Original Harry Potter Stars Describe Smelly Set

The Harry Potter films have always made the Great Hall seem enchanting. However, according to two cast members, this was far from the case.

James and Oliver Phelps, who play the iconic Weasley twins, Fred and George, said the set had a surprisingly strong and unpleasant odor. The brothers have since returned to Warner Bros. over 20 years later as hosts of the cooking show, Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking. And, they admitted that the Food Network show’s kitchen is far more pleasant than the set of the original films.

In an exclusive statement to People, Oliver revealed that the mix of scents during a hot summer’s day on a set full of cast and crew resembled the smell of dirty socks. He explained that while the scenes looked beautiful and the food in the Great Hall appeared to be delicious, it was mainly just movie magic. The actor added that he can still smell odors when he watches those scenes now.

It was funny because when we were filming any Great Hall day, when it was just filled with people, there’d be so many smells. Even now, if I watch any of those scenes, I can still smell roasting or oiled vegetables — which isn’t a great smell.

To look good for all the feasts and everything like that, they wanted all these turkeys and everything like that. But yeah, the elements I just think of are smelly socks, pretty much… It’s funny, all these years later, the Great Hall still feels magical. It just smells a lot better now.

Despite the smelly sets, the twins still loved working on the films. While some scenes did bring back gross memories, most of them brought back good ones. James says that he is amazed that he can still remember everything that happened behind the scenes, even 25 years later.

I think like anyone that’s in any movie, whether it’s an indie or something like Potter, if you watch it back, and you’re in it, you remember what you were doing behind the camera at that time. It’s quite unique to be able to remember what you were doing 25 years ago if you watch a movie.

Oliver recalled a scene he filmed with the late Maggie Smith, who played Professor Minerva McGonagall. He revealed that they had just returned from a music festival and were trying their best to act like they were “composed.”

The fourth movie, for example, there’s a scene when the students are being taught by [Professor] McGonagall [played by Maggie Smith] how to dance. I remember that was filmed in Oxford, and we’d literally come from a music festival the day before. It was in the summer, and we were filming there, trying to look composed. But you remember those moments — the feeling, the people, the smell of the room. It’s all still there.

Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking season 2 releases new episodes on Saturdays at 8:00 PM ET and 5:00 PM PT on Food Network.