‘How do you make this thing work?’ Oliver Phelps shares Alan Rickman’s iPod shenanigans and how he volunteered for a school project while filming ‘Harry Potter’

The Harry Potter franchise has always had a bit of magic working for it, right? Sure, that might not be news, but when you think about what the series accomplished over its eight-movie run (apart from the worldwide phenomenon of the books) — no one can deny how fantastic it all was in the end.

Not forgetting all the actors and actresses that helped bring the Wizarding World to life in the first place, many of whom were legends of the British acting scene, with the series’ young performers having no shortage of tales surrounding their exposure to those Hollywood heavyweights.

What’s more, these folks remained incredibly grounded in spite of their A-list status, and that’s exactly why we get anecdotes like the ones shared early today on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.

During the podcast, Michael chatted with franchise favorites James and Oliver Phelps as they discussed their time playing one of the most recognizable pair of twins in cinematic history.

That’s right, we got to hear from the Weasley brothers themselves.

When asked about working alongside actors like Michael Gambon or Alan Rickman, Oliver had this to say about the “intimidating” figure Rickman carried on set. Or really, the lack thereof.

“A lot of the time when we were in close proximity to him he was obviously in Snape’s full getup, which carries its own presence about it. But no, I’ll always remember he came back from an award ceremony, and he had got an iPod. It was one of the first iPod Nanos or something like that, and we were in hair and makeup and he (Alan Rickman) was like, ‘How do you make this thing work?’ And again, he’s in his full Snape outfit, and we’re (Oliver and James) dressed as Fred and George in their school outfits.”

The idea that Alan Rickman sat in a makeup chair somewhere fiddling with an iPod Nano is the type of early week pick-me-up that we all needed and one that proves how lovely late-great actors were. Continuing to detail Rickman’s general demeanor, Oliver explained that Rickman was truly top-class.

“There wasn’t any, ‘These guys are young, I don’t need to talk to them’ attitude. There wasn’t much of that going on, and there’s other stuff which isn’t my story to tell, but I’ve seen him helping when we were filming. There was a girl who was a double, and she was doing a project for her school and she was looking for someone to voice for that project. He helped her out with that. I forget the exact details, but stuff where you were like, ‘That’s class.'”

Alan Rickman might have portrayed an intimidating guy, but the actual actor was far from imposing — helping the young talent of the franchise out whenever he could and doing so without fail. In the end, we all could learn a thing or two from Alan Rickman. Although, frankly, I’m still waiting to hear if he figured out that iPod Nano. The world may never know.