Harry Melling (actor)

Melling was born in London. His maternal grandfather was actor Patrick Troughton, who had the 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.

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."[2]

In 2014, Melling revealed his playwrighting debut Peddling, at HighTide Festival, in which he also served as the sole, lead character.[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]

In 2020 Melling played Evangelical priest Roy Laferty in the Netflix thriller The Devil All The Time.

In 2020 Melling appears in a Netflix series drama The Queen's Gambit in which he plays Harry Beltik, a friend and one of Beth's competitors in Kentucky.

• Harry Melling at IMDb
• Melling at Mill Hill School
• Agency CV