Stellan Skarsgård is almost unrecognizable in his role as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune and its recently release sequel, Dune: Part Two. Skarsgård has undergone an impeccable transformation in the makeup room to turn into the overarching villain of these movies.
The hours spent in makeup is nothing new for the actor as he chose to do the same for his character, Bootstrap Bill Turner, in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Skarsgård’s Dune 2 co-star Austin Butler earlier revealed that he took almost 3 hours to transform into the sociopathic bald villain, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. However, this time appears insignificant compared to Skarsgård’s 6-hour process for Pirates of the Caribbean and 8-hour process for Dune.
Stellan Skarsgård Underwent Hours Of Painful Makeup For Dune & Pirates of the Caribbean
When Dune: Part Two hit the theaters on March 1, people were in awe of the makeup donned by several actors. Austin Butler‘s shaved look immediately caught the audience’s attention before the release of the film. However, special mention must be given to Stellan Skarsgård who appeared as Baron Harkonnen in both the first and second films.
In Frank Herbert’s books, the character was described as “grossly and immensely fat” and he needs levitation devices to support his weight (via ScienceFiction). While Butler spent only 3 hours in the makeup room for his metamorphosis into Feyd-Rautha, Stellan Skarsgård spent eight long hours on the makeup chair, often naked.
When Business Insider interviewed the actor about his role in Dune 2, he shared, “It was painful, but it was worth it.” Dune director Denis Villeneuve explained that he opted for Skarsgård in the film because he had the eyes of a calculating person, which could be quite frightening (via Collider).
Spending eight hours in the makeup room seemed like no big deal for Stellan Skarsgård who earlier chose to wear prosthetics for a role instead of simply doing the scenes with motion-capture. Skarsgård played the role of Bootstrap Bill Turner in two films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, starting with Dead Man’s Chest.
All his co-actors, who played characters aboard Davy Jones’ Flying Dutchman ship in the film, opted for CGI effects. However, The Avengers actor told Business Insider that he would spend six hours in the makeup room to transform into the barnacle-covered character.
He revealed that he loved undergoing the painful hours of makeup in the $1.066 billion movie (via Box Office Mojo), comparing it with the art of painting. Stellan Skarsgård shared:
“I was the only one on set with real prosthetics on. Everyone else on that ship showed up five minutes before we started shooting and had dots put on their face, and away they went. I had been there for six hours. But the thing is, I like it. I like to see the artists paint, if that makes sense.”
With the Dune movies, Stellan Skarsgård is once again at the top of Hollywood after his several appearances in blockbuster MCU films.
Austin Butler Reveals Why He Chose 3 Hours Makeup Instead Of Actually Shaving
Austin Butler revealed in an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that he did not shave his head and eyebrows for the film. He shared with Graham Norton that after Dune 2, he had committed to a film with director Jeff Nichols and co-starring Tom Hardy, titled The Bikeriders.
When he informed Nichols about his Dune role, the director’s only demand was not the shave his head, since it wouldn’t grow back in time for The Bikeriders. Butler shared with The Graham Norton Show:
“I was going straight to another film called The Bikeriders with Tom Hardy and Jeff Nichols who was directing it said, ‘Can you please not shave your head for that? Because it’s going to be tricky to get your hair back that quickly.’ So the wonderful hair and makeup team did that to me. It attaches to my eyelids. But it’s incredibly meticulous. If they’re a millimeter off you can’t open one eye. So yeah, they were incredible.”
When his co-guests, Jodie Foster and Olivia Colman, inquired how long it took for the makeup, Butler replied that it took three hours. Not just the audience, but Butler also managed to scare several of his co-stars with his makeup. Dune: Part Two is currently running in theaters and is set to make big bucks at the box office.
Dune is now available for streaming on Max.
