There’s Dune the epic film and another epic that director Denis Villeneuve had to grapple with – his actor Timothée Chalamet’s thick and wavy hair.

“The biggest challenge doing Dune was to deal with and master Timothée’s hair,” Denis quipped with a laugh. “Because it’s alive and I had to direct Timothée and his haircut.”

Timothée laughed as well upon hearing the Dune director’s joke about his famous locks. Timothée, Denis, and the main cast talked about the sprawling epic in a press conference for the film when it premiered in the recent Venice Film Festival.

Asked if he watched Kyle MacLachlan’s Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s 1984 Dune version, Timothée answered, “I have huge respect for Kyle’s performance. I love that version. I watched it about two months before we started shooting.”

“I have been fortunate enough to work on other projects that have had prior iterations with great actors in them. I have huge respect for all of them.”

“But when Denis Villeneuve asks you to do a movie and do his version of a movie, you forget all that and you make yourself as humble as the source material asks you to be. I guess I just went in it like that.”

The actor, only 25, has become one of cinema’s finest young thespians since his Oscar and Golden Globe best actor nominated turn as Elio, opposite Armie Hammer’s Oliver, in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name.

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Denis’ adaptation of roughly the first part of Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel is one of several notable films that Timothée headlines. He leads the star-studded cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence and more) of Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up.

Timothée also stars in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, reunites with Luca Guadagnino in Bones & All and plays the young Willy Wonka in Paul King’s Wonka.

But the soulful-eyed actor gushed about being part of Dune, which boasts of a great cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Chen Chang, Javier Bardem, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, and Stellan Skarsgard.

“Simply put, this was the honor of a lifetime for me,” said the New York native. “In some way, I just had to be guided, even though this project’s size was something I hadn’t been on before.”

“And every person and artist I am fortunate enough to sit up here with right now, and maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I was able to lean on each one emotionally at some point over the course of this four, five month shoot.”

“These are all actors that I have seen in projects that I admire and that is not actors blowing smoke. If we had more time, I could have a longer conversation about it. And now, I am proud to call them my sisters and brothers – everyone up here.”

“I am simply grateful for the experience of doing this. Josh Brolin said it beautifully in a different interview – when you make something, the process of doing is different than putting it out.”

“So there are three versions of the movie. There’s the version you read, there’s the movie you make and there’s the movie they edit. And now, there’s the movie we put out there so hopefully, people will go see it. But this is already a dream come true.”

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Asked to demonstrate the distinctive sand walk he had to master as he trod on the desert landscape where a worm monster lurks, Timothée replied, “It was with one of the best choreographers in the world, Benjamin Millepied, who is a director in his own right, who actually came up with this sand walk.”

“The first video Rebecca and I got was of him on Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles doing the sand walk.  I’m afraid if I did it right now, I would be in rhythm and this whole room would be devoured by a sand worm (laughs). That’s a bad joke.”

“That (sand walk) was something that Denis had to deal with in a very grounded way. On set – not that we are being too precious or too self-serious – but it was something that was like, okay, let’s not be goofy about this, let’s really get this right.”

“And Rebecca, correct me if I am wrong, we had the scene in Abu Dhabi. I think we found the dialogue to it afterwards (laughs). But I had to walk down and hopefully, we see on TikTok people doing the same walk and stuff (laughs).”

Rebecca chimed in, “I remember thinking, I need to study this and then I thought, God, I am not supposed to know it.  I can get away with not knowing it and look silly (laughs).”

Denis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, explained why he was so enamored with Herbert’s novel since he first read it when he was 14.

“When I read the book as a kid, I was struck by Paul – the way he finds his identity and comfort in another culture, his relationship with nature and this feeling of melancholy and beautiful isolation that the character was going through and struggling with all this heritage.”

“The weight of all the heritage on his shoulder – that is something that deeply moved me in the heart at the beginning.”

Denis shared the main hurdle, aside from directing Timothée’s curly brunette hair: “The biggest challenge, I would say, was to try to find a balance. The book is so rich. It’s a book that takes all the strength into its details.”

“It was really to try to find an equilibrium between the information that audiences, who do not know the book at all, and the information that they need to understand the movie without crushing them with exposition and trying to be as cinematic as possible.”

“So that was the big challenge – trying not to write a lot of information so the audiences could follow the story correctly and follow this adventure.”

“One thing for sure is that Warner Brothers and Legendary are proud of the movie right now and putting all their efforts to bring it to the world on the big screen, which I am very happy about.”

Denis was reportedly initially troubled with Warner Brothers’ hybrid release of Dune on HBO Max and theaters. In interviews, the filmmaker stressed that Dune should be seen in the biggest screens. Released ahead internationally, the lush drama is off to a very good start at the box office, including in IMAX screens overseas.

