Harry Melling (actor)

Harry Edward Melling (born 13 March 1989)[1] is an English actor, best known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films. He played a young thespian with no arms or legs in the Coen brothers' 2018 film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.[2]

Harry Melling
Melling during the 2018 Venice Film Festival
Born
Harry Edward Melling

13 March 1989 (1989-03-13) (age 31)
London, England
Alma materLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active2000–present
RelativesPatrick Troughton (grandfather)
David Troughton (uncle)
Michael Troughton (uncle)
Jim Troughton (cousin)
Sam Troughton (cousin)

Early life

Melling was born in London. His maternal grandfather was actor Patrick Troughton, best known for his role as the Second Doctor in Doctor Who. He is also the nephew of actors David Troughton and Michael Troughton, and the first cousin of cricketer Jim Troughton and actor Sam Troughton.

Melling attended St Paul's Primary School, Hendon School and Mill Hill School. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career

In his early career, Melling performed in stage productions of The Provoked Wife, King John, Antigone, and Plenty. He appeared in five of the Harry Potter films as Harry Potter's spoiled cousin Dudley Dursley. In 2009, he starred in a revival of Mother Courage and her Children at the Royal National Theatre. He appeared in "The Sorcerer's Shadow", an episode of the BBC television series Merlin, playing a young warlock named Gilli who intends to use magic to help him win Camelot's legendary tournament. He also played Robert Brown in the BBC television series Just William.

In October 2009, it was announced that Melling had lost so much weight since his last appearance in Harry Potter that he was now "unrecognisable". His role as Dudley Dursley was almost recast for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, but Melling reprised the role by wearing a fat suit. He commented positively about the change, "I can now shed the child actor thing, like the fat, and start a new career, because no one sees me as Dudley."[3]

In 2018 Melling played alongside Liam Neeson in the Coen brothers' Western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Of Melling's performance, New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane wrote:

[I] came away haunted by a scattering of sights and sounds--above all, by the recitations of the limbless man, which thrum with genuine yearning. He is beautifully played, with a little help from C.G.I., by Harry Melling, who was once the odious Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films. Funny how people grow up.[4]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2001Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneDudley Dursley
2002Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2004Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2007Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2010Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
2016The Lost City of ZWilliam Barclay
2018The Ballad of Buster ScruggsHarrisonSegment: "Meal Ticket"
2018The KeeperSergeant Smythe
2019Waiting for the BarbariansGarrison Soldier 4
2020The Old GuardSteven Merrick
2020The Devil All the TimeRoy LafertyPost-production
TBAThe Tragedy of MacbethMalcolmPost-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005Friends and CrocodilesYoung Oliver
2010MerlinGilliEpisode: "The Sorcerer's Shadow"
2010Just WilliamRobert Brown
2011Garrow's LawGeorge PinnockSeries 3
2016The MusketeersBastienEpisode: "Fool's Gold"
2019His Dark MaterialsSysselmanEpisode 4
2019The War of the WorldsArtillerymanEpisode: 1 & 2

Stage
Year Title Role Venue
2009Mother Courage and her ChildrenSwiss CheeseRoyal National Theatre
2010Bedroom, Dens and Other Forms of MagicTheatre503
2010Women Beware WomenYoung WardRoyal National Theatre
2011The School for ScandalSir Benjamin BackbiteBarbican Centre
2011When Did You Last See My Mother?IanTrafalgar Studios
2012I Am a CameraChristopher IsherwoodSouthwark Playhouse
2013Smack Family RobinsonSean RobinsonRose Theatre, Kingston
2013The HothouseLambTrafalgar Studios
2013King LearFoolMinerva Theatre, Chichester
2014King LearFoolBrooklyn Academy of Music
2014PeddlingBoyHighTide Festival
2014The Angry BrigadeMorris
Commander
Prophet
Snitch
Manager
Jim		Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Oxford Playhouse
Warwick Arts Centre
Watford Palace Theatre
2016Hand to GodJason /TyroneVaudeville Theatre, London
2016King LearEdgarThe Old Vic
2017JamKaneFinborough Theatre

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2007Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixDudley DursleyVoice
gollark: As previously stated, you've made precisely 0 Macron implementations.
gollark: So would your borrow checker.
gollark: Go through the content of the referrer in some way and delete things which are the referent.
gollark: Well, if you want one owner, then randomly pick one referrer to keep the data and erase it from the others.
gollark: And I meant why not go back there.

References
  1. "Harry Melling shares his thoughts with MuggleNet on the black comedy "Smack Family Robinson" in an exclusive interview".
  2. "Interview: Harry Melling talks The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Netflix and Liam Neeson with horses". VODzilla.com. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  3. Jardine, Cassandra (6 October 2009). "Harry Potter star: My life after Dudley Dursley". The Telegraph.
  4. Lane, Anthony (19 November 2018). "The Fractious, Frustrating Thrills of 'Widows' [Desperate Measures]". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 November 2018..
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