James and Oliver Phelps, the English actors who portrayed Fred and George Weasley in the blockbuster Harry Potter movies, found themselves back at Hogwarts to host the new competitive baking show Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.  

The Phelps twins were in the Philippines last week to help usher in the launch of Max, HBO’s streaming platform for Harry Potter, the DC Universe, Friends, and the greatest collection of recent Hollywood blockbusters. 

“We’ve never been to the Philippines before, so when we got invited we jumped the chance because we’ve heard many great things. One of the contestants on the show, Mike, is from the Philippines. He told us how welcoming everybody is here,” James said. 

He considers himself and Oliver lucky to be hosting the Harry Potter-inspired show, in which 18 of the best culinary chefs in the world battle it out to create spellbinding edible treats.

“They’re sorted into groups of two, so nine each. Every week they’re whittled down. We’re shooting on the actual sets that we filmed in London. It’s the first time a series is filmed on these locations,” he said.  

“It was really easy to be back there,” Oliver said. “Even though it’s been many years since we last filmed there, in a way it felt like we haven’t been away at all.”

James revealed that there are more actors from the movies joining them on some of the episodes. “We’re not the only ones who are going to appear on the series,” he teased. 

Looking back

The last Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out in 2011. A spinoff of the franchise, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, was released in 2016. Two more films followed, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022. 

“We keep in touch with quite a few of the guys actually, to watch soccer or to have a drink. We do catch up whenever we are in the same town as each other. These are the guys who we filmed with in our formative years, like the same relationship I’m sure you all have with the people you went to school with or university. That’s our education, with Hogwarts, quite literally,” Oliver said. 

Max is live

Max, a streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery, is officially live and available to stream in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong. 

Subscribers can now enjoy titles from HBO, Harry Potter, the DC Universe, Cartoon Network and Max Originals, as well as Discovery, TLC, AFN, Food Network, ID** and HGTV.

Its launch is marked by the premiere of the highly anticipated HBO Original Dune: Prophecy, as well as Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking. New premieres later this month include Twisters, Expend4bles and IF, Max Original film Sweethearts, and season three of HBO Original drama series The Sex Lives of College Girls.

Subscribers also have access to the Hollywood hits Trap, The Nun, Meg 2: The Trench, Barbie, Godzilla vs Kong: The New Empire, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Dune: Part Two, Wonka, and the full movie collections of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix, as well as DC movies including Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, The Flash and The Batman franchise. 

Premium series on the platform include Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, Succession, Euphoria, True Detective, And Just Like That… and The Penguin. Max is also home to Gold Rush, Deadliest Catch, Naked and Afraid and 90 Day Fiancé, Adventure Time, My Adventures with Superman, We Bare Bears and Barney’s World.

Viewers can look forward to upcoming premieres of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Despicable Me 4, Kung Fu Panda 4, The Fall Guy, Subservience, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, A Quiet Place: Day One and Max Original adult animated series, Creature Commandos. 

All-time fan favorites The Big Bang Theory, House, The Office, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and much more will also be available to stream on Max in the coming months.