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Denis Villeneuve’sDuneseries has successfully captivated audiences’ interest thanks to its visual effects, direction, and screenplay among other elements. Fans applauded the project for mostly remaining true to its source material, referring to the two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name.However, the director decided to enhance its beauty by making significant changes in the movie which were different from the original material.
One such intriguing change included tweaking Rebecca Ferguson’s role, who plays the role of Lady Jessica, mother of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides in theDuneseries.
Denis Villeneuve Changed Rebecca Ferguson’sDuneRole from the Source Material
Given the reception of female-led projects, it was quite a risky move to give more agency to female characters, but his decision ended up paying him handsomely.Denis Villeneuvedecided to give an upgrade to Lady Jessica, which was different from whatFrank Herbert portrayed in his novel.
“I tried to bring him a bit more dimension”: Denis Villeneuve Hid Frank Herbert’s Openly Homophobic Beliefs With a Major Change in Dune to Avoid Getting Canceled
Paul Atreides’ mother is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a sect of women who possess advanced physical and mental abilities like reading minds and controlling people with their voices. WhileRebecca Ferguson‘s character is already formidable, the film director decided to level it up by making her more powerful.
The plot synopsis described her character as a “warrior priestess.”The director and co-screenwriter jokingly asserted toVanity Fair,“It’s better than ‘space nun.’ ”
Whereas, theLifeactress commented on how her role serves a great purpose in Villeneuve’s “Duniverse”. She shared,
“She’s a mother, she’s a concubine, she’s a soldier. Denis was very respectful of Frank’s work in the book, [but] the quality of the arcs for much of the women have been brought up to a new level. There were some shifts he did, and they are beautifully portrayed now.”
“I’m whetting my lips”: Denis Villeneuve Should Cast James McAvoy as One Controversial Character That Was Absent from Dune 2 After Actor’s Enthusiasm
The actress’sportrayal is quite commendable, particularly considering her pivotal role in the protagonist’s journey. She has effectively brought out the complexities and struggles of her character on-screen, which again was made possible due to the director’s decision to focus on more female characters. Not just Lady Jessica, he made another intriguing change to the source material to introduce another character.
Denis Villeneuve Made Changes in Dr. Liet Kynes’ Role Which Vary fromDuneNovel
The film director chose to alter Dr. Liet Kynes’ character in his Duniverse. For the unversed, Kynes is the leading ecologist on Arrakis, who was originally depicted as a male in Herbert’s sci-fi novel. However, in the film adaptation, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, a female actor has portrayed the character.
In the same interview,Timothée Chalamet‘s co-star, Duncan-Brewster shared,
“What Denis had stated to me was there was a lack of female characters in his cast, and he had always been very feminist, pro-women, and wanted to write the role for a woman.”
“I can’t actually say this. I’ll get in trouble”: Jason Momoa Addresses His Dune 3 Return After Claiming Denis Villeneuve Cut a Major Scene
She continued,
“This human being manages to basically keep the peace amongst many people. Women are very good at that, so why can’t Kynes be a woman? Why shouldn’t Kynes be a woman?”
His decision eventually brought more compelling results as it enhanced the storyline, making it interesting and giving depth to its characters. Both the movie did wonders at the box office, getting widespread acclaim from critics and viewers.
Dune: Part Twois available in theatres, whereas its predecessor is streaming on Max.
Priya Sharma
Articles Published :1321
Priya Sharma, Senior Content Writer and Social Media Manager at FandomWire and Animated Times. Having graduated in Journalism and Mass Communication, she possesses extensive expertise in crafting engaging and informative content. She has written over 2000 articles across Animated Times and FandomWire on pop culture, showing her dedication to delivering diverse and trending content to readers across the world. Apart from pop culture, she is quite enthusiastic about the Hallyu culture and is exploring the world of anime, expanding the horizons of her knowledge.
