Denis Villeneuve directed Dune: Part Two is less than a month away from screening in theatres. This time, along with the original cast of Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, and the others, two new faces will be gracing our screens. Florence Pugh joins the cast as Princess Irulan, and Austin Butler plays Baron Vladimir Harkonnen’s nephew, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.
Austin Butler’s character is the heir of the House Harkonnen, which is an enemy of House Atreides – Chalamet’s Paul Atreides’ House. The two characters will be opposing each other in the upcoming film, and audiences are eagerly waiting to see their dynamics on-screen.
Austin Butler Felt Liberated Playing Feyd-Rautha
The character of Feyd-Rautha is cunning, cruel, and a deadly fighter. He comes off as a foil to the character of Paul, with his power-hungry nature. And Austin Butler said he felt liberating playing a character like that. He told Esquire,
“I found it very liberating. To be able to look in the mirror and not see myself, is exciting. To get to do something completely different from anything that I’ve done.”
Butler loves going deep inside his characters and living them like he thinks they would want to be lived. Whether it’s a real-life character like Elvis or a fictional one like Feyd, he becomes the character he is playing.
“For me, it was, very early on, not judging him. And instead, seeing from the inside, the world as though, everything I am doing is the right thing. Which can be a tricky thing to justify, behavior that on paper would seem evil. And the way he spoke and finding his voice was really a key for me.”
Whether it was getting into shape physically, or learning to fight with knives, Austin Butler made sure that he gave his 100% to the role.
Timothée Chalamet was Motivated by Austin Butler
Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler have become close friends since working together on Dune: Part Two. They formed a natural bond, almost brotherly, and are equally fond of each other. For Esquire‘s latest cover story, dishing out on his co-star, Chalamet said,
“I realized it from the first table read,” he recalls. “He’s questioning everything. He’s on a mission. He’s on a search. He’s not pretending to be the guy with answers. He’s constantly tinkering. It was motivating.”
Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler’s respect for each other shows when they talk about one another. And to see a genuine friendship growing in the jungle that is Hollywood, definitely makes the fans happy. Given their first meeting was in Hungary, going straight at each other, rehearsing for the infamous fight scene, their friendship has really blossomed into something beautiful that we sure hope to see in more projects in the future.
Dune: Part Two is all set to release on March 1, 2024.
