Harry Melling is an English actor who came to the limelight for his role as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter film series. He is also popular for his roles in the films The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), The Everlasting Guard (2020), and Godforsaken (2020). In 2020, he rose to fame with Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, in which he played the role of Harry Beltik. In addition to his film roles, Melling has also appeared in various theatre productions, including the five-time Tony Award-nominated play The Hand of God (2016) and his own play The Pedlar (2014).
Wiki/Biography
Harry Melling (full name Harry Edward Melling) was born on Monday, December 13, 1989 (2020 age 31) in London, England. He attended Hendon School and Mill Hill School in London. At the age of ten, he began his acting career with the Harry Potter series of films, in which he played the role of Dudley Dursley. As a teenager, he joined the National Youth Theatre as a theatre artist. Later, he studied acting courses at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He then dropped out of the course and played the role of Swiss Cheese in the theatre production of Mother Courage and Her Children (2009).
Harry Melling’s childhood photos
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 11″
Hair Color: Dark Ash Blonde
Eye color: Lavender grey
Family and Race
Parents and siblings
His father, Brian Melling, is a graphic designer, and his mother, Joanna Troughton, is a children’s book author. His brother, Jack Melling, is a professional communicator.
Harry Melling’s mother
Harry Melling’s brother
His maternal grandfather, Patrick Troughton, was an English actor best known for his role in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who (1963), in which he played the second Doctor. Harry is the nephew of British actors David Troughton and Michael Troughton, and a cousin of English cricketer Jim Troughton and actor Sam Troughton.
Relationships, Wife and Children
We know very little about his relationships.
Profession
As a theatre artist
In 2009, Harry Melling played the role of Swiss Cheese in the play Mother Courage and Her Children at the Royal National Theatre. In 2011, he played the role of Sir Benjamin Buckbitt in the play The School for Scandal at the Barbican Centre for Performing Arts in London.
Harry Melling, School for Scandal (2011)
In 2014, he came to the limelight for his debut screenplay, Peddling, which premiered at the High Tide Film Festival in New York. The play was inspired by an experience in Merlin’s childhood when a young boy knocked on the door of his home in North London, trying to sell them household items.
Harry Melling performs his one-man show “Peddling” (2014)
He subsequently starred in several plays, such as The Angry Brigade (2014), The Hand of God (2016), and King Lear (2016).
television
Harry Melling made his television debut in the 2010 TV series Merlin, in which he played the role of Gilli.
Harry Melling
In 2010, he played the role of Robert Brown in BBC One’s Just William. Later, he appeared in several TV series such as Garrow’s Law (2009-2011), The Musketeers (2014-2016) and War of the Worlds (2019). In 2019, he played Sysselman, a fussy man in charge of the port city of Trollesund, in the TV series His Dark Materials trilogy.
Harry Melling, His Dark Materials (2019)
Movie
In 2001, Harry Melling made his screen debut in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, playing Harry Potter’s spoiled cousin Dudley Dursley. He played the role of Dudley Dursley in five Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2010.
Harry Melling in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Later, he appeared in the films The Lost City of Z (2016) and The Lightning (2017). In 2018, he gained huge recognition for his role in the film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, in which he played the role of Harrison, a limbless public speaker.
Harry Melling, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
He also received critical acclaim for his performance in the film The Immortals (2020), in which he played the villain Steven Merrick, the wealthy CEO of a pharmaceutical empire who wants to find the secret to immortality
Harry Melling, The Ever Given (2020)
In the same year, he played the role of Roy Laferty in the psychological thriller Godforsaken. Harry Melling became famous with an iconic breakthrough scene in the film: fanatical preacher Roy Laferty dumps a live spider on his face during a sermon.
Harry Melling, The Godforsaken Place (2020)
OTT/Network Series
In 2020, Harry made his digital screen debut in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit as Harry Beltik, an analytical but enthusiastic chess player who helps Beth Harmon (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) get back on track after she hit rock bottom.
Harry Melling, The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Facts/Trivia
- Harry Melling’s maternal grandfather, Patrick Troughton, was also an alumnus of Mill Hill School in London. Patrick Troughton was a student at the school in the 1930s. Harry Melling is not the only Mill Hill alumnus to appear in the Harry Potter films. Stanislav Yanevsky, who played Viktor Krum in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), was also an alumnus of Mill Hill School in London.
- He was nominated for the International Golden Carp Film Award (2019) for Best Ensemble Performance for the film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018).
- Merlin lost considerable weight during the filming of the Harry Potter films, and in an interview he revealed that he ended up wearing a fat coat in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One (2010) in order to avoid being recast.
- In 2016, Harry Melling spent a week at the puppet school to star in the hit Broadway play, The Hand of God. In the play, Melling played the role of Jason, a Bible Belt teenager who is controlled by a foul-mouthed puppet, Tyrone. In an interview, speaking about his experience at the puppet school, he said,
The real trick is listening to what the puppet is saying to you as if it’s completely detached from you. This was especially important for the character of Jason because he had to believe that he was being controlled by Talon.”
Josh Brener performing a puppet in the play “Hand of God” (2016)
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education