Harry Melling discusses his post “Potter” stage career and “Potter” stage show

by · January 16, 2014

Harry Melling, more well known to Harry Potter fans as Dudley Dursley, Harry’s unpleasant cousin, has spoken recently about his blossoming stage career since Potter. He has appeared on the West End already, in Mother Courage and Her Children, where his stage mother was once again Fiona Shaw, and The Hothouse, a Harold Pinter play.

Now, Harry is making his New York debut, playing the Fool in King Lear. In an interview with Theater Mania, Harry spoke about this new challenge and talks about the character of the Fool:

I’ve always been fascinated by characters who are extremely dangerous – that are the truth tellers throughout the play. Although they can potentially come across silly, there’s a well of truth that he almost throws like daggers towards Lear, to try and steer him back onto a path of reason. Angus already made a choice by casting him young, which is nice because that allows me to get away with things that perhaps an older Fool wouldn’t. Most important [I didn’t want to] make him into a dancing, juggling, annoying presence on stage.

He also talks about a play that he has written himself that is to be staged later this year, called Peddling:

It’s one person on stage talking. It started out as a story that I experienced when I was eight years old. This door-to-door salesman came around. We said we weren’t buying anything, and he said, “OK, thank you,” walked away, and for the next two hours, threw gravel stones at our house and completely lost it. I’ve always been completely fascinated about how you get to that point. I wondered what happened to him after, where he went to and where he’s been. That whole narrative has been living in my head for over a decade.

On the recently announced Potter stage show, Harry said,

I think it’s great. I have no idea how it’s going to work, tonally or stylistically, but it will [work] because the narrative is so interesting. I’ll be there, definitely. [pause] I probably won’t be in it, but I’ll definitely be there.

King Lear is on at the BAM Harvey Theater in New York from January 7–February 9. Get your tickets now!

Have you seen Harry on stage already, or are you planning a trip to see King Lear? If there was a way for Harry to be in the new Potter stage show, would you want him to be? Let us know in the comments!