Zendaya in “Dune 2”.Photo:Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Zendayahad top billing in 2021’sDune— but it’s in thenew sequelthat the actress truly gets the chance to shine.
Dune: Part Two, in theaters now, features the 27-year-oldEuphoriastar reprising her role as Chani, a warrior of the Fremen people who hide in the deserts of planet Arrakis. (Spoiler alert: astrailershave revealed, the sequel includes far more Zendaya than in the first installment.)
Writer-directorDenis Villeneuvedesigned hisDuneadaptation as a two-parter covering the plot of author Frank Herbert’s original novel that in 1965 became a science fiction classic. A follow-up was not guaranteed, however; it wasn’t until days afterDunepremiered in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021 that production company Legendary Entertainment and distributor Warner Bros.greenlita sequel due to its box office — and laterOscar-winning— success.
Because Chani appears primarily in the second half of Herbert’s book as Paul adapts to life in the Arrakis desert, Zendaya’s role inPart Oneserved mostly as a set-up to the events of a sequel.
Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya in “Dune: Part Two”.Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
For many Zendaya fans, herseven minutes of screentimein the two-and-a-half-hour movie were a letdown, especially after theSpider-Manstar had appeared in countless press events and premieres.
Villeneuve, 56, admitted toThe Los Angeles Timesin 2021 that “some characters that are less developed… I’m keeping for the second film — that’s the way I found the equilibrium. We tried in this movie to stay as close as possible to Paul’s experience. Then, in the second one, I will have time to develop some characters that were left aside a little bit.”
As Zendaya said in an interview with PEOPLE, her audition for the role of Chani predated the release of the HBO hit that considerably raised the star’s profile and made her the youngest-everEmmy winnerfor best actress in a drama series.
“BeforeEuphoriacame out,” she said, “I heard that Denis was making this and that there might be something that I could do in it. I was like, ‘Hi, can I audition?’”
Zendaya revealed toEntertainment Weeklyearlier this month that her appearance inPart Oneamounted to a week of filming in the deserts of Abu Dhabi and Jordan. However, she said, that made her all the more excited to revisit Chani: “It was fun to figure out and live with her a little bit longer because a week wasn’t enough!”
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Zendaya at the Mexico City premiere of “Dune: Part Two” on Feb. 6.Medios y Media/Getty Images
Medios y Media/Getty Images
For Chani, that meant expanding the role beyond simply being Paul’s love interest.Dune: Part Twosees the character wrestling with the tension between falling for a foreigner and disagreeing with him ideologically as he embraces becoming the Fremen people’s saintly icon. “It’s constantly something that she’s battling inside of herself,” Zendaya toldEW. “That gave me something more to hold onto, and I really appreciated that.”
As Villeneuve furtherexplained, giving Chani “a different agenda” than her passive acceptance of Paul in Herbert’s original novel enabled him to “bring a different perspective to the story.”
“[Herbert] was disappointed at how people perceived Paul,” the French-Canadian filmmaker told the outlet. “In his mind,Dunewas a cautionary tale — a warning against charismatic figures. He felt that Paul was perceived as a hero, when he wanted to do the opposite.”
Dune Messiah, the second novel in the series published in 1969, “makes it very clear this story is not a victory, it’s a tragedy,” said Villeneuve. “With humility, I hope that this adaptation is closer to Frank Herbert’s original intentions. I used Chani’s character to do so.”
(Left-right:) Anya Taylor-Joy, Souheila Yacoub, Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Denis Villeneuve, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh and Lea Seydoux at the New York premiere of “Dune: Part Two” Feb. 25.Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.
Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Warner Bros.
Mild spoilers ahead: consideringPart Twoends with Paul and Chani both alive — and their romantic relationship uncertain, given how much she objects to his becoming a messianic leader — fans could see even more Zendaya if theDunefranchise continues.
Herbertwrote fiveDunenovels, while his son Brian wrote further sequels, prequels and spin-offs within the literary universe. In 2021, Villeneuve toldEWthat he would like to make “at least three”Dunemovies.
Last August, the filmmaker toldEmpirethat “there are words on paper” for a third film. “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” he said.
Dune: Part Two, costarringAustin Butler,Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux,Anya Taylor-Joy,Christopher Walken, and returning cast members Ferguson,Josh Brolin,Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling andJavier Bardem, is in theaters now.
source: people.com
