The latest episode of Dune: Prophecy, "Twice Born," got us even better acquainted with the Harkonnen family. We've already spent a lot of time with Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams), sisters who became part of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. But lately we've been getting to know their great-uncle Evgeny Harkonnen, a surly old man played by Game of Thrones veteran Mark Addy; as well as their nephew Harrow (Edward Davis), the current steward of House Harkonnen who is aiming to raise its profile.
In "Twice Born," Harrow gets his chance when Aunt Valya offers to get him a seat at the Landsraad, the governing body of great houses. She has her own reasons, of course, but Harrow is willing to follow his ambition and go along with her, despite Evgeny's stringent objections; Evgeny never forgave Valya for the incident in her youth where her brother Griffin (Earl Cave) acted on her advice and died as a result. There's a bad blood between them, as we see at the end of the episode.
Valya's advice to Harrow also blows up a bit in his face, as the meeting at the Landsraad goes not at all how they were expecting. We got to talk to both Mark Addy and Edward Davis about their time on the show. Check out our exclusive interview below!
WinterIsComing: How do both of you guys get involved in Dune: Prophecy?
Edward Davis: "I taped for the show quite close to the bone, actually, when we originally started filming. And then got a call not that long after I'd got it, which was obviously quite amazing. And yeah, I'd seen the first films so I knew the vibe, but it took me a few weeks to realize the import of getting the role. I think I'm only just actually starting to understand it now."
Mark Addy: "I got a call from [showrunner Alison Schapker]. It was quite close to the start of shooting for the character. And Alison talked me through the whole history of the Harkonnens and what it is that makes Evgeny tick, and I just the whole thing fascinating. I've not read the books, I've seen the movies. I knew what the Harkonnens become. So I thought it would be fascinating to kind of try and show an audience an element of of what their origins were. We know what we know what they are in 10,000 years time; what were they like back in these days when they were maybe a little more human? I found it a really fascinating prospect."
WiC: It did occur to me that your character did recall the original Baron Harkonnen from the Dune movies, with your little floating scooter. That's intentional, right?
Mark: "Absolutely. I can't remember, it does have a name, the floating chair."
Edward: "There's some dude who invented them. Holtzman."
Mark: "But yeah, shooting with that was its own set of problems. It had little motors so it did move, and it was controlled basically by a PlayStation controller. There's a guy that would just move you around the set. So for a for a lazy actor, it was a joy. But getting it in the right place at the right time was a bit hit and miss."
WiC: Can you guys talk me through the relationship between Evgeny and Harrow? Is Evgeny really in control of House Harkonnen or is Harrow calling the shots and trying to placate his increasingly senile, irascible relative?
Edward: "I think, inside the apartment, at home, Evgeny is king, for sure. Harrow does what he's told. And he also to an extent does what he's told in the Imperium as well. He would have been told that he has to go and ply the whale fur. But I think Harrow, like everyone, has his own view of himself, and he is ultimately in it for him. So I think when Valya comes and offers him these opportunities to gain a bit more status, he jumps at it. His whole life he would have developed a sort of resentment towards having to be Evgeny sort of live-in carer. So yeah, any opportunity to escape that is is desperately needed."
Mark: "Harrow's the best we have given that Griffin is now no longer around. Griffin was the golden boy of of the Harkonnen family, and he was the one that was gonna lead us forward and get us our place back where it should be. So I don't think Evgeny was ever under any illusions about Harrow taking over that role. I don't think he would have the faith that Harrow would be capable of anywhere near what wonderful Griffin was was able to do."
WiC: It sounds unpleasantly dysfunctional. Do you see Evgeny as a "villain"? Or did you find a way into him where you were able to be sympathetic to his point of view?
Mark: "I don't think of him as a villain. He blames Valya for Griffin's death. Tula doesn't get a look in; she's kind of invisible to him, and that's the nature of Tula. She can do equally appalling things, but because of the way she operates, she flies kind of below the radar. Valya being strident and loud-mouthed and not afraid of saying uncomfortable things puts her right in the firing line. Maybe Evgeny and Valya are too alike in character, do you know what I mean? They're always gonna rub up against each other."
WiC: Edward, could you talk through how Harrow was feeling at the end of the episode? After that very unexpected twist at the Landsraad, is he feeling like this has been a setback, or has he been taken for a ride completely and he regrets every choice he's ever made in his life?
Edward: "I think certainly within the timeline of Episode 4, he's at rock bottom and he feels he should never have done it. 'What a stupid thing to do.' I don't necessarily think he blames Valya for that, because it was what he wanted. But yeah, it went terribly wrong...I think he's the kind of person who would blame himself for that. Not for Desmond, but for not having got the name 'Corrino' out of his mouth quicker.
"And also it was a humiliating experience even before that, because the speaker is mocking him for being a Harkonnen when all he's ever done is come to court to try and sell whale fur. So I think he'll be simmering and he'll feel like there's no way forward, and that's exactly where he jumps off from in the following episodes...It's exciting for the audience to see him at that place and then see where he goes later."
WiC: So both of you have worked on these big fantasy/sci-fi tentpole shows; Edward, you were on Shadow and Bone, Mark, you were on Game of Thrones. How does Dune: Prophecy compare in terms of the scale and the experience?
Mark: "I think it's huge. The sets that they created in Budapest are just vast. It's in a way more like being on a movie set than a TV series. Real care and love and attention to detail has gone into all those sets and costumes. The sheer work that has gone into all that really helps actors to inhabit the world that they've created. It's as big as anything I've done before, I would say."
Edward: "Yeah, and certainly doing those big crowd scenes like the Landsraad...that was where you realized how much attention to detail there was. You know, you'd be chatting to a supporting artist and you'd realize their costume was just as sumptuous as yours and they're going to be seen for a couple of seconds, if that...And as Mark's saying, the sets...there's a little bit of augmentation with VFX, but it's basically all there. We were in it and that's always gonna help the actors to kind of take on that grandiose quality. It was amazing. I did literally take my breath away the first time I stepped into the throne room set."
Thanks very much to Mark Addy and Edward Davis for talking with us! New episodes of Dune: Prophecy air Sundays on HBO and Max.
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