See The Harry Potter Actors Point Out A Second Hilarious Reunion Mistake

Harry Potter actors find an epic mistake in the Harry Potter reunion!

By Tyler Pisapia | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

harry potter reunion

If the Harry Potter reunion taught the world anything, it’s that the franchise still has a dedicated fanbase that knows the series and its actors like the back of their hand — and they will point out any mistakes they see. Such was the case with real-life twins Oliver and James Phelps, who fans know better as George and Fred Weasley respectively. The duo appeared in the Harry Potter reunion special that dropped on HBO Max on New Year’s Day to talk about their characters and the franchise. However, it seems that the person editing the special didn’t do their due diligence when it came to telling the two twins apart. 

Oliver took to Instagram Monday to point out, in a true cheeky fashion, that although they got their names and characters correct, the wrong sibling had the wrong name and character placed over them in their talking head interview. You see, Oliver has short hair and James has the long hair in the photo below, despite what their lower thirds read. 

The actor was good-natured about the mistake and seemed to let the Harry Potter reunion editors off the hook by joking that it was payback for all those times they tricked people with their identities on set. It may have also been a reference to the fact that Fred and George played similar pranks on their loved ones in the book and film series. 

While it’s certainly a funny mistake for fans to chew on for years to come, the unfortunate truth is that it is not the only gaffe present in the Harry Potter reunion, officially titled Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. An eagle-eyed fan was quick to notice that the HBO Max special accidentally used a photo of Emma Roberts when it meant to show a childhood photo of Hermione Granger actress, Emma Watson. 

One superfan took to Twitter to point out the mistake, showing receipts by posting a screencap of the Harry Potter reunion on her TV as well as a 2012 post that the American Horror Story actress put on her Instagram in 2012. The small blunder forced the producers of the Harry Potter reunion to throw up their hands and admit that it was a mistake. In a statement on behalf of the producers that was provided to E! News, they commended fans of the film franchise, which spanned eight movies over the course of 10 years, for holding them accountable. The statement also noted that the error has been fixed and that it will not appear on future streams of the Harry Potter reunion. Although they haven’t spoken out about the Fred and George mishap, it’s likely that too will be fixed soon. 

While mistakes in something as high-profile as HBO Max’s Harry Potter reunion are vexing, it’s somewhat heartwarming in its way to see how quickly fans of the franchise were able to spot the mistakes in something they hold so near and dear to their hearts. If one were reaching for a fandom with more dedicated people that have weathered more for their love — one would have a difficult time doing better than Harry Potter fans.