Austin Butler Revealed The Sad Conditions The Cast Of Dune: Part Two Faced Behind The Scenes

The Dune franchise is officially the talk of Hollywood, as Part 2 is set to take over the box office and the pop culture discourse. The film’s predecessor was a monumental achievement, and the early buzz for this project suggests that it’s as good as anything made before it. Austin Butler is a franchise newcomer, but he is leaving one heck of an impression on early audiences with his stellar performance. The star has opened up about the best and worst of making the franchise film, and his recent comments regarding working conditions on set have left people stunned.

Let’s hear what Butler had to say about the heat making Dune: Part Twp.
On Set Working Conditions For Dune: Part Two Were So Hot, That People Were Getting Heat Stroke

If you thought the cast was hot, just wait until you hear about the set!
In an interview, Austin Butler, who joined the Dune franchise for its second installment, revealed that conditions on set were incredibly hot while filming.

“It was 110 degrees and so hot. I had the bald cap on, and it was between two soundstages that were just these gray boxes of 200-foot walls and sand. It became like a microwave. There were people passing out from heat stroke. And that was just my first week,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly. The article highlighted the film’s director, Denis Villenueve, talking about the heat, and how he’s thankful they didn’t film both parts back-to-back earlier as they intended.

“Both movies were made in very harsh conditions, and it’s very physically taxing, so to have a break in between them was a blessing. My first thought was to shoot both movies back to back together, but now I think I would have died. It was really intense, and seeing how the world reacted to Part One was a boost of positive energy to go back into the desert,” the director revealed. Circling back to Butler, the actor did note that conditions like this, as tough as they are, have a way of bringing people together.

“It really bonds the entire crew. There’s something so humbling about being in such an uncomfortable environment,” he added. No one ever said that filming was easy, and the folks making Dune: Part Two are hardly the first to have to deal with insane working conditions. This particular set was being used for a gladiator battle, which was teased in the trailers that were being used to build hype for the much-anticipated sequel.

“The gladiator sequence is also distinct from any other in Dune: Part Two. In order to distinguish the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi Prime from the desert sands of the planet Arrakis, Villeneuve and his Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser shot the scene in a ghostly black and white,” EW wrote about the set in question.
As for Butler’s performance in the gladiator arena and beyond, well, he underwent a dramatic transformation, which also saw him reshape the voice that he had changed so much to portray Elvis.

The change in voice was a deliberate choice for the actor, who has previously read the Dune books growing up.
“I felt that because he grew up with the Baron, the Baron would be a big influence on him in many ways. So then I started thinking about the way that he speaks, and that being linked to the person that you see with the most power from the time that you’re a child, who you do end up emulating in some way,” Butler said.

EW’s piece also took a look at Butler’s physical appearance for the film, which generated much chatter online.
“Butler earned an Oscar nomination last year for embodying the King of Rock & Roll in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and Villeneuve wanted that rock star quality for the Dune villain he describes as a “psychopath swordmaster mixed with Mick Jagger.” Even a bald cap and pale skin makeup can’t suppress Butler’s sex appeal, which Feyd-Rautha wields like a weapon,” the site penned. For his performance, Butler took a different approach, forgoing the method acting that brought out the most for his time as Elvis Presley.

“I’ve definitely in the past, with Elvis, explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night. With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends,” he told the LA Times. If the early buzz is any indication, then Dune: Part Two is quite possibly one of the best sci-fi films of its era, and one of the best sequels ever made. Looks like the harsh conditions were worth it for the studio.