RadioTimes.com<\/a> ahead of the film\u2019s worldwide release on Netflix, actor Harry Melling discussed his turn as the legendary Edgar Allan Poe in the film.<\/p> When asked if he did much research on the character or whether he just worked from the script itself, Melling commented: \u201cYeah, I did as much research as I possibly could.<\/p>\n
\u201cI read every single biography I could. I read his works. I read his poetry, which is tough going, certainly his early stuff. I mean, The Raven\u2019s beautiful, obviously. But his early stuff is\u2026 there\u2019s a footnote the size of a page for every single line, and it\u2019s pretty heavy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I felt like I knew so much about him that I went back to the script and I realised, \u2018OK, I kind of need to forget a lot of the stuff that I read\u2019, because the point of this script is the fact that, yes, we\u2019re engaging with the icon of Edgar Allan Poe, but we have this opportunity to investigate his early life and pick and choose the things that were useful.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when he was younger, he was very nomadic, he moved around a lot. He was in London for years. And then he was in Virginia, then he went to Boston \u2013 [he had been] born in Boston. So that told me that maybe we\u2019re dealing with an adult who had no sense of home or place, and that to me was interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, in terms of how [writer and director] Scott [Cooper] wrote this character, who\u2019s performing this idea of being a young poet \u2013 he doesn\u2019t really own it yet. He\u2019s very much in this performance mode, he\u2019s doing flourishes, and he\u2019s trying to impress fellow cadets. And that territory was interesting for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s a balance between doing as much research as you can, and then going, \u2018OK, what can I use that can be potentially fun to play with?’\u201d<\/p>\n
Christian Bale as Augustus Landor and Harry Melling as Edgar Allen Poe in The Pale Blue Eye.<\/span><\/figcaption> Scott Garfield\/Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n The key relationship in the film has to be between the investigator Augustus Landor and Edgar himself as they form an unlikely crime-solving duo, but how did Melling see their relationship?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, my understanding from his point of view was, this is a man who\u2019s spent his whole life searching for a family, for a home, and meeting Landor he realises that this man could be that for him,\u201d revealed Melling.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could call it a father figure, you could call it many things, but actually, for me, it was more a sense of belonging, which is something that I think Edgar searched his entire life for. So that was the thing that anchored me in that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
The actor added: \u201cCertainly those early scenes with Landor, I kept thinking to myself I need to give Landor as much opportunity to fall in love with Edgar as possible. Because if I do that, then we have a relationship and you understand why Landor takes him under his wing because he finds him entertaining but also finds him strange and mysterious.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd all those things had to be there from the off in order for the very intimate father-and-son relationship that begins to form as the film journeys through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harry Melling as Edgar Allen Poe and Lucy Boynton as Lea Marquis in The Pale Blue Eye.<\/span><\/figcaption> Scott Garfield\/Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n Of course, to many, Melling will always be Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter franchise but now he has transformed into an actor of great renown with some very esteemed playmates.<\/p>\n
On roles that have impacted him, Melling noted: \u201cWell, this one particularly feels very special, just in terms of the range that I feel like I\u2019ve had the opportunity to play with, with this kind of character, working with extraordinary extraordinary people like Christian and Scott and the other cast \u2013 just what an opportunity. So this was like a real special moment for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond that, I mean, working with the Coen Brothers \u2013 it was a big honour to get Joel and Ethan to say, \u2018We want Harry to play this role\u2019 and to open up so much opportunity. I certainly know that\u2019s how I came into Scott\u2019s thinking for Edgar, was him seeing The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I thought that was also a very important moment \u2013 for want of a better word \u2013 in my career. But I\u2019ve been very lucky, and the opportunities I\u2019ve had since Potter have always kind of surprised me, and how lucky I have been with the things that I\u2019ve been asked to do, so hopefully that can carry on.\u201d<\/p>
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