After an Oscar-nominated turn in the Elvis biopic, Austin Butler has the platform to catapult himself into various exciting roles. Among the projects set to grace audiences screens in the near future with Butler on show includes director Dennis Villeneuve’s hotly-anticipated science-fiction sequel Dune: Part Two. Butler recently told co-star Josh Brolin that terror motivated him to take up a part in the film.
In an interview conducted by Brolin for InterviewMagazine.com, Butler recalls his first meetings with Villeneuve and what drew him to the part of Feyd-Rautha. “With Dune it was interesting, because I met with Denis [Villeneuve], and we got along very well, and started talking about the character,” he said. “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,” Butler continued. “That’s what I’m guided by now: What really scares me?”
After taking on an icon in the form of Elvis Presley, a role that Butler refers to as “terrifying” in the very same interview with Brolin, the 32-year-old actor now refers to such terror as motivational “jet-fuel.” In Feyd-Rautha Harkkonen, Butler has found a character that director Villeneuve has previously referred to as a “cross between a psychopath killer, an Olympic sword master, a snake, and Mick Jagger.” This most certainly is a potent blend of ingredients that may just terrify audiences as much as it does Butler. Feyd is also set to be the wildest member of house Harkkonen, the villainous clan that featured prominently in Dune (2021). In the latest installment, Dune: Part Two, Butler is joined by fellow newcomers Florence Pugh, Lea Seydoux and Christopher Walken, with Timothee Chalemet set to lead the line once again as the film’s central protagonist Paul Atreides.
When Is ‘Dune: Part Two’ Coming Out in Cinemas?
Another victim of studios’ and actors’ ongoing tussle and the SAG-AFTRA strike, Dune: Part Two was pushed back from its original release date in November this year to March 15, 2024.