Harry Melling, best known for his role as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter series, made a striking impression at the Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday night. Now 36, the actor mingled with Hollywood’s elite, showcasing a transformation far removed from his childhood fame.

Rising to prominence as a 12-year-old in the beloved wizarding films, Melling is now forging a new path in his career with a daring role in a provocative gay romance film. This marks a significant departure from his early image and highlights his evolution as an actor.

For the event, Melling donned a striking ensemble, pairing a bold red studded shirt with a sleek black blazer and trousers. His confident appearance on the red carpet was complemented by his interactions with stars like Kate Hudson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, and Seth Rogen, demonstrating his ease among Hollywood’s top talent.

Reflecting on his career shift, Melling shared his thoughts a few years ago while promoting his gothic thriller, “The Pale Blue Eye.” He expressed a desire to distance himself from his Harry Potter past, stating, “You have to move on and get on with your life and pursue the things that interest you… hopefully, the Potter thing will slowly fade away.”

Three years ago, while promoting his gothic thriller, The Pale Blue Eye, Harry expressed his desire to separate himself from the world of Harry Potter. 

He mused: ‘You have to move on and get on with your life and and pursue the things that interest you… hopefully the Potter thing will slowly fade away.’ 

Harry Potter star Harry Melling is worlds away from Dudley Dursley as he mingled with A-listers at the Directors Guild of America Awards

The actor, 36, who shot to fame in the famous wizarding film franchise at the age of 12 in 2001, has recently shed his child star image by promoting his new role in an X-rated gay romance film

Now Harry is taking on his most daring role to date with Pillion, where he plays Colin, a timid gay man who enters into a BDSM relationship with enigmatic biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård).

The movie, which will be released on Friday, received an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, but director Harry Lighton admitted that the version screened at the iconic film festival had been edited down significantly due to its graphic sex scenes.

‘It was purely because I didn’t want to push the audience into feeling they were being deliberately shocked by an image,’ he explained to Variety.

‘So for example, there was one close up of a d**k, a hard d**k … like down the barrel of the lens. And after watching the film on that “f**k-off” screen I thought, yeah, cutting it was probably the right decision!’

Alexander chimed in: ‘There’s definitely a raunchier version of this movie … what you’ve seen is the family friendly version… there’s also the Alexander Skarsgard cut.’

Lighton went on to admit that Pillion may need to undergo even more edits to ensure that it can get a US release.

Harry credits the production’s intimacy coordinator with helping to ensure the sex portion of the scenes ran smoothly.

He said: ‘We had this great guy called Robbie Taylor Hunt, who was fantastic. He very much helped us choreograph the intimate stuff, and also just protected the narrative beats, making sure that we were very clear in what we were achieving in each moment.’

Harry cut a smart figure for the evening in a bold red studded shirt which he teamed with a black blazer and matching trousers

Harry pictured promoting Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets in 2003

The star rubbed shoulders with the likes of Kate Hudson, who stunned in an off the shoulder navy dress which showed off her amazing figure

Leonardo DiCaprio was all smiles in a black suit

Olivia Wilde caught the eye in a long sleeved black leather maxi dress as she posed at the star-studded event

Timothée cut a smart figure in an orange double breasted suit which he teamed with an open collar white shirt; pictured with Josh Safdie 

Alexander told Entertainment Weekly that he and Harry met for the first time a week before shooting as they rehearsed a wrestling scene.

He explained: ‘The only thing we really had to rehearse was the wrestling scene because obviously there were all these moves. So that was the very first time Harry and I met, basically on the wrestling mat two days before we started shooting.’

The intimate scenes had to be carefully planned out because they shot it in a single take: ‘I think it was almost 10 minutes long, so it was very choreographed,’ Alexander said. 

‘We had like 10 or 15 moves in it. I think in the edit, Harry felt like, all right, this is quite delicious and fun, but maybe 10 minutes is a bit too long to stay on the wrestling, and he chopped it up.

‘And then to have sex on top of that. The main event right after. That’s what we call foreplay,’ he joked. 

Harry added: ‘It was a tiring day.’ 

The racy role is worlds away from any of Harry’s former roles.

Harry – who has lost approximately 70lbs since starring in the movies – has had roles in black comedy The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs and Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit.