Harry Potter’s Dudley Dursley actor unrecognisable 20yrs after he first appeared

THE actor who played spoilt brat Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films looks completely different now.

The boy wizard's spoilt cousin was played by Harry Melling in five of the films.

Harry, 32, made his debut in the first Harry Potter movie back in 2001, when he was just 12 and appeared all the way through until 2010's Deathly Hallows part one.

But he started shedding the pounds during filming, and was even close to being recast for the final film - having to wear a fat suit to keep his role.

He has gone on to film in several other films, including three Netflix hits that were released this year, but Harry confessed that few people realise he once played Dudley.

He has now told People that his weight loss wasn't even intentional, and he quite enjoys the surprise side effect of anonymity.

He explained: "I think it was an unconscious thing when it started to happen. I went to drama school when I was 18 and that's kind of where the weight shifted, not for any sort of major need on my side, but it's just something that just happened.

"And I've done a lot since drama school, went to do lots of theater. I think one of the blessings of that sort of stage in my life was the fact that I didn't get recognized.

"I had this history of being part of the films, but also I felt like I had the opportunity to sort of cause a new start, which I think is useful."

But he almost lost the role in the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two, because he had shed so much weight.

In the end, he played the part wearing a fat suit.

After the franchise ended, Harry said: "I can now shed the child actor thing, like the fat, and start a new career, because no one sees me as Dudley."

Harry appears in Netflix's The Old Guard, thriller The Devil All the Time, and 2021 hit, The Queen's Gambit.

His maternal grandfather was Patrick Troughton who played the second Doctor Who.

He was a member of the National Youth Theatre and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In his early career, he starred in stage productions of The Provoked Wife, King John, Antigone, and Plenty.