James and Oliver Phelps

Early life

James and Oliver were born in the Sutton Coldfield area of Birmingham, England on 25 February 1986. They are the only sons of Susan (née Spare) and Martyn Phelps. James is the younger of the two by 13 minutes. Growing up, they attended Little Sutton Primary School and the Arthur Terry Secondary School. As they spent an extensive amount of time shooting for Harry Potter, the twins were tutored on set, along with their fellow school-age cast friends.

Career

In 2000, at age 14, the twins skipped school exams to attend an open audition, despite having no previous acting experience, and, after about six auditions, were cast as Fred and George Weasley in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. They went on to portray their characters in all of the subsequent Harry Potter films.

Outside of acting, James has worked as a runner on the set of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and other film productions, such as The Da Vinci Code. In 2009, the twins appeared as brothers in the 5th episode of the 3rd season of the TV series Kingdom. In 2012, they starred in "A Mind's Eye," a short documentary film based on the philosophical ideas of Plato.

The brothers have also been involved in the Harry Potter Exhibition; they were present during its 2009 official opening in Chicago and have since followed its tour around different cities and countries to promote it. Their second tour was a solo one around Thailand.

In January 2014, both went to the Harry Potter Celebration in Orlando, with Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis and Devon Murray. They also made a LiveCast, where they answered fans' questions and talked about the expansion at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where the fans can go to the Diagon Alley, summer 2014.

Personal life

Both twins enjoy golf and play regularly. Oliver's handicap is 18 and James' is 20. The twins support rival football clubs in Birmingham. Oliver supports Aston Villa, and did so alongside his late grandfather, while James supports Birmingham City with his father. However, both support Gloucester RFC together. They both support Major League Soccer side, Portland Timbers.

The twins enjoy travelling. Both travel around the world to tour and attend sports games and events; Oliver also maintains his own website called JOP World, where he chronicles the various places he visits and keeps fans updated with the brothers' activities.

James and Oliver are close with several of the Harry Potter cast members, including Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Daniel Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis. They attended Radcliffe's Broadway performances, and often meet up with Grint, Felton and Lewis to play golf.

In the summer of 2013, the twins moved to Santa Monica, California for a while to look at different film projects. Currently, they spend time in the US and back home in the UK.

Charity work

In January 2003, the twins planted trees at the National Forest, in Leicestershire. The wood that helped make the Harry Potter broomsticks was replanted by the boys, with the trees being birch and ash.

Both James and Oliver are supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust. They opened one of the charity's specialist units in Birmingham and have continued to support the charity since.

The twins also make public appearances in support of music and sports. Every year, they attend the V Festival, held by Virgin Media each August, as well as attending the Download Festival, a rock music festival managed and arranged by Live Nation UK in Donington Park, England.

In May 2006, they both took part in a celebrity football tournament called the "Celebrity World Cup Soccer Six." They participated alongside other celebrity sports fans.

James and Oliver were part of the Virgin Money Giving drive. Oliver focused on raising money for the RNLI lifeguards and James became involved with the "National Three Peaks Challenge," an event that challenged a climber to climb the three highest peaks in the United Kingdom in a 24-hour span.

On 22 November 2011, the brothers took part in a skydive for Cancer Research UK in Australia in memory of Harry Moseley, an 11-year-old boy who died on 8 October 2011 after a four-year battle with brain cancer. By December 2011, the amount pledged for their jump stood at £2,525.

On 7 September 2013, the brothers went on Pointless Celebrities to win money for the charity in memory of Harry Moseley, but only managed to get win the £2,500.