Dream Casting: Dune

Arrakis. Dune. Desert Planet.

The season of Dune is here. Part Two of Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi adaptation descended into theaters last Friday, delivering the hotly anticipated sequel to 2021’s Dune, and completing the narrative arc of the first novel in Frank Herbert’s legendary book series. As a fan of the series (though I stopped after the second installment Dune Messiah, which will probably hit theaters in 2030 at this rate), I was jazzed to see the first one. And honestly, it was just okay. I liked it! It was cool! But I felt it was a touch overhyped. 

The spectacle, the costumes, the cinematography, the score, and production design were all top-notch. It was a very appealing and exciting theatrical experience. But because I read the book I knew the best was yet to come. The 2021 film made me appreciate David Lynch’s famous 1984 flop for the ways it captured the oddness of Herbert’s world, and how Kyle MacLachlan’s performance as Paul was surprisingly nuanced and delicate, something I felt Villeneuve’s adaptation and Timothee Chalamet’s performance lacked. 

This is not a popular take, but it is my truth. I know Lynch’s Dune is not strictly speaking, good. Much of it is very silly, Sting is horribly miscast, the take on Fremen and their culture is wacky - especially the decision to make everyone white. Overall, it’s not a great look for the auteur. But if you caught my earlier piece on Francis Ford Coppola’s libidinous and campy Bram Stoker’s Dracula, you know I have a soft spot for big swings that absolutely miss the mark. I’d rather watch an ambitious and original take fall flat than a lukewarm approach offend no one and please no one. I felt Villeneuve’s first Dune took big risks visually, but pulled punches when it came to story structure and character. Not to mention, the first half of the book is all about Paul getting to Arrakis and into the Fremen community, which is where he really starts to feel and fear his destiny as it comes hurtling towards him. 

And it seems I’ve been proven right. Dune: Part Two has gotten rapturous reviews leading up to its release, driving excitement among audiences and boosting box office numbers in earnest for the first time this calendar year. There has been a much talked about press campaign with high fashion from the stars on red carpets, SNL sketches about the now-infamous worm popcorn buckets, and Villeneuve and his ultra-thick French Canadian accent absolutely popping off in interviews, (if you haven’t caught his appearance on NPR’s Fresh Air, listen and get back to me.) He talks about natural light like he himself has discovered the sun. But in a world of CGI, green screen-heavy DC and Marvel flicks, I respect his commitment to artistic integrity and his passion for the source material. He is many things, but cynical and jaded about the power of cinema he is not! 

And, most importantly for me, I loved Part Two. It rocks. Part Two is where the rubber meets the road, where the spice hits the bloodstream, where the worms come out to play and where Austin Butler finally drops the Elvis voice. It’s a very good time and does an excellent job of bringing the more complicated themes of the novel into the story. And while Chalamet and the rest of the cast deliver performances that meet the challenge of the material, I couldn’t help but fantasize about what other Pauls could have been.

Reportedly, Chalamet was Villeneuve’s one and only choice for the role of Paul Atreides, which is so wild to me! Chalamet is a very talented actor. I've loved most of his performances, but there are a lot of talented actors out there. You’re telling me you couldn’t even try to imagine anyone else? Especially for such a weighty role? I think he does his best, and it’s more than serviceable, but, looking back across the sands of time, I have a few pitches for who could have nailed the role at various points over the years. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and heavily informed by my personal preferences, but as a thought experiment, I think it shows how small of an imagination Villeneuve, and Hollywood at large, can have when it comes to casting leading men. 

Here are five of my picks for alternate universe Pauls, in descending order:

5) Paul Newman: Paul Newman, to my mind, was an all-time babe. Those baby blues, that wry smile, the man had the sauce. He had the spice. And he would have reigned supreme over the sands of Arrakis. Newman is my pick for a late '60s/early '70s adaptation that would have hypothetically capitalized on the initial success of the first book, published in 1965. But science fiction was not considered mainstream at that time; 2001: A Space Odyssey came out in 1968 and was an early entry into the high-brow sci-fi space. It’s hard to imagine a contemporaneous adaptation being very successful, which is probably why a film wasn’t made until Lynch’s in 1984. But I would have paid big money to see Paul Newman eat it up back in the day, and he inhabits that classic leading man space - cruising between strength and fragility with a decidedly masculine flair. 

4) Al Pacino: I’ll admit that this one is a bit of a reach. But short kings deserve a place on this list and Pacino is the king of all short kings. Imagine him going from Scarface in 1983 to Lynch’s Dune in 1984. It would have been epic. I think Pacino has a reputation for being a very serious dramatic actor, even though his acting style is…shall we say...broad. For every tender moment he has onscreen, he has five where he’s screaming at someone. That said, he has the acting skills to pull off a part like this. It’s not hard to imagine him leading a Fremen army to take on the Harkonnens, even though he most likely would have passed on the part had it been offered to him at the time. He is my wild card pick.

3) Keanu Reeves: You know I’m right. I don’t need to expand on this. He would have killed it. Reeves has a way of making every word that comes out of his mouth sound important and meaningful, and I think his campier tendencies would have only added to the heightened world of Dune.

2) Tony Leung: Known for his collaborations with Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai but famous worldwide thanks to his undeniable talent, Leung would have been an incredible Paul Atreides. His ability to express inner anguish and a thoughtful repose make his performances captivating and alive. He’s one of the strongest actors of his generation, specifically for what he’s able to show on camera. This man does subtlety like no one else, and would easily be able to straddle the maximalist elements of Dune’s epic tale, as well as the private, interior moments of struggle Paul experiences on his path to messianic conquest.

1) Denzel Washington: No one does it like Denzel. He has a charisma that cannot be matched, that has not been matched since. He has gravitas, he has sex appeal, and he has humor. He’s classically trained and utterly himself in every role. Whatever you define as star power, he has it. When The New York Times published a piece a few years ago ranking the twenty-five best actors of the 21st Century, they ranked him as number one. Need I say more? In an over forty-year career, he’s played as wide a range of characters as anyone in his peer group. But as is well documented, Black actors have historically been excluded from the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and his vast resume contains no notable entries in those categories. What a loss! What an injustice! The more I think about it, the more I picture Denzel cruising around the sand dunes, stoically receiving visions of the future, and aching to avenge his father’s death. Denzel’s specialty is revenge! See: all the Equalizer movies.