Dune 2 director Denis Villeneuve is "very proud" of Timothée Chalamet's transformative performance in the sci-fi sequel

Feb. 28, 2024



Exclusive | The filmmaker details how the Dune star was a “very different actor” this time around

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The actor was therefore faced with a tough challenge bringing Paul’s journey to life – as anyone who has read author Frank Herbert’s beloved novel will know, the character goes on a remarkable journey (no spoilers here). But Chalamet more than delivers, giving a transformative performance thatDune 2 first reactionsare saying may just be his best yet.

Someone who couldn’t be happier with Chalamet’s accomplishments here is none other than Villeneuve himself, who gives off proud dad energy when talking about his star. Speaking to GamesRadar+, the filmmaker was full of praise for the actor’s portrayal of Paul, also explaining why Chalamet came to the sequel as a “different actor” compared to Part One.

He said: “I was very moved and proud of Timothée, watching him embrace Paul’s journey, that was like pure joy. He came onto Part Two being a different actor than on Part One. I felt he was less vulnerable, more grounded, more assured. Of course, when he did Part One he was much younger and it was his first time on a movie of that size, so he had to find his bearings, try to find his boundaries, try to protect his focus. He was learning a lot. In Part Two, he came in with much more experience and we were very excited about what was in front of us with Paul’s journey, Timothée was looking forward to imploding or exploding in front of the camera. I’m very proud.”

Dune: Part Two releases in theaters worldwide on March 1. For more on the movie check out the rest of our coverage:

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As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I’ve worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.

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