Denis Villeneuve's Dune brings a new cast to portray beloved characters from Frank Herbert's novel, inviting comparison with David Lynch's 1984 version. Dune's adaptations have been notoriously arduous, yet even as a critical and commercial failure, David Lynch's Dune is a much-loved cult film. Among other reasons, this is because of the actors playing the parts, including celebrated character actors like Kyle MacLachlan and Patrick Stewart, who would go on to have more recognized roles. In approaching another Dune adaption, Denis Villeneuve must immediately fight the cult crowd and their love of Lynch's casting choices. Comparing the major cast of 2021's Dune with 1984's Dune is an inevitable moment for any Dune fan.
Dune began as a 1965 best-selling science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. Much of the appeal of the book is the vibrancy of its characters, woven into a complex plot of loyalty, betrayal, prophecy, and special powers brought on by the valuable commodity known as the spice melange. As an ensemble cast, any Dune movie undertakes a great balancing act of clashing personalities, high expectations from readers, and comparisons with previous versions.
At first glance, the cast of Denis Villeneuve's Dune is a mix of the most celebrated character actors of the day and new talent, which is to be expected of a Hollywood blockbuster. Often, Hollywood is willing to sacrifice source material for the sake of recognizable actors. However, while much of the cast of Villeneuve's Dune are well-recognized and well-loved, this does not come at any sacrifice to Frank Herbert's original vision of the characters. With Dune's story influencing everything from Star Wars to Game of Thrones, it may conspicuously resumable other epic tales that have come after. But for longtime fans of Dune, seeing if Villeneuve faithfully depicts Dune's characters is more important, and in that regard he delivers.
Paul Atreides
Paul is the young heir to the House Atreides and the result of a Bene Gesserit breeding experiment. With the authority of House Atreides, a genetic predilection for prescience, and his mother's Bene Gesserit mind-control and martial arts training, Paul is a tormented young man not at all in control of his destiny as he is caught between the plans of several people and groups. Paul's role is tricky to cast because the character can quickly veer off into being too sulky or unconvincingly super-powered. When Kyle MacLachlan was cast at 25 in David Lynch's Dune it was his first acting role. Still, MacLachlan brought a weird energy to the role and his contribution to Dune is generally considered one of its highlights. MacLachlan would lend an equally weird energy to his most famous role as Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks in 1990. Timothée Chalamet was a few years younger than MacLachlan when cast in Denis Villeneuve's Dune; however, Chalamet looks much younger than he is while MacLachlan looked slightly older. This is important as Paul Atreides is only 15 years old during the events of Frank Herbert's book. In comparison to MacLachlan at the same age, Chalamet is a veteran actor, having appeared in more than 15 films before landing his role in Dune, and proves to be an excellent choice for young Paul, bringing necessary moodiness and gravity to his scenes.
Lady Jessica Atreides
One of the key roles in the narrative of Dune is Lady Jessica, official concubine and love of Duke Leto and mother to Paul. The role requires someone able to demonstrate deep love for her family and also the power of her Bene Gesserit training. David Lynch cast Francesca Annis in his Dune, and Annis convincingly communicated Lady Jessica's sincerity and love. Denis Villeneuve, perhaps in recognition of the importance of the character to the narrative, allowed Ferguson's Jessica a greater number of emotional reaction shots in the 2021 Dune's movie, drawing out internal monologues from Frank Herbet's book in a more relevant way on screen than David Lynch's use of voice-over narration. As fun as campy voice-over narrations can be, as a result of Villeneuve's choices, Ferguson is allowed to be a more convincing Jessica than Annis was, and somewhat fiercer.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
The sinister mastermind Baron Harkonnen, head of House Harkonnen, is the villain of Dune and a tricky role to play. David Lynch made the bizarre choice to downplay the Baron's intelligence under actor Kenneth McMillan and emphasize his more grotesque qualities, veering into aspects of body horror in some of the more decried scenes in 1984's Dune. This robbed the story of conflict as it became less about how well the Baron's master plan unfolded and more about how evil he was. Villeneuve's Baron played by Stellan Skarsgård, while suitably grotesque in makeup, better communicates the genius intellect of the character while not sacrificing his ruthlessness.
Duncan Idaho
Atreides swordmaster Duncan Idaho was the breakout character of Frank Herbert's book, so popular that Herbert revived the character for the sequels. Idaho is something of the Han Solo of Dune, a handsome, charming swashbuckler and the closest thing Paul Atreides has to a friend. Unfortunately, Richard Jordan as Idaho in David Lynch's Dune captured none of that. When Jason Momoa was cast in the movie as Villeneuve's Idaho, some dismissed the casting as Hollywood pandering since Momoa is popular, pretty, and a rising action star. As it turned out, Momoa not only gives one of the stand-out performances of Villeneuve's Dune—this Idaho truly would be the breakout role—but also nails the character as described by Frank Herbert, both in look and attitude. Idaho is supposed to be extremely attractive, have "curling black hair," and be an excellent fighter. Jason Momoa is all of these things and makes the character come alive with a swashbuckling attitude that Dune fans have never been so lucky as to witness on screen before.
