Following his Oscar-nominated turn as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” actor Austin Butler jumped straight into playing the dangerously psychotic Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated “Dune: Part Two”.
The character is arguably the biggest new inclusion for the film which adapts the back half of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel. He joins other newcomers such as Lea Seydoux as Margot Fenring, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, and Christopher Walker playing Emperor Shaddam IV.
Recently Butler spoke with Interview Magazine and says the challenge of the role, and the sheer anxiety it generates, is ultimately what attracted him to it:
“I’m always nervous. I always feel an incredible pressure. With Dune it was interesting, because I met with Denis [Villeneuve], and we got along very well, and started talking about the character.
At that point, we didn’t even have a script, but as we started talking about Feyd, my imagination started running, and I started to feel the terror of the challenge. That’s what I’m guided by now: What really scares me?
Because Elvis was terrifying. There was so much pressure, and I was constantly asking myself, ‘Am I enough? Can I pull off this tightrope act?’ That makes you focus and work really hard.
The wonderful thing about the reception of that film was realizing that even though I had that terror and questioned my own ability, if I put in the hard work, I set myself up to hopefully affect some people.
It means I’m now able to see that terror as a separate thing, and not let it rule me, and instead look at it and go, ‘I see you. I hear you. I’m not going to let you cripple me.’ And then it becomes this jet fuel that makes you wake up at four in the morning with your heart pounding, and you go, ‘Okay, let’s get to work. Let’s start working on the voice. Let’s start working on the body. Let’s start working on the text.'”
“Dune: Part Two” continues the journey of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and more return for the film which opens in March.
