Harry Melling is an English actor best known internationally for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter film series. Born in London in 1989, he began his screen career as a child and appeared in five of the franchise’s eight films. After stepping away from the wizarding world, Melling developed a varied film career that moved into historical dramas, independent cinema, thrillers, action films, and literary adaptations. His performances in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Devil All the Time, The Old Guard, and The Tragedy of Macbeth demonstrated a striking range beyond his childhood role. He later took on demanding parts including Edgar Allan Poe in The Pale Blue Eye and Arthur in Please Baby Please. His filmography has continued to expand with acclaimed independent productions such as Pillion, Harvest, Shoshana, Butterfly Jam, and Stuffed.
2001 — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Harry Melling made his feature-film debut in 2001 as Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States. Directed by Chris Columbus, the fantasy adventure stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Griffiths, and Fiona Shaw alongside Melling. Dudley is Harry Potter’s spoiled and bullying cousin, whose family provides Harry with a miserable home life before he discovers the wizarding world. The film launched one of the most successful film franchises in history and gave Melling his first major screen role.
2002 — Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Melling returned as Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002. Chris Columbus again directed the fantasy adventure, with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Griffiths, and Fiona Shaw among the principal cast. Dudley remains a comic but unpleasant presence in Harry’s life, reinforcing the difficult relationship between Harry and the Dursley family. The film continued Melling’s early association with the franchise while giving him another appearance alongside the young ensemble cast.
2004 — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
In 2004, Melling appeared as Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, the fantasy film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and Michael Gambon. Dudley’s screen time is smaller than in the earlier films, but his encounter with Harry at the Dursley home remains memorable. The movie marked a tonal shift toward darker and more mature storytelling within the Harry Potter series.
2007 — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Melling reprised Dudley Dursley for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2007. Directed by David Yates, the fantasy adventure features Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton, and Ralph Fiennes. Dudley experiences a major turning point when he encounters Dementors while walking home with Harry, resulting in one of the character’s most significant moments in the series. Melling’s performance also reflected how dramatically his appearance had changed since the earlier films.
2010 — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
In 2010, Melling made his final regular feature-film appearance as Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. David Yates directed the film, which stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Ralph Fiennes. Dudley has a brief but meaningful farewell scene with Harry as the Dursley family leaves Privet Drive for safety. The appearance concluded Melling’s nine-year association with the Harry Potter movies and his childhood role as Harry’s cousin.
2016 — The Lost City of Z
After a lengthy break from feature films, Melling returned to cinema in 2016 with The Lost City of Z, directed by James Gray. He played William Barclay in the historical adventure drama, which stars Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, and Angus Macfadyen. The film follows British explorer Percy Fawcett and his repeated expeditions into the Amazon in search of an ancient civilization. Melling’s supporting role was an early indication of his transition from child performer to more mature character actor.
2017 — The Current War
Melling appeared as Benjamin Vale in The Current War, a historical drama directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison, Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse, Nicholas Hoult as Nikola Tesla, and Tom Holland as Samuel Insull. It dramatizes the competition between Edison and Westinghouse over the future of electrical power in the late 19th century. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 before undergoing a complicated distribution history and later receiving its wider theatrical release in a revised form.
2018 — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
In 2018, Melling appeared in Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, an anthology Western composed of six separate stories about the American frontier. He played Harrison, the artist in the segment titled “Meal Ticket,” opposite Liam Neeson. The film combines Western drama, dark comedy, tragedy, and satire, with each chapter telling a different story about life in the Old West. Melling’s unusual and physically demanding performance helped establish his post-Harry Potter reputation for taking distinctive character roles.
2018 — The Keeper
Melling also appeared in The Keeper, the biographical sports drama about German football goalkeeper Bert Trautmann. Directed by Marcus H. Rosenmüller, the film stars David Kross as Trautmann, with Freya Mavor, John Henshaw, and Harry Melling among the main cast. Melling plays Sergeant Smythe in a story that follows Trautmann’s journey from German prisoner of war to legendary Manchester City goalkeeper. The film is notable for exploring postwar reconciliation alongside one of football’s most remarkable personal stories.
2019 — Waiting for the Barbarians
Waiting for the Barbarians premiered in 2019 at the Venice Film Festival, where Melling appeared as Garrison Soldier 4. Directed by Ciro Guerra and based on J. M. Coetzee’s acclaimed novel, the historical drama stars Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, and Gana Bayarsaikhan. The story follows a magistrate at an isolated frontier settlement whose worldview is challenged by the arrival of a ruthless military officer. Although Melling has a supporting role, the film placed him in a serious literary drama alongside an internationally recognized ensemble.
2020 — The Old Guard
Melling took on a more contemporary genre role in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Old Guard in 2020. He played Steven Merrick, the ambitious pharmaceutical executive seeking to exploit the biological secrets of a group of immortal warriors led by Charlize Theron’s Andy. The action fantasy film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, and Luca Marinelli. Released on Netflix, the movie gave Melling the opportunity to play a calculating antagonist in a large-scale comic-book adaptation.
2020 — Waiting for the Barbarians
The wider release of Waiting for the Barbarians took place in 2020 after its 2019 Venice premiere. Melling’s credited character is a member of the garrison serving at the isolated frontier outpost, placing him within the military environment that drives much of the story’s conflict. Ciro Guerra’s film is a historical drama built around colonial power, violence, fear, and moral responsibility, with Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, and Robert Pattinson leading the cast. Because the film premiered in 2019 but received its commercial release in 2020, it is sometimes listed under either year depending on the filmography source.
