Are Fred and George from ‘Harry Potter’ twins in real life?

Despite J.K. Rowling’s determined pursuit of controversy, Harry Potter never really exits the cultural zeitgeist.

The mega-popular Wizarding World is simply too important to too many people. Many of us grew up with dreams of an owl-delivered letter, with wands in our bedside drawers and enough Hermione cosplays to fill a small closet. Even after Rowling soured her entire franchise with her rise as Queen TERF, many people can’t quite leave Harry Potter behind. They’ve worked hard, for years now, to separate the stories, characters, and world they love from the woman who created them, in hopes of hanging onto those wholesome childhood memories.

Those memories are rooted in several different things, from the books themselves to the films, video games, and various toys they inspired. The films, in particular, hold a special place in thousands of hearts, as do the stellar actors who brought our favorite characters to life. News of a fresh, and entirely unnecessary, attempt at adaptation rubbed many people the wrong way, not only because it once again lines a wealthy transphobe’s pockets, but also because the original films are barely a decade out. We can hardly imaging anyone but the original actors stepping into roles like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and the same remains true for the rest of the cast. We wouldn’t replace actors like Helena Bonham Carter, Miriam Margolyes, or Luke Youngblood without a fight, and we’d be hard pressed to imagine any one of the Weasley clan with a different star in the role.

The Weasleys are absolutely vital to the Harry Potter story, from Ron and his parents to the twins, Percy, and even more distant siblings like Charlie. The twins, in particular, pull in a huge number of fans with their wonderful, rebellious antics, and the actors who already brought them to life absolutely nailed Fred and George. They even looked the part — but are they actually related in the real world?

Are the actors behind Fred and George really twins?

This might feel like an absurd question, considering the clear relation between the Harry Potter films’ Fred and George, but it likely goes back to a long-ago prank from the pair of popular actors — who, yes, are actually twins. The Weasley twins were brought to live action by real-life twins James and Oliver Phelps, who share quite a few traits with the famous wizards — including, it would seem, their propensity for practical jokes.

The odd query — and yes, it is odd, they look exactly alike — seems to be sparked by an old interview. In a discussion with the Phelps brothers, a reporter posed the identical (identical) twins with an oddball question, wondering if they are “twins in real life.” This was likely poorly phrased, and intended to ask if they are simply brothers, or even fraternal, rather than identical, but the result is mass confusion.

Which is mostly due to the Phelps brothers themselves, who promptly seized the opportunity to muddy the water. They shot back with a quick negative, noting that, no, they are not twins, and in fact met during the audition process. This clearly untrue statement was followed with jokes about one half of the duo undergoing plastic surgery to look the part, but still managed to confuse at least a few fans.