Harry Potter star Harry Melling has been cast to star in King Lear alongside Glenda Jackson as she returns to the stage after a 20 year absence.

The Oscar-winning actress, who put her acting career on hold in 1990 to take up a career in politics, will play a female version of the titular Shakespearian role at London's Old Vic Theater this autumn (16).

And now, it has been revealed she will be joined by 27-year-old Melling, who will take on the role of Gloucester's son Edgar, according to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

And the actor, who appeared in the blockbuster film franchise as Harry's cousin Dudley Dursley, tells the publication that part of his preparation for the show didn't have anything to do with Shakespeare - he studied up on Jackson's filmography.

"I would have been three when she went into politics, so I never saw her on stage," he admits to the Daily Mail, adding he often watched her speeches in the Commons, noting one "very Lear-like speech."

Melling is currently starring in the West End production of hit comedy Hand to God, and starts rehearsals for King Lear in August (16), prior to the show's premiere in October (16).