Austin Butler in ‘Dune: Part Two’.Photo:Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures; Todd Williamson/NBC/NBC/Getty
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures; Todd Williamson/NBC/NBC/Getty
Austin Butleris sharing why he could not go too overboard with his acting for hisDune: Part Twocharacter.
In a new interview with theLos Angeles Times, Butler, 32, spoke to his approach to playing the science fiction epic’s villain Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen with his directorDenis Villeneuve.
“I’ve definitely in the past, withElvis, explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler shared. “With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.”
Butler gained significant attention for playingElvis Presleyin 2022’sElvisbiopic, especially for taking such an intense dedication to the part that he has said “the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis” for lengthy periods. Butler alsocontinued to speak with Presley’s accentfor months even after he finished work on the movie.
“So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary,” Butler added after Villeneuve joked that Butler fully absorbing himself in hisDunecharacter would have been unhealthy for the film’s director as well.
Austin Butler (left) and Lea Seydoux in ‘Dune: Part Two’.Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
“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,” Butler said of the part. “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, I think.”
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After Paul survived the Harkonnens' attack on his family and murder of his father (Oscar Isaac) in the series' first movie, the Harkonnenstask Feyd-Rautha with tracking down Paul and killing himas he allies with Zendaya’s character Chani and the Fremen, as shown intrailersfor the upcoming movie.
Austin Butler photographed in Paris on Sept. 26, 2023; Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in ‘Dune: Part Two’.Marc Piasecki/WireImage; Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Marc Piasecki/WireImage; Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
“Working with you was tremendously playful. When the camera was on, it was like you were possessed,” Villeneuve, 56, said of working with Butler on the new movie. “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.”
Dune: Part Tworeleases in theaters on March 1.
source: people.com
