Javier Bardem gushes about bald Austin Butler in Dune: Part Two

We’re just over six months out from the release of Dune: Part Two, the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s visionary adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel. The hype train is beginning to leave the station.

We recently got a look at the first trailer for Dune: Part Two, and it’s pretty epic. Among other things, it gave us our first look at two of the major new characters we’ll be meeting in the sequel: Princess Irulan, played by Florence Pugh; and the monstrous Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, played by a very bald, very scary-looking Austin Butler.

Javier Bardem: Bald Austin Butler is “an amazing creature to look at”

The Dune movies are some of the most star-studded of our time, with cast members like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Mamoa, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Oscar Isaac, and more. One who we’ll be seeing a bit more in the sequel is Javier Bardem, who plays the Fremen leader Stilgar.

Bardem also happens to be starring in The Little Mermaid as King Triton, and since that movie had its first press screening the other night, it was a good opportunity for outlets to pick his brain about Dune: Part Two. Bardem had some glowing words about Austin Butler’s performance as Feyd-Rautha in particular.

“Seeing him bald or seeing him with hair, he’s an amazing creature to look at,” Bardem told Variety. “You can look at him for hours and go, ‘Oh, my God — how beautiful you are.’”

"On top of that, he’s so nice. He’s so generous, so funny and so committed. He has done an amazing job. I’ve only had a couple of moments with him, but I would see him and it was like, ‘Wow, [he] is the character.’"

Feyd-Rautha is the nephew of Stellan Skarsgård’s villainous Baron Harkonnen, as well as the brother to Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista). He is one of the heirs apparent to the Harkonnen family, and will be a major antagonist in the sequel.

Dune: Part Two is due out in theaters on November 3.

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