Harry Melling: ‘People want to hold onto their experiences of me in Harry Potter’

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Melling loved acting with Bale, whom he calls “one of the most generous performers I’ve ever worked with”. Other times I think to myself, ‘Was that necessary?’ But sometimes you have to channel things, and that might take a bit of time; to step off set before doing something that would demand a lot of who you are.” open image in gallery Christian Bale and Harry Melling in ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ The Pale Blue Eye’s director, Scott Cooper, cast Melling in the film after watching him in the Ballad of Buster Scruggs vignette “Meal Ticket” opposite Liam Neeson’s travelling impresario. The fact they said ‘We want this guy’” – he gestures at himself – “‘to play that role in Buster Scruggs’ was a huge moment for me, in terms of their validation.” Melling says he has “no idea” what it is the brothers look for that they might have seen in him. In terms of performance, they leave that up to you to have fun with, which is why you get these very crafted films but these quite eccentric characters living inside them.” open image in gallery Melling as a limbless artist in ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ The Coen brothers also love theatre actors, and Melling did a lot of that – including in The Hothouse and King Lear – after he trained at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which has also produced stars such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Ruth Wilson and Chiwetel Ejiofor.