2020 — Say Your Prayers
Melling played Tim in Say Your Prayers, a British crime comedy directed by Harry Michell. The film follows two devout brothers whose religious mission becomes increasingly complicated as they attempt to carry out a violent plan. Melling stars alongside Tom Brooke and Denis O’Hare in a darkly comic story that mixes crime, religion, and family tensions. The film is a notable example of the smaller independent productions that became an important part of Melling’s post-Harry Potter career.
2020 — The Devil All the Time
In The Devil All the Time, Melling delivered one of his most striking dramatic performances as Roy Laferty. Directed by Antonio Campos and based on Donald Ray Pollock’s novel, the Netflix crime drama features Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, and Mia Wasikowska. Roy is an eccentric traveling preacher whose religious obsession and increasingly unstable behavior contribute to the film’s bleak chain of events. Melling’s disturbing performance demonstrated just how far his acting career had moved from the comic childhood role of Dudley Dursley.
2021 — The Tragedy of Macbeth
Melling played Malcolm in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, released in 2021. The black-and-white Shakespeare adaptation stars Denzel Washington as Macbeth and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth, with Brendan Gleeson, Kathryn Hunter, and Corey Hawkins also featured. Malcolm is the son of the murdered King Duncan and becomes central to the struggle to restore legitimate rule to Scotland. The film’s stark visual design and theatrical performances made it one of Melling’s most prestigious dramatic projects.
2022 — Please Baby Please
In 2022, Melling starred as Arthur in Amanda Kramer’s surreal musical drama Please Baby Please. Andrea Riseborough plays Arthur’s wife Suze, while the cast also includes Karl Glusman, Demi Moore, and Cole Escola. The story follows the couple after they witness a murder by a gang of leather-clad greasers, triggering an unsettling exploration of gender, sexuality, desire, and identity. Melling’s performance as the sensitive and increasingly confused Arthur placed him at the center of one of the more unconventional films in his career.
2022 — The Pale Blue Eye
Melling portrayed the young Edgar Allan Poe in Scott Cooper’s 2022 mystery thriller The Pale Blue Eye. Christian Bale stars as retired detective Augustus Landor, who investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy with the assistance of Melling’s cadet Poe. The film blends historical fiction, gothic horror, crime, and mystery while imagining a young Poe as an intelligent but eccentric observer. Melling’s transformation into the future literary legend became one of the film’s central performances and further established his ability to carry complex character roles.
2023 — Shoshana
Melling appeared as Geoffrey Morton in Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, a historical thriller released in 2023. The film stars Douglas Booth and Irina Starshenbaum and is set amid the political turmoil of British Mandatory Palestine during the 1930s. Its story combines romance, history, and political conflict as British police officer Tom Wilkin becomes involved with Shoshana Borochov. Melling’s supporting role places him within the film’s portrait of an increasingly tense and divided society.
2024 — Harvest
Melling played Master Kent in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest, a visually distinctive historical folk-horror drama that premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2024. The film stars Caleb Landry Jones as Walter Thirsk, with Melling portraying Charles Kent, the lord of the manor and Walter’s childhood friend. Adapted from Jim Crace’s novel, the story takes place in an unnamed medieval village confronted by outsiders, superstition, and the disruptive arrival of modern ideas. Harvest was notable for its unusual mixture of tragicomedy, folk horror, Western elements, and social commentary.
2025 — Pillion
Melling took the lead role of Colin in Pillion, a romantic dark comedy-drama written and directed by Harry Lighton. The film pairs him with Alexander Skarsgård and follows a reserved man whose life changes after entering an unconventional relationship with a confident biker. Pillion premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and later received a UK cinema release in November 2025. The film became an important later-career showcase for Melling, with his performance receiving considerable critical attention alongside Skarsgård’s.
2026 — Butterfly Jam
Melling appears as Marat in Kantemir Balagov’s Butterfly Jam, an English-language drama set within a Circassian community in New Jersey. The film stars Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough, Talha Akdogan, and Melling, and explores family, masculinity, identity, and the pressures surrounding a struggling immigrant community. Balagov directed the film in his English-language feature debut, and Butterfly Jam premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Melling’s Marat is a volatile figure within the story, adding another distinctive character to his increasingly varied filmography.
2026 — Stuffed
Melling stars as Bernie in Stuffed, a dark musical romance directed by Theo Rhys. He plays a lonely man who volunteers to become the human specimen of taxidermist Araminta, played by Jodie Comer, before their strange arrangement develops into an unexpected romance. The film combines musical, horror, comedy, and romantic elements and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026. As one of Melling’s most unusual recent projects, Stuffed continues his move toward unconventional independent characters and genre-bending cinema.
Conclusion
Harry Melling’s movies by year show a career that has developed far beyond his childhood role as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter series. After returning to feature films with The Lost City of Z, he steadily built a diverse body of work spanning historical dramas, literary adaptations, action films, psychological thrillers, independent cinema, and experimental productions. Roles in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Devil All the Time, The Old Guard, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and The Pale Blue Eye have demonstrated his considerable range. His more recent work in Shoshana, Harvest, Pillion, Butterfly Jam, and Stuffed further confirms his reputation as a distinctive character actor willing to take on unconventional material.
