We hated him in Harry Potter, today he has a better career than most Hogwarts stars

Remember the Harry Potter saga played by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint! Harry, Ron and Hermione were the stars of eight feature films that allowed the audience to see them grow on screen from the age of 11-12 to the age of 22-23. But in each film there was an actor whose career began after that. And his name is Harry Melling.

His name might mean nothing to you if you don’t know Harry Potter inside out, but he was the interpreter for the young hero’s stupid and capricious cousin, Dudley Dursley, who lived at 4 Privet Drive.

An often loathsome character, especially mocked for his weight, Dudley was limited to one spring of comedy, and Harry Melling decided not to pursue a career in that register.

The actor loses weight between Saga Episode 5 and Saga Episode 7 – he’s not in Opus 6 – to the point where he has to wear prosthetics and a padded suit in The Deathly Hallows Part 1 to (poorly) hide his new look.

This weight loss still allows him to on its termsfrom “Almost Oblivion From Zero”. After an impressive physical transformation, it’s hard to recognize Harry Potter’s Dudley beyond this “new melange.”

However, the post-Harry Potter years would not be easy. It took the actor 5 years to land a major role in James Gray’s The Lost City of Z. Appearing on the small screen in two very popular SF titles (Crossroads of Worlds and Worlds at War), he signed a contract with Netflix and filmed a lot for the platform.

We find him in the western sketch “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”, signed by the Coen brothers, as a scientist in the action film “The Old Guard” (2020), adapted from the comic book of the same name. But two titles in 2020 are getting special attention.

First his stunning role as the devil’s enlightened pastor, as well as his performance as a loathsome then-loving chess player and main support for the hero of Checkers.

He then reunited with Joel Coen (No Brother) to portray the heir to the throne Malcolm in The Tragedy of Macbeth (AppleTV+), before returning to Netflix as Edgar Allen Poe alongside Christian Bale (The Pale Blue Eye).

Melling has just finished filming Shoshana, a thriller about two British police officers in pursuit of Zionist freedom fighter Avraham Stern, who is out to oust the British authorities.

Melling’s career choices are interesting and – admittedly – now more interesting than those of Rupert Grint (who stars in Servant but is struggling to land a leading role for his Snatch series and Sick Note) or Emma. Watson – who put his career on “long hiatus”.

As for Daniel Radcliffe, his films are certainly surprising and strange, but they have not been released in French cinemas for several years, except for The Secret of the Lost City (2022), where he plays the villain. He is the star of the series Miracle Workers since 2019, so far it is quite confidential with us.

There is no doubt that Harry Melling, who has already won laurels as a good actor in prestigious projects, is now starting to get access to leading roles, which suggests that his rise has only just begun. If he has a solid career, will he be able to gain the same household name as Radcliffe? To be continued !