Austin Butler on playing the 'ugly and bald' Feyd Harkonnen in Dune ...
Jan 26, 2024 02:08 PM IST
The Oscar-nominated actor Austin Butler has opened up about his role as the villainous Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the upcoming film Dune: Part Two, which is set to hit theatres on March 1.
Butler, who is 32 years old, described his character as “ugly and bald” during a panel discussion for his new Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, which took place on Wednesday at New York’s 92nd Street Y.
Stay tuned for all the latest updates on Ram Mandir! Click here
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is the nephew of the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, played by Stellan Skarsgård, and a ruthless and violent adversary of the hero Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet.
ALSO READ| Dune: Part Two - Introducing the latest addition in Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya's space opera
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is ‘ugly and bald’Butler’s transformation for the role is so drastic that he is barely recognizable in the few glimpses that have been revealed so far. Butler told Josh Horowitz, who interviewed him for a live recording of his Happy Sad Confused podcast at the event, that he based his performance on “animals, like a snake and a shark".
He also said that he did some research on “certain cultures through time that have been bred in brutality. Because that’s the thing, I was trying to find — I didn’t want to play a caricature of him, but what does somebody become when they’re born in brutality? And they must act with violence in order to survive. Who does that person become?” Horowitz joked, “He looks like a sweetheart.”
“Yeah,” said Butler. “He’s ugly and bald.”
The Elvis star said that he has watched Dune: Part Two, but did not share any more details. Dune: Part Two is the sequel to the critically acclaimed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel, directed by Denis Villeneuve.
ALSO READ| Hollywood films to look forward to in 2024, from Deadpool 3 to Dune: Part Two
A quick Dune Par One recapThe first film ended with Paul Atreides escaping from the Harkonnens, who had killed his father and taken over his family’s domain on the desert planet Arrakis. The second film will follow Paul’s "mythic journey… while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family”, according to the official synopsis.
Zendaya will return as Chani, the young Fremen woman who helps Paul survive in the desert. Paul will have to choose between “the love of his life and the fate of the known universe”, and try to stop “a terrible future only he can foresee”, the synopsis adds.
The cast of Dune: Part Two also includes new additions such as Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux and Tim Blake Nelson. Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem will reprise their roles from the first film.
ALSO READ| Griselda first reviews are in: Sofia Vergara’s crime drama is a fascinating and fun watch
This is not the first time that Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen has appeared on the big screen. In the 1984 version of Dune, directed by David Lynch, the character was portrayed by Sting opposite Kyle MacLachlan as Paul.
