ENGBelieve the hype, Dune: Part Two is great. A cast interview featuring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya

Dune: Part Two is scheduled to premiere in Ukrainian cinemas on February 29. The Village Ukraine editor-in-chief Yaroslav Druziuk has watched the film and attended the virtual press conference with the star-studded cast and director Denis Villeneuve. The following is the excerpts from the event featuring Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Lea Seydoux and Stellan Skarsgard.

 

– Denis, how would you describe your creative journey from the first [Dune] film to this one?

Denis Villeneuve: I never left Arrakis. After Part One was finished, we went straight to pre-production on this film. Because it’s really not a sequel, it’s a second part, and we wanted to bring it to the world as quickly as possible. 

I think it’s common for us filmmakers to look at our movies and see the mistakes we’ve made, and for me it was a chance to revisit that world – a second chance to do it better. And I had that ambition, that this time it would be [better]. 

 

 

– Timothee, where do we find your character Paul Atreides in this film?

Timothee Chalamet: Well, in the first film we see Paul as a sort of a privileged young man, son of the duke, literally behind royal walls. And over the course of the first movie – and the personal tragedy he goes through – we see him grow from that. In this film we see Paul Atreides become the man he’s destined to be, the man he’s destined to be in ways he doesn’t want to be. Overcoming his fear for love, overcoming his fears of where his place lies with the Fremen. 

As far as what audiences can expect – the first movie was laying foundations for this film. A lot of epic, as Denis says. And for Paul Atreides, he continues his growth.

 

 

– One of the crucial scenes involves sandworm riding. What was that like to design and film?

Denis Villeneuve: It is by far the most complex sequence I have ever done. It’s all teamwork, because it required a lot of time and I did not want to compromise [the vision]. I was looking for this very specific viscerality, a feeling of danger and speed, and an edge to it. And I wanted my mother to believe that Paul is riding that worm. And so I created the technique [for riding the worm]. We know that the technique is not explained in the book, we know that worm is attracted by the rhythm, by the thumper. So I had to imagine how Paul would do it, how he’s a bit clumsy the first time. But [for the most part] that it looks really dangerous. It took us months of research and development and design to finally put this sequence on the screen. 

Timothee Chalamet: Denis used the word visceral, and somehow he made it as real as possible. I can’t sing his praises enough. That was the most complicated sequence I have ever been a part of as an actor. I think it took three months to shoot and an entire unit was dedicated to that sequence. I worked with Roger Yuan who’s a stunt coordinator on this movie but also an actor in the film – he does an amazing fight scene with Feyd-Rautha. We worked on the technique of sandworm riding. Not to give away too much of what was going on in the kitchen, as Denis puts it, but there was a lot of sand blowing in your face and an industrial rig. It was as violent an experience as it appears in the movie. [he laughs]

 

 

– Zendaya, what do you hope audiences take away from Chani’s journey? 

Zendaya: I love her because she has such a fire inside of her; she’s such a passionate person. I think that strength can be manifested in a lot of different ways, in her it’s through her heart. And everything she does is, I think, driven through her heart and through people. She feels protective of the people she cares about. If anything, it’s leaving [with an] understanding [of] her heart and knowing that she always brings things back to that human feeling. And yeah, just her courage and strength. And heartbreak too. 

What I think is interesting is that she doesn’t believe in Paul the way everyone else does. And if anything, it makes it more difficult for her to open herself up to the concept of loving – especially him. I think – it comes in probably the worst forms she could have ever imagined. It’s really difficult for her to conceive that there could be something she could allow in. So when she does eventually start to let that into her life, into her world, it’s with a lot more… I don’t know, it’s heavier. It means more because you know how difficult it is for her to allow [it]. So she believes in the person that she meets. Not the messiah, not the prophecy, but the person. 

 

 

– Florence, [your character] has such a calmness, such a mystery to her, but also a lot of strength. What is your interpretation of the character?

Florence Pugh: Thank you for saying that’s what you got, because that’s what I was hoping that you were gonna get. First of all, there’s a script there, it’s an amazing script and we have a great leader [in Denis]. 

But I think, personally, one of the most obvious things to this story is that there’s so much noise elsewhere – there’s so much rage and passion and love and volume… coming from the most powerful people in the world – wouldn’t it be interesting to have the complete flip of that, someone who’s completely calm and completely chill and thoughtful. And even that alone shows a lot of difference in riches and upbringing. I personally just love the idea, to play with that. I’ve never played anyone like her before, I’m usually jumping to very loud, opinionated, bolshy women. And this is definitely a pivot. But equally as powerful and strong. Yeah, I loved playing with that. 

Josh Brolin: What does bolshy mean?

Florence Pugh: You know, gutsy. Confident!

Josh Brolin: I’m not an intelligent man, so I’m just learning. [he laughs]

Florence Pugh: You can take bolshy into your life. Feisty, gobby. 

– Gurney is a little bit bolshy.

Florence Pugh: Definitely, very bolshy!

 

 

– How does Gurney’s relationship with Paul evolve in this part of Dune, Josh? Can you talk us through where we find them?

Josh Brolin: It sounds like a love story, doesn’t it? It is, in some ways. Timothee said that the first part is an introduction, and I think Gurney is lifting him into survival, into resilience and resourcefulness. And when we pick up here, especially when they’re reunited, there’s an incredible joy out of this anger and frustration, and a kind of a heartbreak. Because Gurney feels like he’s lost everybody, in his mind he has. And then there’s this great, vulnerable light that’s ignited in Gurney when he meets Paul again and realizes he survived. 

