With director Denis Villeneuve's Dune now playing in select countries around the world and opening in North America this weekend, I recently got to speak with Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson about making the incredible movie. During the interview, Isaac and Ferguson talked about how author Frank Herbert was ahead of his time, the things they kept wanting to tell their friends and family about the film, why they loved working with Villeneuve, what people would be surprised to learn about the making of Dune, and more.
Dune is based on the hugely influential sci-fi novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. In the film, we follow Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides, whose family inherits custody over the planet Arrakis (or the titular "Dune"), an unforgiving desert world that also hosts the only source of something known as melange, or "spice," the most valuable material in the known universe. Meanwhile, a plot is brewing against the Atreides from a rival family known as the Harkonnens, and the fate of Dune is eventually at stake, but Paul himself might be at the center of a long-foretold prophecy even he doesn't understand yet. The film also stars Oscar Isaac as Paul's father Duke Leto Atreides, Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's mother Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu 'Beast' Rabban, Charlotte Rampling as Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet Kynes.
Finally, as I said many times, Villeneuve has crafted a sci-fi masterpiece with Dune and so far it’s my favorite film of the year. Everything about this movie is incredible. From Hans Zimmer’s amazing score to Greig Fraser’s stunning cinematography to Bob Morgan and Jacqueline West’s gorgeous costumes…the movie feels like they went to the other side of the galaxy and filmed what was really happening. I know we are in the middle of a pandemic and a lot of you do not feel safe going to a movie theater. But this is one of those films that absolutely should be seen on the biggest screen possible. I’m absolutely seeing it in IMAX as soon as I can.
Watch what Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson
- How the book has many powerful women which was unusual at the time.
- How Frank Herbert was ahead of his time.
- When they talked to their friends and family about Dune what were the things they kept raving about?
- Why they loved working with Denis Villeneuve.
- What would surprise people to learn about the making of Dune?
