Harry Melling (actor)
Encyclopedia
Harry Edward Melling is an English
actor
best known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films
.
He is the grandson of Patrick Troughton
, who starred as the Second Doctor
in the science fiction series Doctor Who
from 1966 to 1969. He is also the nephew of actors David Troughton
and Michael Troughton
and the first cousin of cricketer Jim Troughton
and actor Sam Troughton
.
and then Mill Hill School
. He trained at the Sue Nieto Theatre School in North-West London and is currently attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
, where his productions include The Provoked Wife, King John, Antigone, Plenty and Sisterhood. He is a member of the National Youth Theatre
.
as Harry Potter
's bullying and spoiled cousin Dudley Dursley.
In 2009 he made his stage debut as "Swiss Cheese" in a revival of Mother Courage and her Children
at the National Theatre
, alongside Fiona Shaw
who played his mother Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films
. He also appears in an episode of the BBC Series Merlin
, "The Sorcerer's Shadow", where he played a young warlock named Gilli, who intends to use magic to help him win Camelot's legendary tournament. He now has a part as Robert Brown in the new BBC series Just William.
On 11 October 2009, it was announced that Melling had lost so much weight since his last appearance in Harry Potter that he was now "unrecognizable", and that his role as Dudley Dursley was almost recast for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. However, he indeed reprised the role by wearing a fat suit to depict the character's weight. Melling 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."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films
Harry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
.
He is the grandson of Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
, who starred as the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
in the science fiction series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
from 1966 to 1969. He is also the nephew of actors David Troughton
David Troughton
David Troughton is an English actor, best known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage.- Biography :David Troughton was born in Hampstead, North London. He comes from a theatrical family: he is the son of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father...
and Michael Troughton
Michael Troughton
Michael Troughton is an English actor and teacher. He is the son of actor Patrick Troughton and the younger brother of David Troughton....
and the first cousin of cricketer Jim Troughton
Jim Troughton
Jamie Oliver Troughton is an English cricketer. He is mainly an attack-minded left-handed batsman but also an occasional slow left-arm orthodox bowler...
and actor Sam Troughton
Sam Troughton
Sam Troughton is a British actor. He is the son of David Troughton and the grandson of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton. His younger brother is Warwickshire cricketer Jim Troughton...
.
Early life
Melling attended Hendon SchoolHendon School
Hendon School is a mixed comprehensive secondary school in the London Borough of Barnet. It specialises in languages, offering Japanese amongst others to its students.-Overview:...
and then Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School, in Mill Hill, London, is a coeducational independent school for boarding and day pupils aged 13–18. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an organisation of public schools in the United Kingdom....
. He trained at the Sue Nieto Theatre School in North-West London and is currently attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
, where his productions include The Provoked Wife, King John, Antigone, Plenty and Sisterhood. He is a member of the National Youth Theatre
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
.
Career
Melling appeared in five of the Harry Potter filmsHarry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
as Harry Potter
Harry Potter (character)
Harry James Potter is the title character and main protagonist of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The majority of the books' plot covers seven years in the life of the orphan Potter who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard...
's bullying and spoiled cousin Dudley Dursley.
In 2009 he made his stage debut as "Swiss Cheese" in a revival of Mother Courage and her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin...
at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, alongside Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
who played his mother Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films
Harry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
. He also appears in an episode of the BBC Series Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
, "The Sorcerer's Shadow", where he played a young warlock named Gilli, who intends to use magic to help him win Camelot's legendary tournament. He now has a part as Robert Brown in the new BBC series Just William.
On 11 October 2009, it was announced that Melling had lost so much weight since his last appearance in Harry Potter that he was now "unrecognizable", and that his role as Dudley Dursley was almost recast for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. However, he indeed reprised the role by wearing a fat suit to depict the character's weight. Melling 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."
Films
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the Harry Potter film series,...
(2001): Dudley Dursley - Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
(2002): Dudley Dursley - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 fantasy film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the third instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by Chris Columbus, David Heyman and Mark Radcliffe...
(2004): Dudley Dursley - Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Michael Goldenberg and produced by David Heyman and David Barron...
(2007): Dudley Dursley - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010): Dudley Dursley
Television
- Friends and CrocodilesFriends and CrocodilesFriends and Crocodiles is a one-off British television drama production, written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and first broadcast on BBC One on 15 January 2006.-Overview:...
(2005): Young Oliver - MerlinMerlin (TV series)Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...
, season 3, episode 11, "The Sorcerer's Shadow" (2010): Gilli - Just WilliamJust WilliamJust William is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for numerous television series, films and radio adaptations...
(2010): Robert - Garrows Law (TV series), season 3 (2011)
Video games
- Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a video game that is based on the fifth instalment of the popular Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling and the film of the same name, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Boy Advance and Mac OS X...
(2007): Dudley Dursley
Theatre
- When Did You Last See My Mother at the Trafalgar Studios (2011) : Ian
- Bedroom, Dens and Other Forms Of Magc at the Theatre 503 (2010)
- The School for ScandalThe School for ScandalThe School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
at the Barbican CentreBarbican CentreThe Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
(2011) : Sir Benjamin Backbite - Women Beware WomenWomen Beware WomenWomen Beware Women is a Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657.-Date:The date of authorship of the play is deeply uncertain. Scholars have estimated its origin anywhere from 1612 to 1627; 1623–24 has been plausibly suggested...
at the National Theatre (2010): Young Ward - Mother Courage and her ChildrenMother Courage and Her ChildrenMother Courage and Her Children is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin...
at the National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
(2009): Swiss Cheese