Duke Leto Atreides
The ill-fated Duke Atreides inherits the planet Arrakis (known locally as Dune) to take over spice production on Dune by order of the Emperor. What the role requires is the actor to communicate that they know they are walking into something of a political trap and yet convincingly find themselves betrayed. Jürgen Prochnow did a passable job communicating urgency in Leto's role of Lynch's Dune, but lost the subtlety of Leto as he was written. Prochnow, however, was given more opportunity to focus on Leto's love of Jessica, an important aspect of the character that Villeneuve's Dune largely overlooked. Otherwise, Oscar Isaac as Leto in Villeneuve's Dune is given a lot more of the complexity that Herbert wrote and is able to better communicate in his limited scenes.
Isaac is another actor that might initially be dismissed by cynical readers on the basis that he is too popular; he's featured heavily several big-budget franchises including taking on risky role as Moon Knight in the MCU. But that attitude disregards Isaac's vast body of work and the fact that Isaac looks identical to Herbert's description of Duke Leto. Leto is described as having "olive skin and black hair" and "hawkish features." Issac fits the role physically, and brings a subtlety and conviction to the role that makes his performance remarkable.
Chani
Chani is a warrior of the Fremen, the indigenous people who roam the deserts of Arrakis. The role in the first part of the book is largely to be the person that Paul Atreides has prophetic dreams about. Sean Young, best known as the female lead from Blade Runner, played Chani in Lynch's Dune. Sean Young as Chani is largely forgettable, but that was not entirely her fault. Neither Lynch nor Herbet gave her much to do other than look fierce and then fall in love with Paul. Villeneuve's Chani, played by Zendaya, in some ways has even less to do given when in the narrative his Part One movie ends. To balance that, Villeneuve gives her the opening narration duties that went to Princess Irulan, played in David Lynch's version by Virginia Madsen. Zendaya's role in the Dune sequel will be much larger if Dune 2 does happen, but here she does what she can with her brief scene, her dream sequences, and her narration.
Gurney Halleck
Gurney Halleck is the chief officer of Atreides, Duke Leto's right-hand man and a celebrated musician. David Lynch's Dune does little to distinguish Halleck's character from the other swordfighter in the story, Duncan Idaho, but being played by beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Patrick Stewart is a huge boost to the cult appeal of Lynch's film. In terms of communicating what Halleck is supposed to be about, Villeneuve's Halleck played by Josh Brolin uses his limited screen time to distinguish the character better. Josh Brolin films have granted him a similar character bent, between his roles in Men in Black 3, Deadpool 2, and his roles as Thanos in the MCU culminating in Avengers: Endgame, but he still approaches the role of Halleck in an engaging and impassioned way. Brolin's portrayal may not have the meme appeal of Patrick Stewart holding a pug while charging into battle, but he perhaps better communicates the character of Gurney Halleck.
The Beast Rabban
As Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's nephew, Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, also known as "The Beast," is the overseer of Arrakis before the coming of the Atreides. He's also a brutal warrior, but even after all that is only a minor character in the novel. Lynch's casting of Paul L. Smith depicts Rabban as simply a less intelligent, younger Baron Harkonnen. Between the two actors, only Dave Bautista in Villeneuve's Dune looks the part. He's accustomed to playing the muscle, and Dave Bautista has a rich future in action movies, but his role in Blade Runner 2049 (also directed by Villeneuve) showed that he can communicate emotion well even in a small part. Bautista brings the same energy and physical presence to his role as Rabban. He looks just enough like Skarsgård's Baron, and just dangerous enough to communicate that the Harkonnens can also be physically threatening adversaries to House Atreides.
Stilgar
Stilgar is the leader of Fremen who live at Sietch Tabr, the main Fremen stronghold in Dune. It's a difficult role to do well because Stilgar must be mistrusting of off-worlders yet still be won over by the good intentions of House Atreides; must be practical and fierce yet still be fooled by the Bene Gesserit's planted prophecies. Lynch cast Everett McGill to walk that tightrope, and between the actor's limited screen time and McGill's performance, Stilgar did not make much of an impression. Javier Bardem, known for his memorable villains in stand-out performances to everything from the James Bond movie Skyfall to Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men, brings a casual charm and weary strength to Stilgar that perhaps enriches the character beyond Herbert's original depiction.
Dr. Wellington Yueh
Wellington Yueh is the Suk Doctor attached to the House Atreides. More than mere physicians, Suk Doctors are conditioned to have greatly amplified consciences such that they are more trustworthy than anyone else in the Dune universe. The action in Dune hinges on the role of Yueh to communicate a convincing but reluctant betrayal. Lynch cast beloved character actor of Quantum Leap fame, Dean Stockwell, and Stockwell managed to communicate Yueh's remorse well. In Villeneuve's case, he cast Chang Chen, an experienced Taiwanese actor who was in one of Ang Lee's best movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. While Chang brings less remorse to the role of Yueh, he does a good job of communicating Yueh's resourcefulness. It is difficult to say which actor represents Herbert's character better, but both do fulfill a tricky role that could otherwise have made an important narrative turn in Dune unconvincing.
David Lynch seems to have cast his 1984 Dune as though he wanted to make a grand movie in the Star Wars: A New Hope tradition. Denis Villeneuve seems to have cast his Dune as though lifting them from Herbert's pages. This is a blessing and a curse, as over-adherence to the Dune book is not necessarily what makes a good film. Villeneuve gives the audience rich characters to balance the sometimes dry content of the Arrakis desert, and while they may not be as cult-friendly as Lynch's characters, the casting of Villeneuve's Dune couldn't be more on-point when compared to Frank Herbert's vision.