‘Harry Potter’ actor wants to be the next ‘Doctor Who’: Harry Melling plans to follow granddad Patrick Troughton’s footsteps
“Harry Potter” actor Harry Melling is done playing the spoilt Potter cousin, Dudley Dursley. The 26-year-old English actor has now set his sights on flying the Tardis, hoping to follow his grandfather Patrick Troughton’s footsteps and become the next star of “Doctor Who.”
Potterheads and Whovians perhaps already knew that Melling hail from a distinguished line of athletes and thespians. With his grandfather having had such an illustrious role (Troughton is none other than the Second Doctor), Melling understandably wants to experience the same.
“I would love to be the next new Doctor,” he was quoted by Express.co.uk as saying. “I am not the person in charge of that but I would love to keep it in the family. It probably won’t happen as I might need to be a bit older. I’ve really enjoyed doing theatre but getting Doctor Who in the family again would be great.”
There were reports that the current and 13th Doctor, Peter Capaldi, would be leaving his role after the next season, which would hit TV screens in 2017. If that happens, the new showrunner, Chris Chibnall would start anew and get himself a new Time Lord. There have been several names thrown around to take over the Tardis, from Idris Elba, Hayley Atwell and James McAvoy to Richard Ayoade, Benedict Cumberbatch and even “Harry Potter” star Rupert Grint.
Read: Stars who could become the next Time Lord/Lady [PHOTOS]
“Game of Thrones” star Maisie Williams also volunteered to take over the role, that is if Elba wouldn’t be able to get it.
As a seasoned theatre actor, Melling becoming the next Doctor isn’t a far-fetched idea. He isn’t also too young to wield a sonic screwdriver. The 12th Doctor, Matt Smith, was only 27, the youngest actor to play the character, when he was cast in 2009.
As for keeping the role in the family, the 5th and the 10th Doctor already first laid claim to that. Fifth Doctor Peter Davison’s daughter, Georgia Moffet, is married to David Tennant, the tenth incarnation of the Gallifreyan Time Lord. Tennant and Moffet met when the latter guest starred as the Doctor’s daughter in the 2008 aptly titled episode “The Doctor’s Daughter.”
Melling is starring in the highly acclaimed West End play “Hand to God,” which features a Texas teenager using his “potentially satanic hand puppet” as a means to spread the gospel.
“I was scared by Hand of God but in the end I felt comfortable enough to do it,” Melling said of the play, which has been garnering rave reviews from both critics and theatre fans “My parents came to watch and loved it. “They all come from an acting family.”
YouTube/Official London Theatre
