Though Austin Butler first got here to prominence within the mid-to-late 2000s from his early performances on TV reveals like Zoey 101 and Ruby & the Rockits, the final a number of years have seen him morph right into a bonafide film star because of the likes of As soon as Upon a Time in Hollywood and Elvis, the latter of which netted him an Academy Award nomination. Subsequent 12 months, Butler will enterprise into sci-fi territory with Dune: Half Two, and the actor has talked about how the “terror of the problem” led to him agreeing to play Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, one of many 2024 film launch’s outstanding new characters.
Butler was first reported to be in talks to play Baron Vladimir Harkonnen’s youngest nephew again in March 2022, 5 months after it was confirmed filmmaker Denis Villenuve would get to chronicle the second half of Frank Herbert’s basic 1965 novel on the large display screen. Butler’s casting was confirmed shortly thereafter, and because the actor recalled whereas chatting with Dune: Half Two costar Josh Brolin for Interview Journal, though he was nervous to play the position, it’s concern that’s now one of many main elements to him becoming a member of a venture:
I’m all the time nervous. I all the time really feel an unbelievable stress. I felt that once I was 12 years previous. Even when the fabric doesn’t actually require it, I really feel I must do the very best that I probably can. That units a bar, after which I’m all the time afraid that I’m going to overlook one thing. With Dune it was fascinating, as a result of I met with Denis [Villeneuve], and we acquired alongside very effectively, and began speaking in regards to the character. At that time, we didn’t also have a script, however as we began speaking about Feyd, my creativeness began working, and I began to really feel the fear of the problem. That’s what I’m guided by now: What actually scares me?
Austin Butler is the third actor to play Feyd-Rautha, following behind Sting in David Lynch’s Dune and Matt Keeslar within the Frank Herbert’s Dune TV miniseries. Although a script wasn’t prepared by the point he met with Denis Villeneuve, he was already feeling the stress of enjoying this character, however that was greater than sufficient incentive for him to resolve Dune: Half Two was price doing. In any case, terror is what motivated him whereas he was performing in Elvis (which might be considered with a Max subscription), with the actor persevering with:
As a result of Elvis was terrifying. There was a lot stress, and I used to be continually asking myself, ‘Am I sufficient? Can I pull off this tightrope act?’ That makes you focus and work actually arduous. The beauty of the reception of that movie was realizing that although I had that terror and questioned my very own skill, if I put within the arduous work, I set myself as much as hopefully have an effect on some individuals. It means I’m now capable of see that terror as a separate factor, and never let it rule me, and as an alternative take a look at it and go, ‘I see you. I hear you. I’m not going to allow you to cripple me.’ After which it turns into this jet gasoline that makes you get up at 4 within the morning along with your coronary heart pounding, and also you go, ‘Okay, let’s get to work. Let’s begin engaged on the voice. Let’s begin engaged on the physique. Let’s begin engaged on the textual content.’
Whereas the general public nonetheless has a methods to go to see Butler’s efficiency in Dune: Half Two, there’s already fairly a little bit of hype surrounding it. Villeneuve likened it to a snake, Mick Jagger and extra, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, one other member of the subsequent Dune film’s forged, mentioned that Butler was “fairly chilling” as Feyd-Rautha. Different newcomers who will seem in Half Two embody Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux, and Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård and Dave Bautista are among the many different returning faces.
Dune: Half Two opens in theaters on March 15, 2024. When you’d wish to revisit Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune film, it may be accessed both on Max or with a Netflix subscription. Austin Butler can be set to star reverse Tom Hardy in The Bikeriders, however that’s now been faraway from the 2023 films calendar after beforehand being set for December 1.