The sci-fi epic opens in the US and Canada on October 22.

On his request to filmgoers to watch Dune in theaters, the director – aware of the health safety concerns because of the pandemic – said, “We will see how it goes. These are, of course, difficult times for everybody.”

“We all agree – safety first – but if the audience feels comfortable and there is a safe environment, I encourage them to see this movie on the big screen because it has been dreamt, it has been designed, it has been made, it has been shot, in IMAX.”

“The sound and everything – when you watch this movie on a big screen, it’s almost like a physical experience. We tried to design a movie that will be as immersive as possible.  And for me, the big screen is part of the language.”

The director behind such films as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Sicario reflected on the continuing relevance of Herbert’s book.

“When Frank Herbert wrote Dune in the 60s, back then he was like doing a portrait of the 20th century,” he said. “But the book became more and more true to the time, like a prediction of what would happen in the 21st century.”

“Sadly, the book is by far more relevant today about the cross mix between religion and politics, the danger of messianic figures, the impact of colonialism, the problem with the environment. And as this book stayed with me through the years, it just felt more and more, through time, relevant.”

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“I wish it was not the case but I think the movie will speak to the world right now more than it would have done 40 years ago. I would say about the environment, I think that future generations will judge us.”

“I think it’s time to get angry right now. It’s time to push, to make changes. I still have hope. I think that it’s time to get into action.”

The French Canadian added, “I don’t want to be moralistic. I just think it’s about survival, and that’s what this book is about – surviving.”

Rebecca, for her part, said about her role which is definitely more than just the hero’s mother – Lady Jessica is a defiant hero herself.

“It’s interesting to listen to the interviews that we are doing and listen to other people’s answers,” began the actress, who’s starred in such films as The Greatest Showman and the Mission: Impossible series. “Because what I love is, you can do films and you can ride along, I feel, on other people’s character description or emotion.”

“I feel we all have our own identity really and truly, in this, we all have our relationships to each other and to the space. You can’t just ride along.”

“And for me, for Jessica, it’s such a mind game and an emotional one as well, that balance of being a mother, but also having such a strong belief in something greater than just being a mother.”

“One isn’t better or sort of outsmart the other but she comes from this sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit, who are there to manipulate the outcome of the universe, basically.  And then conflicted with this passion and love for her belief.”

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“And her belief, what happens when you fall in love and the request of creating a son versus my chores – which one do you go for? It’s a constant struggle.”

“And you say, mind, this is her entire identity, the mind struggle but the emotional protection of your child, of your loved ones and knowing what is right.”

“It’s finding those lovely balances. Thankfully, I had a director helping me from one emotion to the other. I was quite confused sometimes.”

Josh was asked about his reputation as the clown on the set, a contrast to his stern Gurney Halleck character – the weapons master of the House of Atreides.

Denis interjected with a laugh, “I apologize – Josh is not allowed to speak.”

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Josh quipped back, “Denis put it in my contract. There’s so much to say, so much intelligence up here that I can’t match. I think I was on set as Denis’ friend and I was somehow worked into the movie.”

Laughing, Josh joked, “I hadn’t read the book so I don’t know if the character is actually in the book. But I am paid to make people laugh apparently, even in dramas.”

Then Josh dropped the day’s quotable quote: “So I have the power of the testicles in this movie (laughs). Yes, I said it, and that’s what I represent. I’m here to protect the Duke, that’s all I know.”

“What I find fascinating, in all seriousness, which is very difficult for me, is what we have, before we started the movie, is not what we are experiencing now.  You have ideas of what this was and what Frank Herbert created.”

“Just for a moment, imagine Frank Herbert, Jr. listening to us right now and to think, would he be proud? Is this what he intended, was he talking about this when he was talking to Alan Watts in the 60s?”

“Was he imagining us when he did LSD in the 60s?  I think he intended something very powerful. When I saw the movie, that’s what I saw.”

“I know we are supposed to talk away from the fandom of Dune. But when the movie was screened for me, I brought somebody who was a major fan and had read the book probably three times over when he was very young – eight years old, nine years old.”

“And we screened the movie. There was a long pause afterwards and this man is 48 years old and from New York City. He started screaming at the top of his lungs, ‘That’s what I saw, that’s what I saw as a kid, yes! Yes, yes, yes!’”

“When you see that kind of reaction, you realize it hits somebody on a very visceral level. It allows for regression and for something else to happen other than just a cinematic spectacle.”

Given the initial tremendous box office reaction to Dune overseas, Denis’ adaptation of the second half of Herbert’s novel is very likely. In fact, Denis, who is also said to be planning to direct Cleopatra (Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, and George Clooney were rumored for the male lead) is reportedly already writing the script.

“I hope we get to do a second one,” Timothée said. “That would be a dream.” – Rappler.com