No remake can avoid comparison with the original. When the leading role in both versions is performed by brilliantly talented actors beloved by millions, the risk of remaking a film is particularly acute. Timothée Chalamet spoke about Dune with World Arabia’s special correspondent Nellee Holmes, about Kyle MacLachlan, about the TikTok generation, and about the particular kind of humility the source material demands.
Nellee Holmes: The character of Paul Atreides is already known thanks to Kyle MacLachlan’s iconic performance in the David Lynch production. Did you use it as a template, or did you prefer to avoid it entirely?
Timothée Chalamet: I watched Kyle’s performance about two months before we started shooting. I love his version and feel huge respect for this great work. I have been fortunate enough to work on other projects that had prior iterations with great actors in them, and I feel great respect for all of them. But when Denis Villeneuve asks you to do his version of a movie, you forget all that and make yourself as humble as the source material asks you to be.
N.H.: This is a truly epic story. What does it mean to you personally?
T.C.: Simply put, as Zendaya said, this was the honour of a lifetime. In some ways, I just had to be guided — I hadn’t been on a project that size before. Over the four or five months of shooting, I was able to lean emotionally on each and every person and artist I was fortunate enough to work with. These are all actors I have seen in projects I admire, and now I am proud to call them all my sisters and brothers. Josh Brolin said it beautifully: when you make the process of doing something enjoyable, it is different than just putting it out.
N.H.: Tell us about the sand walk.
T.C.: It was Benjamin Millepied — one of the best choreographers in the world — who came up with the sand walk. The first video Rebecca and I received was of him doing it on Santa Monica Beach. Denis had to handle it in a very grounded way. Not precious or self-serious about it — just, let’s really get it right. Rebecca and I had the scene in Abu Dhabi and found the dialogue to it afterwards. Hopefully, we’ll see people doing the same walk on TikTok.