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Harry Melling 'doesn't know what the Coen brothers see in him'

Harry Melling has discussed his experience of working with Joel Coen credit:Bang Showbiz
Harry Melling has discussed his experience of working with Joel Coen credit:Bang Showbiz

Harry Melling has "no idea" what the Coen brothers see in him as an actor.

The 33-year-old star - who appears in the Joel Coen-directed 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' - admits that he's not entirely sure why the acclaimed filmmakers are keen to work with him.

He joked: "I think they like actors who are up for, in a weird way, making a fool of themselves. People who are gonna take risks."

Harry actually loves how the Coen brothers approach their work.

He told The Independent: "They know every frame of their film.

"Famously, in one film, maybe 'Fargo', there were only two camera set-ups they didn’t use in the edit. Joel trained as an editor, so it’s just about picking out those moments to moments to moments.

"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."

Harry has also relished the experience of working with Christian Bale on 'The Pale Blue Eye', describing his co-star as "one of the most generous performers [he's] ever worked with".

Asked if he witnessed any method acting while working with Christian, Harry replied: "I don’t know really what that is. And maybe that’s a getting-myself-out-of-a-corner answer, but my experience working on it was that we’d turn up, not really talk about the scene, and just start playing it.

"There was no staying in character, but I guess you’re always held within some form of character just because you’re wearing the clothes and you’re in that environment as that person. I think method acting sometimes gets a branding that’s unhelpful."