A Harry Potter star is expanding his post-Wizarding World film resume with more diverse parts, following the announcement that he will play a submissive in a ‘kinky’ LGBT thriller.
Harry Melling, 35, rose to prominence at the age of 12 as Harry’s wicked cousin Dudley Dursley in the eight-film franchise that debuted in 2001.
He has since played roles on stage and screen in a variety of productions, including Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, the Coen brothers’ Western anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and the irreverent religion-based puppet comedy Hand to God on London’s West End.
His most recent film, Pillion, is possibly the furthest he has departed from Potter to yet.
The actor will portray a weedy wallflower opposite True Blood and The Northman star Alexander Skarsgård’s dom in a film described as a “fun and filthy romance with heart.”
In his feature-length debut, Bafta-nominated filmmaker Harry Lighton directs Melling’s character Colin, who is letting life pass him by until he meets Ray (Skarsgård), an extraordinarily attractive leader of a motorcycling club who takes him on as his submissive.
The term “pillion” refers to the secondary padded seat for the passenger behind the main motorbike rider.
Ray uproots Colin from his mundane suburban life, introducing him to a group of kinky, queer bikers and, as the synopsis puts it, ‘taking all sorts of virginities along the way’.
But as Colin delves deeper into Ray’s world, he begins to wonder if the life of a 24/7 submissive is truly for him.
Pillion, based on Adam Mars-Jones’ prize-winning novel Box Hill, is planned to shoot in the United Kingdom this summer following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Melling most recently appeared onscreen as a youthful version of Edgar Allan Poe opposite Christian Bale in 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye, and she also made an impact as disturbed preacher Roy in 2020’s star-studded but disturbing drama The Devil All the Time.
Many of his other Potter co-stars have continued their acting careers, with Daniel Radcliffe recently receiving a Tony nomination for his Broadway musical Merrily We Role Along, and Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, recording music.
Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the films, is now in season two of Romesh Ranganathan’s BBC comedy series Avoidance.
In a recent interview, Lewis admitted that he despised one of his character’s most famous lines, which is frequently quoted at him.
‘Recently, I’ve noticed a lot of love for the, “Oh my god, I’ve killed Harry Potter!” line, which I detest,’ he stated, bringing up the line from the fourth film, The Goblet of Fire.
‘I really hate that line. I don’t hate it because of its writing. I mean, it’s funny. I thought my delivery was… I just didn’t commit to it.’
Pillion is yet to receive a release date.
Source My Celebrity Life.
