Austin Butler‘s breakout came from a Method acting performance for the ages in Baz Luhrmann‘s “Elvis,” with the actor living in the role on camera and off for about three years. But Butler wasn’t about to do that for Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in “Dune: Part Two“. After all, why would anyone want to embody a villain like that 24 hours a day?
Variety reports (via the LA Times) that Butler instinctively knew he had to dial back on his Method acting for the role in Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming sequel. And so he made conscious choice to step out of character, at least for the most part, when the cameras weren’t rolling. Villeneuve and the crew were grateful for that decision.
“I’ve definitely in the past, with “Elvis,” explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler said to the LA Times. “With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.” “And for me!,” added Villeneuve.
“And you. So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary,” Butler went on. “It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing. That’s not to say that it doesn’t bleed into your life. But I knew that I wasn’t going to do anything dangerous outside of that boundary, and in a way that allowed me to go deeper.”
Butler’s Feyd-Rautha didn’t appear in Villeneuve’s 2021 film, but fans of Frank Herbert‘s original novel will know him well. The nephew and heir to Stellan Skargård‘s Baron Harkonnen, Feyd is Paul Atreides’ central antagonist in “Dune: Part Two”: a sadistic, vain, power-hungry young Prince who wants to the Galaxy for himself. That sounds like an intense role, but Villeneuve commented that Butler was “tremendously playful” onset when he wasn’t leaning into the character.
“When the camera was on, it was like you were possessed,” Villeneuve told Butler during the interivew. “When the camera was off, you were still maybe 25 or 30% Feyd. Just enough to still be present and focus but removed enough that you didn’t kill anybody on set.”
Butler is one of several newcomers to the “Dune” ensemble for Villeneuve’s new sequel. Other new cast include Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Christopher Walken as her father, Emperor Shaddam IV, and Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot, a Bene Gesserit confidant to the Emperor. And Anya Taylor-Joy is in “Dune: Part Two” in a surprise role as well, but we won’t give away who she plays.
“Dune” fans find out how Butler’s performance as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen measures up to Sting‘s from David Lynch‘s 1984 adaptation in just a week. “Dune: Part Two” hits theaters everywhere on March 1.