Harry Melling, who played Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter film series, has opened up about why he doesn't step back into the wizarding world by rewatching the movies.
Throughout the series, Melling was known as the notoriously spoilt Muggle son of Vernon and Petunia Dursley (played by Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw) and the unsympathetic cousin of Harry Potter.
Following the Return to Hogwarts special which aired on New Year's Day, Melling admitted in a recent interview with Radio Times (via OK!) that while he reflects fondly on the role, he finds it healthier not to look back on it too long.
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"Looking back at those films, it feels like watching old VHS tapes, like family videos," he said.
"It's a really interesting relationship I have with the Potters because I’m immensely proud of being in something as gigantic as that. But at the same time, I feel like, for my sanity, I have to try not to look back, and to just keep moving forward."
It's perhaps not surprising that Melling was missing from the Return to Hogwarts reunion, as he has dedicated the years following playing Dudley actively distancing himself from the role.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2020, he explained, "I think I was very lucky that I was allowed to move away from Dudley.
"When you start as a child actor, I think there are certain stigmas you get from that, and I never really wanted to engage in them. I just wanted to continue doing work and go into drama school as a sort of, not a conscious way of doing it, but maybe a way of bridging that gap."
Melling's most notable latest project saw him appear in director Joel Coen's Shakespeare adaptation, The Tragedy of Macbeth — where he starred alongside acting legends Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.
HBO recently released a reunion show, titled Return to Hogwarts, to celebrate Harry Potter's 20th anniversary, which is available to stream on Sky and NOW.
