People Can’t Believe This ‘Devil All The Time’ Character Is Dudley Dursley From Harry Potter

From Men's Health

• Actor Harry Melling is best known for his role as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films during his youth, but his appearance in Netflix's The Devil All The Time has some viewers stunned.

• Not only does he look different from what many who haven't been paying attention remember, but he's playing a deeply messed up character.

• He goes all in in The Devil All The Time. "Watching THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME, and the kid who played Dudley Dursley is sure leaving it all out on the field," one person said.

The draw to watch The Devil All The Time was simple: Spider-Man (Tom Holland) vs. Batman (Robert Pattinson) vs. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) in a sprawling, epic, southern gothic tale of murder and the depravity of humanity. But the cast also included a number of other major faces people didn't expect to see, including Mad Max Fury Road star Riley Keough, Zero Dark Thirty star Jason Clarke, and IT star Bill Skarsgård. But perhaps the most surprising turn in the film from director Antonio Campos comes from actor Harry Melling, who plays Roy Laferty, a truly demented preacher.

You may not know Harry Melling by name, but you'll almost certainly recognize him from one of his previous roles—as Harry Potter's cousin, Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films (which also makes Devil a quasi-Goblet of Fire reunion, given Robert Pattinson's role as Cedric Diggory). Given that the Potter films wrapped up nearly a decade ago, it should come as no surprise that Melling looks different, and is taking on different roles, but nonetheless people are stunned.

Laferty is one of the darkest, most messed up characters in a movie all about messed up characters, situations, and circumstances. From the first moment we see him leading a sermon, you can tell that a screw or two are loose. And that feeling is confirmed later in his opening scene, when, as a part of his sermon, he drops a jar of spiders all over himself. Screws confirmed to be loose.

It's not the first time Melling has made a surprising—and disturbing—appearance on Netflix. Back in July, the 31-year-old actor appeared opposite Charlize Theron and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Netflix's superhero action flick The Old Guard as the movie's villain, Merrick, a ruthless Martin Shkreli-esque pharma-bro.

Melling does a great job in The Devil All The Time, believably playing a nuanced version of a deeply, deeply depraved character (and doing so while sharing scenes with powerhouse actors like Skarsgård and Mia Wasikowska). Fans have been shocked that this outrageous spider preacher and Harry Potter's spoiled rotten cousin are the same person—but once they were able to move past that shock, they've been pretty in awe of how good a performance Melling really gave.

You Might Also Like

• This Workout Torches Fat in Under 10 Minutes

• How to Cool Down After Your Hardest Workouts

• What’s the Deal With Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss?