Rebecca Ferguson played the role of Lady Jessica, mother of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides in the Dune series. However, her role was significantly changed in Dune: Part Two than that of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. The film director, Denis Villeneuve planned to make her character pregnant in the second movie which continued to let the former play a pivotal role in Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides’ journey.
However, the actress recently shared her thoughts on how this idea came up with a veil that she vehemently refused to wear.
Rebecca Ferguson’s Ego Got Crushed Over the Idea of Wearing Veils in Dune: Part Two
Rebecca Ferguson has been engaged in many interviews to promote her new sci-fi movie, Dune: Part Two. As she talked about her role in the Timothée Chalamet-led film, she also threw a light on Denis Villeneuve’s plans regarding her character.
She shared via CinemaBlend,
“I remember when Denis said, ‘I’m changing it up, you’re going to be pregnant throughout the film.’ I remember thinking, ‘Oh! sod off. Am I going to be sexy pregnant or like super big pregnant? Like what are we talking here?'”
Villeneuve even planned her costume look which included several layers of cloth.
“He was like, ‘Well, big, big, very big. And then I’m going to put lots of cloth on top of you and then tattoos and then a hat, super high, and then fabric.’ And I was like, ‘Oh God. And it’s actually quite funny because I was in costume with [Jacqueline West, a costume designer].”
She added how his ego took a major blow as anyone could be in that costume.
“I was like, ‘Dude, anyone could be behind this veil.’ I mean, my ego is like [ showed a hand gesture] what’s happening? And I started taking them off and I was like, ‘Okay, I can leave the chains on Denis and I can have tattoos. But other than that, you’re not getting a veil.”
In another interview via Reuters, she gave a similar anecdote explaining the director wanting lots of veils for her costume. However, she took it all away after a call with him explaining how her ego would be crushed underneath his veil idea.
Rebecca Ferguson’s Character Went Through a Great Change in Dune: Part Two
In Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Lady Jessica gave birth to Alia when Atreides and her were in the desert. Due to the exposure to the Water of Life during pregnancy, Alia was pre-born with great intelligence. However, in the movie, Ferguson’s character is heavily pregnant throughout its run, meaning Alia is not born yet.
Since the movie’s Jessica has drank the Water of Life, she can telepathically talk to her pre-born child in the womb. Her pregnancy even allowed Anya Taylor-Joy’s cameo in the movie, who played the older Alia, who appears in Paul’s dreams after he drinks the Water of Life.
During an interview with Screen Rant, the actress shared about being excited when the director came up with the idea.
She shared,
“We tried it in different ways…We had voices; we actually had conversations. We had to balance crazy with not crazy. But I had so much fun. Whilst they were on their battlefield doing their stuff, I was having internal conversations. Which I anyway have, so it was just a normal day for me, really.”
With the Swedish actress’ role getting a major change in this installment, it is yet to witness how Villeneuve would explore Dune‘s future. While Dune is streaming on Max, Dune: Part Two is currently running in theatres now.
