Babs Olusanmokun only had a brief scene in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021), but his role and the fate of his character propelled the story forward. He played the Fremen warrior Jamis who died after dueling with Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides.
The figure perished in the first movie, but it was a surprise that the actor returned to Dune 2 to play dead. They initially planned to use a dummy for the scene, but the director wanted to make it look more real.
Babs Olusanmokun On His Short Stint In Dune
During his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actor Babs Olusanmokun revealed Denis Villeneuve asked him to return in Dune: Part Two to play his deceased character.
“Believe it or not, I actually did a whole body cast that they were going to use for that, but Denis, in his infinite wisdom, was like, ‘No, we have to have Babs there. It’s going to be a lot more real if we have Babs there.’ ”
The actor agreed to it but what he really liked was how Villeneuve approached him. He praised the director’s way of connecting with actors.
“As soon as I started shooting the first part with him, Denis has been very, very kind and warm and complimentary with his words. He’s just fantastic. Every couple of months he would email me and say, ‘Babs, I’ve written this thing. Can you please come and shoot it?’ He did that literally two or three times for Dune: Part One. And for Dune: Part Two, he brought me in, and then we shot some other things that I don’t know made it into the film.”
Olusanmokun shared that the Canadian filmmaker warned him of the kind of role he’d be getting once he agreed. It was a nice gesture for the actor.
“The first time we met, he said, ‘At the end of this film, your guy is gone. If you don’t want to do it, Babs, I understand. I think you should be doing bigger things,’ and he touched my heart when he said that. And I was like, ‘I will do this. I will serve this film.’ ”
Indeed, Olusanmokun’s scene in Dune: Part Two could have been easily pulled off using a dummy, but it was the authenticity that Villeneuve was after.
Denis Villeneuve Has A Soft Spot For Jamis
Denis Villeneuve previously talked about Olusanmokun’s character in an interview with Empire, claiming Jamis is one of his favorite figures from the franchise.
“Jamis is part of those dreams, and honestly, is one of my favourite characters in this movie. I mean, Babs Olusanmokun, the actor, was an absolutely beautiful actor. I had so much great time working with Babs, and the more I was shooting, the more I was adding, adding, adding more and more, because I was too much inspired by that.”
Despite his short screen time in both Dune movies, Olusanmokun served a role that pushed the narrative forward, paving the way for Paul Atreides to become who he was supposed to be.
Dune: Part Two is available for rent via Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
