The Bene Gesserit sisters operating in the Dune universe have a unique gift: the Voice, a way of modulating the pitch of their voice so whoever hears what they say can't help but obey their command. The Voice can get pretty much anybody to do anything. In the first episode of HBO's prequel series Dune: Prophecy, a young Valya Harkonnen uses the Voice on her enemy Dorotea. "Take our your blade!" she commands. Dorotea complies. "Drive it into your throat!" You can guess what happens next.
It's a terrifying power, and hard to sell onscreen. Emily Watson, who plays the grown-up Valya in Dune: Prophecy, is an excellent actor, but no actor is so good that anybody is going to do whatever they say just because they say it. Obviously, Watson's voice is edited after the fact to make it sound every gravely, powerful, and frightening. But I wondered if Watson and the other actors playing Bene Gesserit sisters did anything special with their voices to give the editors something to work with. I asked as much during a recent roundtable interview with the cast and crew of the series. Here's what Watson had to say:
"Well, we sort of messed around in the studio with various trying out, kind of I was doing the what's his name, in the Kubrick movie, the little kid on the tricycle, whatever that was, I was trying to do him. But yeah, it's just the intention of an absolutely-- a command that is undeniable and you can't disobey it, that's sort of where it is, but yeah, [we did] a lot of it in post."
The Kubrick movie she's talking about is The Shining, and the little kid on the tricycle is Danny Torrence, who comes with his family to the foreboding Overlook Hotel and finds himself in the middle of a psychic maelstrom. Danny has an imaginary friend named Tony who lives in his finger. Occasionally Tony will take over, and speak with Danny's mouth in a low, grating drone that creeps out everyone around him, like so:
I don't know if I'd feel compelled to do what Danny Torrence told me if he talked like that, but it's as good a place to start as any when coming up with what the Voice might sound like in the Dune universe.
Valya Harkonnen and her Voice will be back for a second season of Dune: Prophecy, although we don't have a release date just yet. Look out for new episodes in 2026 at the earliest.
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