Harry Melling
Harry Melling | |
|---|---|
| File:Harry Melling Venice (cropped).jpg Melling at the 2018 Venice Film Festival | |
| Born | Harry Edward Melling 17 March 1989[1][2][3][4] London, England |
| Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter |
| Relatives | Patrick Troughton (grandfather)[5] David Troughton (uncle) Michael Troughton (uncle) Sam Troughton (cousin) Jim Troughton (cousin) William Troughton (cousin) |
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Harry Edward Melling (born 17 March 1989) is an English actor known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films (2001–2010) and Harry Beltik in The Queen's Gambit (2020).
Early life
[edit | edit source]Harry Edward Melling was born on 17 March[1][2] 1989 in London, England.[3][4] His maternal grandfather was actor Patrick Troughton.[5] He studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[2][6]
Career
[edit | edit source]
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. He was first cast in the role at age 10, in 1999, and played the character until 2010 and his appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.[2]
In 2009, Melling 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 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.[7] In 2009, it was announced that Melling had lost so much weight since his last appearance in Harry Potter that he was now "unrecognisable". The role of Dudley was almost recast for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, but Melling was able to reprise the part by wearing a fat suit. He said of 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."[8]
In 2014, Melling made his playwriting debut at HighTide Festival with his one-man show Peddling.[9]
In 2018, Melling starred alongside Liam Neeson in the Coen brothers' Western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.[6][10] 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.[11]
In 2020, Melling played evangelical preacher Roy Laferty in the Netflix thriller The Devil All The Time. That same year, he appeared in the Netflix series drama The Queen's Gambit as Harry Beltik, a chess player, friend, and competitor of Beth's in Kentucky.[6]
Melling appeared in a Coen brother film a second time as Malcolm in The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021).[6]
In 2022, he had a starring role as a young Edgar Allan Poe in the film The Pale Blue Eye.[6][10][12][13]
In 2025, he starred alongside Alexander Skarsgård in Pillion, a romantic comedy produced by Element Pictures.[14]
Filmography
[edit | edit source]Film
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Dudley Dursley | |
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | ||
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | ||
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | ||
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | ||
| 2016 | The Lost City of Z | William Barclay | |
| 2017 | The Current War | Benjamin Vale | |
| 2018 | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs | Harrison | Segment: "Meal Ticket" |
| The Keeper | Sergeant Smythe | ||
| 2019 | Waiting for the Barbarians | Garrison Soldier 4 | |
| 2020 | The Old Guard | Steven Merrick | |
| Say Your Prayers | Tim | ||
| The Devil All the Time | Roy Laferty | ||
| 2021 | The Tragedy of Macbeth | Malcolm | |
| 2022 | Please Baby Please | Arthur | |
| The Pale Blue Eye | Edgar Allan Poe | ||
| 2023 | Shoshana | Geoffrey J. Morton | |
| 2024 | Harvest | Charles Kent | |
| 2025 | Pillion | Colin | |
| TBA | Butterfly Jam | Post-production | |
| Stuffed | Bernie | Post-production |
Television
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Friends and Crocodiles | Young Oliver | Television film |
| 2010 | Merlin | Gilli | Episode: "The Sorcerer's Shadow" |
| Just William | Robert Brown | 4 episodes | |
| 2011 | Garrow's Law | George Pinnock | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Joe Mistry | Joe | Television film |
| 2016 | The Musketeers | Bastien | Episode: "Fool's Gold" |
| 2019 | The War of the Worlds | Artilleryman | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| His Dark Materials | Sysselman | Episode: "Armour" | |
| 2020 | The Queen's Gambit | Harry Beltik | Miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 2024 | Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light | Thomas Wriothesley |
Stage
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Mother Courage and her Children | Swiss Cheese | Royal National Theatre |
| 2010 | Bedroom, Dens and Other Forms of Magic | Theatre503 | |
| Women Beware Women | Young Ward | Royal National Theatre | |
| 2011 | The School for Scandal | Sir Benjamin Backbite | Barbican Centre |
| When Did You Last See My Mother? | Ian | Trafalgar Studios | |
| 2012 | I Am a Camera | Christopher Isherwood | Southwark Playhouse |
| 2013 | Smack Family Robinson | Sean Robinson | Rose Theatre, Kingston |
| The Hothouse | Lamb | Trafalgar Studios | |
| King Lear | Fool | Minerva Theatre, Chichester | |
| 2014 | King Lear | Fool | Brooklyn Academy of Music |
| peddling | Boy | HighTide Festival | |
| The Angry Brigade | Morris Commander Prophet Snitch Manager Jim |
Theatre Royal, Plymouth Oxford Playhouse Warwick Arts Centre Watford Palace Theatre | |
| 2016 | Hand to God | Jason/Tyrone | Vaudeville Theatre, London |
| King Lear | Edgar | The Old Vic | |
| 2017 | Jam | Kane | Finborough Theatre |
Video game
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Dudley Dursley | Voice |
Accolades
[edit | edit source]| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Valladolid International Film Festival | Best Actor | Pillion | Won | [15] |
| Thessaloniki Film Festival | Best Actor | Won | [16] | ||
| Stockholm International Film Festival | Best Actor | Won | [17] | ||
| British Independent Film Awards | Best Lead Performance | Nominated | [18] |
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- 1989 births
- Living people
- 21st-century English male actors
- Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
- English male child actors
- English male film actors
- English male stage actors
- English male television actors
- Male actors from London
- National Youth Theatre members
- People educated at Mill Hill School
- Troughton family