The hype train has officially left the station for Dune: Part Three, the closing film of visionary director Denis Villeneuve's Dune trilogy. Last week the first trailer for the movie debuted, giving us our first look at returning characters like unwilling messiah Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), his Fremen lover Chani (Zendaya), the imperious Empress Irulan (Florence Pugh), and Paul's Bene Gesserit mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), as well as newcomers like the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Syctale (Robert Pattinson) and Hayt, a ghola modeled after the late Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa).
However, don't expect all of those characters to feature equally in the film. One who it's now been confirmed will only appear briefly is Lady Jessica. We saw a scene of her in the trailer where Paul seeks her insight into what his father might have done in his shoes, where she chillingly replies, "Your father never started a war."
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, actor Rebecca Ferguson confirmed that she only appears in one scene in Dune: Part Three, which means that we've now gotten a glimpse at her only scene of the film.
"I just dipped my toe in," Ferguson said of Dune: Part Three. "I have no sort of comments on it. The script is great, I've read it. I think it's going to be fantastic, but my journey was number one and two."
Villeneuve's first two Dune movies adapted the original 1965 Dune novel by Frank Herbert, splitting the epic story right down the middle. Jessica is one of the main characters of that book, but she does not appear at all in the second novel, Dune Messiah, which forms the basis for Dune: Part Three. However, Jessica does appear in the following book, Children of Dune, so she's still relevant to the larger series after book one. For Villeneuve's part, it sounds like he couldn't let the third film pass without involving Ferguson in some small way, regardless of the source text.
"I don't even think [Jessica] was supposed to be in three, and then Denis was like, 'I need to have one scene.' And I get one scene," Ferguson added. "And that was a weird feeling, walking onto a set that you know so well and knowing that you don't have a part of it. It's sort of...there's a lot of FOMO, and the acceptance of, this is just what it is."
Despite only feature in one scene, Ferguson did confirm that she received and read the entire script for the film — something she reiterated she does for every project she's in, no matter how large a role her own character has. So while Lady Jessica herself only appears in one scene, the actor who portrays her has a similar prescience for the full scope of the Paul's story anyway.
What to expect from Lady Jessica in Dune: Part Three
I'm less surprised by the fact that Lady Jessica only features briefly in Dune: Part Three than I am by the fact that her sole scene of the film was included in the trailer. While Villeneuve has made some changes from Frank Herbert's novels for his films, it's always felt like the French director has tried extremely hard to honor Herbert's vision in his work. As such, it was always a foregone conclusion that Jessica would fade into the background for the third Dune film, even if she features prominently in the new marketing posters.
As for how she'll show up in the movie, there are clues to be found in the books. Following Paul's rise on Arrakis and his marriage of convenience to Princess Irulan, Lady Jessica leaves the desert planet and returns home to Caladan. She remains there in solitude throughout the 12-year holy war that Paul's Fremen armies wage across the known universe. It's only after the events of Dune Messiah that Jessica returns to Arrakis. I imagine the scene that we see of Ferguson and Chalamet in the trailer is set on Caladan, perhaps shortly after she returns there while the holy war is picking up steam.
The movie timeline will have to change somewhat from the books, because by the end of Dune: Part Two, Lady Jessica still hasn't given birth to her daughter, Alia (Anya Taylor-Joy). Presumably she'll give birth to Alia on Arrakis, and then some time after that she'll go into self-imposed exile on Caladan. By contrast, Alia is a toddler with the mind of a Reverend Mother by the end of the original Dune book, so Lady Jessica has more freedom to leave the planet immediately following Paul's capture of the imperial throne.
While it'll be a bummer to not have more of Ferguson's exceptional acting in Dune: Part Three, it's also very understandable. Lady Jessica's story has been told, and now it's time for the focus to shift to the twilight years of Paul Atreides' reign. Fortunately, there will be plenty of other important characters and exceptional actors to fill the void.
Dune: Part Three premieres in theaters on December 18, 2026.