The saga continues with award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve at the helm as Dune: Part Two takes audiences deeper into the world of Frank Herbert’s celebrated story. With an expanded, all-star ensemble cast, this highly anticipated film follows the success of 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winner Dune.
Following the events of Dune, Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), unite with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
I had the chance to sit down with Dune: Part Two‘s Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler, the latter portraying the menacing fighter and Harkonnen assassin Feyd-Rautha.
Check out the interview with Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler:
Chalamet and Butler discussed their roles in Dune: Part Two during the interview. Chalamet reflected on Paul’s journey and the character’s evolution, while Butler shared his approach to embodying Feyd-Rautha. Chalamet spoke about the dynamics of Paul and Chani’s relationship, and both he and Butler offered reflections on personal growth and advice they would give to their younger selves.
Given Chalamet’s tenure with this character, I began the conversation by asking about his perspective on Paul’s heroic journey throughout both films and experiencing the evolution firsthand.
“It felt like a relief to come back to this one. And it felt like kind of excising something from the system because the first movie ended, and that was only half of the first book. So I felt like there’s so much more to go with this story,” Chalamet responded.
Chalamet continued, “The production was really dependent on the success of the first movie. So, in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘Oh, wow, this story might not be told.’ So I was just relieved. And I got to come back on set and excited. And I don’t want to spoil too much, but there’s many, many scenes where Paul has to grow and put his foot down and fill his shoes. And that was just so wonderful to play because the first movie for Paul’s story was a lot about personal tragedy and kind of getting thrown out of the comfort of his own home.”
Butler is applauded for his dedication to immersing himself in his work to ensure he delivers his best performances. With this in mind, I asked about his preparation for this role.
“I started with the physical months before. Just, you know, training. I’ve talked a lot about training with Duffy, who was a Navy SEAL, and so, that helped me to just get stronger because you walk differently. You move differently in that way. And then we started doing fight training with Alvin in LA for months before going to Hungary. And then we started working with Roger Yuen, who in the gladiator sequence is the one I’m fighting,” Butler shared.
Zendaya’s Chani receives significant screen time in this sequel, leading to her sharing many more scenes with Chalamet. I asked about his experience working with her on a larger scale compared to their scenes in the first film.
“She was the partner in crime on this. And I just love the dynamic. I feel like it made sense to me that Paul would be thrust into this position in a culture that’s not his own, with a sort of path in front of him where he wouldn’t assume like the power position in that group and to go, not only do I not want to do that, but I’m finding refuge in the one person that’s actually seeing me for who I am. Who is holding me accountable. Who has no plans behind plans, if not loves him, at least appreciates him for who he is. And that just made sense to me and I love the complexities that they have brought to it – it just felt lived in. It felt like there’s a real degree of having to earn it, which was cool,” Chalamet said.
At the height of Paul’s powers, he can see the past, present, and all possible futures simultaneously. This allows him to pick and choose which future he wants to enact. Leaning into that, I asked the two if they could go back in time and give advice to their younger selves what would they say.
“On a very serious level, I would go back to my teenage self and just say spend as much time with your mom as possible,” Butler said.
Chalamet followed with, “Equally I could say that about both my grandmothers, my French grandmother and my American one. It’s hard to, you know, of being in show business, I think in your early twenties or late teens, it’s hard not to look in the mirror so much about where you’re at in life and where you want to go. I guess I would say just be present and all will work out.”