“There was a guy with a water tank…”: Austin Butler Would Be Jealous of Dune: Prophecy Cast’s Revelations After Enduring Hell on Dune: Part 2

Developed by Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker, Dune: Prophecy is an upcoming science fiction series that will serve as a prequel to Denis Villeneuve’s movies starring Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Zendaya, and more. While the movie is based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, centered on Paul Atreides, the series is going to focus on the origins of Bene Gesserit. It’s an exclusive and powerful sisterhood based on the book Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Set 10,000 years before the events of Dune, the series will navigate how Bene Gesserit undergoes intense training and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman abilities. The series is going to star Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, and more. In a recent interview, the cast of the upcoming show opened up about one thing that the cast of Dune: Prophecy cannot relate to with the cast of Dune movies.

Emily Watson and Olivia Williams’ experience of filming Dune: Prophecy differs from Austin Butler’s filming Dune: Part 2

Actress Emily Watson played Valya-Harkonnen, leader of the Sisterhood, and Olivia Williams played Tula Harkonnen in the upcoming series. The two of them are going to play a significant role, as they’ll be the driving force behind the rise of Bene Gesserit. In a recent interview with EW, Watson said,

I’ve never really done anything like this before. Most of the work I’ve done so far in my career has been very much based on reality. Getting my head around all the Dune lore and language was a new thing for me. But within that, I found really rich acting territory. It’s quite complex, and it’s a really fun world to play in.

Reportedly, the cast of the show had a different experience of filming from the cast of the movie. Austin Butler played Feyd-Rautha, the cruel and sadistic younger nephew and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune: Part 2. He was highly appreciated for his performance in the movie, but ahead of the release of the movie, the actor spoke to EW about filming in a really hot temperature. He said,

It was 110 degrees and so hot. I had the bald cap on, and it was between two soundstages that were just these gray boxes of 200-foot walls and sand. It became like a microwave. There were people passing out from heat stroke. And that was just my first week.

Austin Butler added that sometimes it’s humbling for the crew to be in such an uncomfortable environment. Olivia Williams and Emily Watson thankfully didn’t have to go through such a grilling process to film. Williams went on to explain,

Everyone I know who’s seen the movies kept asking me, ‘Oh wow, were you in these incredibly hot countries?’ I was like, ‘No, no, no. Our planet is damp. There was a guy with a water tank on, and he’d pump it and spray everything with water.

The actresses acknowledged that the sets were breathtaking, especially the central hall of the Bene Gesserit convent.

Creator Alison Schapker admits to taking creative approach for the adaptation of Sisterhood of Dune

Alison Schapker shared with the publication during the interview during the interview that the book Sisterhood of Dune is the starting point for Dune: Prophecy, but they managed to take a creative approach to adapt the book for the screen. She added that she believes that they found the best of both worlds when adaptation is considered.

Schapker explained to the publication that the book or source material was the seminal text that they were working with and drawing inspiration from. But added that they were also telling a story that took place 30 years after the events of the book. She mentioned that they had both the book as a source and the room to develop their characters to tell the story of Valya Harkonnen across multiple timelines.

A hallmark of Dune is that time is not just linear. Some of them are actively communicating with their female ancestors at any given time. There are hidden histories and secrets to be discovered in the past that very much influenced the present, as our characters design the future. We wanted to create a series that allowed history to be alive, and that meant spending some of our time in the past.

Actors, including Johdi May, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Chloe Lea, Faoileann Cunningham, and more, join Watson and Williams as the ensemble cast.

Dune: Prophecy is scheduled for November release on HBO.