were a bit excited when they mentioned something coming out very soon to do with them and a social media project, but that’s all they would say. “All will reveal its self soon” they said. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open.
All of the guests commented that the Harry Potter cast is just like a big family! They have all spent so much time together on set for the past 10 years that they are really great friends. They all enjoyed learning new skills from each other and having a really fun time together. They also commented that the fans of Harry Potter, compared with fans of some other “franchises” are really nice, no one does anything really strange or rude that has made them feel uncomfortable. However in saying that, just after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one came out Natalia (Tonks) received some baby clothes in the post from a fan (lateral thinking I suppose).
It was a really cool opportunity to hear the stories of some really lucky and really brilliant people! Happy Pottering!
Story contributed by Sweet_As_Spice. She also took all the pictures.
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