Harry Melling

Being the grandson of a time lord is probably ideal preparation for playing the cousin of a boy wizard. Harry Melling's grandfather was Patrick Troughton, who played Doctor Who between 1966 and 1969. With a couple of uncles and a cousin also in show business, Melling unsurprisingly attended the Sue Nieto Theater School in North London and came to the attention of the National Youth Theatre. When he was 10 years old, his mother sent his photograph to the producers planning the screen adaptations of JK Rowling's bestselling novels, hoping he would get some extra work. However, a year later, Melling was called back to audition for the role of Harry's bloated cousin Dudley Dursley and he was cast alongside Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw, who played his parents Vernon and Petunia. Having debuted in 2001 in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," Melling maintained his bulk to return over the next six years in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." But, as Dudley didn't feature in the next adventure, he slimmed down from 16 to 11 stone and had to be fitted with a fat suit to reprise the part in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1." Since leaving Privet Drive, Melling has studied at LAMDA and combined acclaimed stage performances with TV roles in "Just William" and "Garrow's Law," and the lead in the 2011 short "Sam."