Jason Momoa used the fight scene in Dune to signal to his son

Dune, the newly released adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel, has an ensemble cast you’ve got to see to believe. Timothée Chalamet is lead character Paul Atreides, Oscar Isaac is his father Duke Leto, josh Brolin is House Atreides retainer Gurney Halleck, Zendaya is Fremen warrior Chani…and the list goes on.

Game of Thrones veteran Jason Momoa also has a role as the swaggering Duncan Idaho, the House Atreides swordmaster. Momoa was bowled over by the cast. “I didn’t expect Oscar Isaac to be that amazing. So funny, talented, and charming,” he told IndieWire. “Brolin, I knew would be a stud. Javier [Bardem, who plays Stilgar] is like a god to me. Timothée is so intelligent. Rebecca [Ferguson, who plays Lady Jessica] is amazing, she held her own against all of us.”

But when it came time to shoot, Momoa had to put away his awe of his castmates and play someone who Paul himself idolizes. Momoa was able to draw on his own experience with mentors to make that happen. “Those men that come in your life, and they go on these journeys, whether they’re mountaineers or skateboarders, they go on these adventures, and they come back and tell them, and you just idolize them,” Momoa said. “That’s what I really felt like Duncan was to Timothée’s character. That’s what I wanted to embody when playing this role.”

It also helped that Momoa has a son himself. He included a very sweet tribute to his son in an unexpected place: the fight choreography. “We did a bunch of stuff like Kali,” Momoa said, talking about a martial arts technique native to the Philippines. “I never really learned that. My son does that. There’s definitely these intimate moments where I’m signaling to my son. That’s a Kali move, where you put your hand on your heart and put it on your head. That’s to Timothée in the movie, but that’s to my son in real life.”

The internet is tickled over the name of Jason Momoa’s Dune character, Duncan Idaho

If Warner Bros. makes more Dune movies, Momoa could have a big role — if you’ve read the books you know what I mean. But for now, people are just coming to grips with his character’s name, which sounds a little out of place in this far-flung future full of Bene Gesserit and Gom Jabbars and Tleilaxu Face Dancers.

This movie desperately needs a sequel, if for no other reason than the wisecracks.

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