Dune: Prophecy star Shalom Brune-Franklin tells us about the twist with her character Mikaela

The latest episode of Dune: Prophecy, "Two Wolves," gets us better acquainted with Mikaela, a Fremen woman working in a nightclub on the planet of Salusa Secundus. In this episode, we learn that's she's part of a rebel group that includes Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason) working to bring down the ruling Corrino family, the same family for whom Kieran works as a swordmaster. And then, a couple scenes later, we learn that Mikaela is actually a Bene Gesseris sister only pretending to be a rebel so the Sisterhood can keep its hands on all the levers of power.

We learn a lot about Mikaela very quickly! I got to talk to actor Shalom Brune-Franklin, who plays Mikaela, all about her work on the show. Check out our exclusive interview below!

WinterIsComing: How did you get involved in dune prophecy?

Brune-Franklin: "The casting director had just cast the show I had done before. I think we were just wrapping that up, and this audition came through for this part. And I didn't really know much about Dune at all. I remember having a conversation with my agent about it and she was like, 'there's this incredible film that's out at the moment, maybe have a look at that before you read the script because you might not understand what a sandworm is.' And I was like, 'that's a really good point.' Just reading that in the script, you might be like, 'that's a bit rogue.'

"So my relationship to it was almost non-existent. I probably would have seen a poster in London somewhere and gone, 'Oh, that looks quite cool.' And [I] just auditioned for it and got the part and the scripts were amazing and that was really good fun to get stuck into. It's the saying, 'baptism by fire,' just getting thrown in the deep end. That's kind of how it was."

WiC: I have to say I did not see the twist with your character Mikaela coming at all. We meet her, she's this rebel, and then she shows up on the dock with Valya and I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's her. She's a double agent.' What is it like as an actor playing a character who has these layers and isn't revealing herself to everyone?

Brune-Franklin: "It is so much fun. I love playing these kinds of characters, and it's not my first time playing a character like this. Am I getting typecast as this sort of mysterious double agent? Do I give up double agent energy in real life? I'm not sure. I feel like I'm like the opposite, I'm just really open, I think.

"But I love playing characters like this, and I also love the experience of knowing that somebody is gonna watch that first episode and see this barmaid and go, 'Who's that? Oh, she gives a bit of a funny look to Atreides.' You don't really know what's going on. And I love that. Now, after people watch Episode 2, they can go back and they could read into that look so much more. Don't mess this plan up, don't get involved with this person, there's so much at stake. And it's really good fun. And also pitching those layers and how much you want to give away in one moment; it's so, it's so fun. It's a great, great part to get as an actor, playing someone incredibly deceitful. And never giving away what they really believe is a fun thing to play."

WiC: We see hints about who Mikaela's backstory. She has the blue eyes, which I think implies she might be Fremen, but I'm not sure. Do we get more into that backstory? And if we don't, did you develop anything for yourself to kind of get into the character?

Brune-Franklin: Yeah, it's interesting. I remember having a conversation with Alison about where that might play out. It was very much spoken between us, but also you never know: that could change as things go on, if we go on. But for me, I had to kind of make up how a Fremen woman — she is Fremen, she is from Arrakis — found herself at the Sisterhood, because that in itself is quite odd. You know, these people stick together, they're incredibly close-knit, they're incredibly loyal to each other. And so it's interesting that she's found herself off of her home planet and with the Sisterhood. And we see the backstory of a lot of the women and how they end up at the Sisterhood. And it almost seems like a lot of those women go there when they have nowhere else to go, and I definitely think that Mikaela is of that sort of ilk."

WiC: You worked a bunch with Chris Mason, you've had a scene with Emily Watson. Did you have a favorite scene partner?

Brune-Franklin: "Yeah, I loved...oh, not giving spoilers. I love working with Chris and I love working with Emily, both amazing and so much fun. And I also just love those interactions between Valya and Mikaela, because we see something a little more playful, a little softer with Valya, which I quite like. And that was fun to kind of play with in the moment...I loved working with both of them. It was awesome."

WiC: In the Dune universe we almost never go to the nightclubs...I think this show the first time it's ever happened, and the set is very cool. What was it like acting in that space?

Brune-Franklin: "Yeah, I remember walking on there the first time and being pretty blown away. I was silent, my jaw was on the floor. It was so impressive. I wish people could go and see it, because it's just amazing. The amount of detail that went into that set is unbelievable. And the way they lit it as well was so cool. It was like this cylinder tunnel, and at the back, this amazing red glow with this cool symbol on the front, and that led directly to the bar...I was walked through with the props master explaining to me [about] the different devices and the vials [they've] made. Just seeing the creativity that people were allowed to go and play out with and have fun with. It was just like, 'you've got the coolest job ever. This is awesome.' It was really impressive."

WiC: Is there anything you can tease about the rest of the season? Anything you're looking forward to people seeing?

Brune-Franklin: "I'm really looking forward to people seeing the inner struggle that Mikaela has with being Fremen and sympathetic a little bit to the rebellion, and having to choose sisterhood above all because that's the oath she's taken. I'm interested to see."

Thanks very much to Shalom Brune-Franklin for talking to us! New episodes of Dune: Prophecy air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.

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