Get able to enter the world of Frank Herbert’s Dune—10,000 years earlier than the ascension of Paul Atreides (performed by Timothée Chalamet within the Denis Villeneuve-directed film that debuted in 2021). The beautiful HBO sequence follows the lifetime of two Harkonnen sisters (Emily Watson and Olivia Williams) as they combat forces that threaten their future…all whereas establishing the sect that may later grow to be the Bene Gesserit (a gaggle of girls with superhuman skills who can affect varied governments within the galaxy).
When TV Insider sat down to speak with the Dune: Prophecy solid and writers at New York Comedian Con final month, they have been greater than conscious of the legacy that they have been entering into—however effectively ready to sort out it.
“We name ourselves 10,000 B.C. — earlier than Chalamet,” jokes Emily Watson, who performs Mom Superior Valya Harkonnen. “As an actor, it’s a present, this world…morally very, very difficult and everybody’s actually tousled. However we’re taking part in with attempting to regulate the universe.”
“It’s one thing that appears like an enormous accountability,” says Williams, who performs Valya’s sister Tula Harkonnen, of stepping right into a world beloved over generations, due to the film and in addition the unique novel (this explicit present is impressed by the e book Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson).
In line with showrunner Alison Schapker, working inside such an enormous and well-known universe allowed the present to have the most effective of each worlds. “On the one hand, we’re very a lot rooted within the Sisterhood of Dune trilogy, and that’s going to arrange all of the textual content for us,” she explains. “However we’re additionally telling a narrative that takes place over many years…a few of the story we’re telling is predicated outdoors the e book, the place we’ve had the chance to work with the Dune property and contribute to the mythology.”
Alongside Williams and Watson, the present consists of a mixture of heavy hitters and newer faces, together with Jodhi Might, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Faoileann Cunningham, Jessica Barden, Aoife Hinds, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Chris Mason, Mark Robust as political chief Emperor Corrino, and Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, an Arrakis-based mysterious and charismatic soldier. For Fimmel, who spent the previous few years in medieval occasions as Ragnar Lothbrok in Historical past’s Vikings, having fights in house isn’t very completely different from swinging axes on a battlefield.
“It’s very comparable,” laughs Fimmel. “It’s about household, it’s about attempting to realize what you need it doesn’t matter what. Each character is so advanced and each character thinks they’re proper.”
Watch extra from Watson, Williams, Fimmel, and the complete solid above.
Dune: Prophecy, Sundays, HBO