Austin Butler plays the sociopathic villain Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two. His bald look in the film took everyone by surprise, and film lovers expected nothing short of an amazing performance from the Elvis actor. The film’s early reviews called it the definitive sci-fi epic of the new generation. After its limited IMAX release on Sunday, critics are now comparing Butler’s Feyd-Rautha to Heath Ledger’s Joker and Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh.
Earlier, Butler spent almost 3 years researching and preparing for his role as Elvis Presley in Baz Lahrman’s biopic Elvis. Butler revealed that he had toned down his method acting for Dune 2 since he deemed it unhealthy for his friends and family.
Austin Butler Receives High Praise From Critics For His Dune 2 Role
Austin Butler was one of the new additions to the cast in the Dune sequel, alongside Florence Pugh, Lea Seydoux, and Christopher Walken. Butler secured the villain role in the film, playing Feyd-Rautha of House Harkonnen, who is the nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and the potential successor to the Harkonnen throne. He will serve as the primary antagonist to Timothée Chalamet‘s Paul Atreides in this adaptation.
Denis Villeneuve‘s epic sequel impressed critics and audiences during the early screenings as well as its IMAX screenings on Sunday. Critics pointed out that the Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood actor gave one of the standout performances in the film. There were comparisons between Butler’s villain and the iconic villains of all time — The Joker in The Dark Knight, played by Heath Ledger, and Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, played by Butler’s Dune 2 co-star Javier Bardem.
Austin Butler in ‘DUNE: PART TWO’ is described by critics as the most memorable villain on screen since Javier Bardem in ‘No Country for Old Men’ and Heath Ledger in ‘The Dark Knight’. pic.twitter.com/LPGx3c5w2B
— Denis Villeneuve Universe (@DenisVfilms) February 25, 2024
The Playlist’s Gregory Ellwood shared that Austin Butler gave another transformative performance after his Oscar-nominated role in Elvis. Ellwood opined that it was just not Butler’s shaved head and eyebrows that were impressive, but his performance was a complete 180 from anything he did previously. Ellwood also predicted that the Zoey 101 actor will be in the mix for Best Supporting Actor next year.
Empire‘s review also had just great things to say about the actor. The magazine shared that Butler was the MVP among the new actors in this sequel and called his performance “a hairless embodiment of utter inhumanity.” Butler was also highly praised in the film’s review by BBC Culture. The outlet wrote:
“In a cast stacked with an absurd number of contemporary cinema’s finest actors, it’s Butler who steals the show as a vampiric sadist with some of the strutting rock’n’roll sexiness that the actor had in Elvis.”
Dune: Part Two has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97% from 147 reviews, as of writing. The website consensus for the film shared that it was visually thrilling and narratively epic. Griffin Schiller of FilmSpeak called the film Denis Villenueve’s magnum opus and “the definitive sci-fi epic of a generation.”
Austin Butler Toned Down His Method Acting For Dune: Part Two
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Austin Butler shared that while playing the legendary singer in Elvis, he only thought about the character day and night for three years. However, he didn’t want to repeat the same mistake with his method acting in Dune 2. He shared that since his character was a sociopathic villain, it would have been very unhealthy for his friends and family if he stayed in character all day long. Butler shared with the Los Angeles Times:
“I’ve definitely in the past, with ‘Elvis,’ explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night. With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.”
Villeneuve, who also appeared in the interview alongside Butler, shared that he was only 25-30% in character when he was off-camera. It was really helpful for the director and crew as Villeneuve jokingly mentioned that it made sure that Butler did not “kill anybody on set.” Dune: Part Two saw a limited release in IMAX theaters on Sunday, while the worldwide release of the film is scheduled for March 1, 2024.
