Andor star Stellan Skarsgård shades the Star Wars Universe, teases Dune

From Breaking the Waves to Good Will Hunting to Mamma Mia, Stellan Skarsgård is a titan of the cinema, not just because of his work but he’s the father of several actors who have also had huge careers, including Alexander and Bill Skarsgård. And even after everything he’s done, he’s only now, at age 69, reaching the peak of his power, and will probably become even more famous after people see his acting in Dune and the Star Wars Disney+ series Andor.

Happily, he’s also way past the point where he pulls punches interviews. “As you know, they’ll shoot me if I say anything!” he told The Daily Beast about Andor, which is a spin-off of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. “I can’t even get a proper script. It’s printed on red paper so I can’t make any copies of it, it’s ridiculous!”

"Of course I’ve seen all the Star Wars films, because I’ve had children in the ‘80s, and the ‘90s, and the 2000s, and the 2010s. I’ve had children in five decades, which means you’ve seen all the Star Wars films—and seen all the toys as well. But when I saw Rogue One, it had much more atmosphere and seemed a little more mature—and that was [writer] Tony Gilroy, who’s the showrunner on [Andor]. So, hopefully this one will be a little more than little plastic people falling over."

Did the star of one of Disney’s upcoming Star Wars TV shows characterize the rest of the Star Wars Universe as “little plastic people falling over”? I love this guy.

What to expect from Stellan Skarsgård’s performance as Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune

As for Dune, Skarsgård will be playing the wretched Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the villain of the piece. As with Andor, he signed onto the role to work with the guy in charge of the project, in this case Arrival director Denis Villeneuve. “Whatever he does, he creates an atmosphere that is dense, that you can touch, and you’re just sucked into it,” Skarsgård said. “You’re never bored—even if he does long, slow takes. The atmosphere builds up, and you’re in his universe. I think it will be the same with this one. He’s lovely to work with, and a beautiful man.”

"I did eight or ten days on the movie, so my character doesn’t show up for too much, but his presence will be felt. He’s such a frightening presence where even if he doesn’t say anything, I think you’ll be afraid of him. And I’m extremely fat. I had eight hours in the makeup chair every day. And in some scenes, I look very tall because I levitate. You’re going to have a lot of fun with it."

I would say that eight or 10 days doesn’t sound like a lot, but yeesh, eight hours in the makeup chair every day? Must’ve felt like a lot longer.

Dune will be in theaters for four weeks before coming to HBO Max?

Of late, Dune’s production company Legendary has been fighting with distributor Warner Bros. after the studio decided to release its 2021 slate of movies in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Last I heard, a decision hadn’t been made, but Skarsgård may have let the cat out of the bag:

"I think they made a deal with AT&T—which owns Time Warner, which owns HBO, which owns my phone—that they cut a four-week deal where it’ll be just for the theaters, but I’m not sure. That could change."

If that’s the case, that’s big news! And once again, I’m happy Skarsgård is willing to tell us.

Dune comes out on October 1 of this year, in theaters and (maybe?) on HBO Max. We don’t know when Andor is coming out just yet.

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