And then there’s just a witnessing of this guy not only becoming a man and maturing, but becoming the one – surpassing everything that Gurney can possible know in his feral state, in his animalness. [he laughs] So he’s a support and a witness to that. And that’s exactly what I experienced with Timothee, in some ways. Watching the trajectory of a 23-year-old to a 27-28-year-old?

Timothee Chalamet: 43. [he laughs]

Josh Brolin: Welcome to Dune 6! [he laughs]

Denis Villeneuve: That’s weird because you do sound intelligent!

Josh Brolin: I learned it this morning, because of jetlag. [he laughs]

 

 

– Rebecca, this performance and the transformation of this character is just amazing, it’s beautiful and it’s terrifying. What’s her motivation in this film?

Rebecca Ferguson: That’s such a tricky one. Do you ever feel like you get a question, [that’s basically]: Are you good or are you bad? I get it all the time. And I can’t speak for all the other characters, but that’s what’s so interesting here – the balance, the sort of threshold. 

I mean, we all are quite selfish human beings, right? And I love the part of Jessica because she has a belief. But with that belief… We can use the word fundamentalist. I think we’re scared of the word, because it takes a belief to the point where it harms other people. But you can also be a fundamentalist in a spiritual and loving way, right? I think she is so fully believing in what she has created that nothing can get in the way of it. Does she fully believe in what she is pushing? I don’t know. And that I find interesting. And the ripple effects of what she does is catharsis in a love story. But it’s a grander picture, right? There is a never-ending story to the trajectory of any of these characters.

 

 

– Austin, what aspects of your character were you most excited to explore? 

Austin Butler: In a way, it’s exploring the shadows. We’ve talked about this a lot, how he and Paul are flip-sides of the same coin. So to explore my own shadows and just darkness. It’s so different to anything that I’ve ever done. There’s so much room to play in that because it’s so different to myself and the things that I would allow myself to do in everyday life. And to get to play in this world with all of these amazing actors, with Denis leading the helm, it was just a pure joy.  

There’s something very empowering in playing someone who plans eight steps ahead, who has such an intense and strong vision for what he believes in. And it’s unwavering. It’s very empowering to play him, even though from the outside we may see him as less than joyful to be around. [he laughs]

 

 

– Lea, Lady Margo seems like such a complex character. How do you explain the relationship between Lady Margo and Feyd-Rautha?

Lea Seydoux: Yes, she’s on a mission. She’s a bit like a secret agent. And so she has this – she’s very attracted by Feyd-Rautha’s skills. So she will, like – with her power she will get what needs to be done. For me it’s still a mystery because I don’t know a lot about her. She’s enigmatic, I don’t know if she’s good or bad, that’s very paradoxical. And that was kind of exciting, I really enjoyed that. I guess, maybe we’ll see more about her in the third one. 

And yeah, I really wanted to work with Denis because he’s such an amazing director, he’s the genius. I also met Austin for the first time, we had a lot of fun.

 

 

– Stellan, your transformation into Baron Harkonnen was the most shocking. What was that like – getting into that character, and how complicated was that physically?

Stellan Skarsgard: Well, it was complicated physically. What you wanted to do was to create something as strong as an image, that you didn’t have to have many scenes with because you did not want to do this every day. [he laughs] And you also wanted him to have a strong image so you could avoid talking too much, because you did not want to talk too much. So you want to get rid of it quickly. And I did that. [he laughs]

Denis Villeneuve: My team made sure to create as much of this world physically, as possible. I’m absolutely inspired by reality. I’m coming from the world of documentaries, so I couldn’t have made this world in a virtual environment. I love tangibility. It sparked so much on set. I feel it helped a lot of the actors to just focus on their inner instincts, to have this world around them. And I work with one of the best teams working today to create that world. 

 

 

– What aspects of the Dune world are you most excited for the audience to see in this installment?

Zendaya: It’s kind of an impossible question to answer… I mean, when you leave the theater, you’re just kind of blown away and speechless. For me, just being able to work with all these talented people who are so thoughtful and generous with their time and their creativity. Starting with this guy right here [Denis], and how he creates this environment where everyone feels like their ideas are heard and appreciated, I think it brings the best work out of everyone. 

And so what you’re watching is everybody’s love. I feel it’s almost like an inner child coming out and being expressed, it’s really special in every single department, every detail. The love was there when we were making it, and you can feel it as well when you [watch the film].

Denis Villeneuve: The thing for me is that Part One was more contemplative in that we were following a boy that was a victim of the events. Paul Atreides tried to survive along with his mother, they are survivors. And the second movie, I wanted it to feel more visceral, more muscular. And definitely I wanted to make a more emotional movie. I hope that people will receive that emotion. 

Josh Brolin: [Denis] was saying that it’s [Paul’s] emotional trajectory that we’re following. And it just dawned on me that what you’re watching is [actually Denis’ journey], even going outside of the two Dune movies – you start Incendies and the earlier [films] – you’re watching the full trajectory of a guy who apparently has no ceiling. Which is where you leave Paul at the end of the movie. So this is obviously a movie about the trajectory of Denis Villeneuve. [he laughs]

 Photos: Kinomania Film Distribution