Dune: Prophecy has received a lot of attention for its top-line leads: Oscar nominee Emily Watson plays Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen, the leader of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood; TV legend Olivia Williams is her sister Tula; Vikings star Travis Fimmell is the mysterious Desmond Hart; Mark Strong is the emperor of the whole freaking universe, etc. But HBO's Dune prequel show also has a terrific supporting cast that includes the likes Chloe Lea, Aoife Hinds and Faoileann Cunningham, all of whom play acolytes training to become full Bene Gesserit sisters.
The three of them were all active in the newest episode, "Two Wolves." Tula Harkonnen asked the young Lila (Chloe Lea) to undergo the spice agony, a process that would turn her into a Reverend Mother able to access her genetic memory and speak to her female ancestors; one of those ancestors might be able to help Tula and Valya face down a new threat, hence the urgency. But the spice agony is hugely dangerous, especially for someone this young.
So Lila seeks out advice from fellow trainees Emeline (Aoife Hinds) and Jen (Faoileann Cunningham), who have different takes. The pious Emeline thinks that to sacrifice oneself for a greater cause is a noble endeavor, while the cynical Jen warns Lila to look out for herself. In the end, Lila undergoes the spice agony...and if you've seen the episode, you know it doesn't go well.
We got to speak to Aoife Hinds and Faoileann Cunningham all about the episode, about Emeline and Jen's different points of view, and more. See what they had to say below!
Exclusive: We talk to Aoife Hinds (Emeline) and Faoileann Cunningham (Jen) about Dune: Prophecy
WinterIsComing: How did you both get involved in doing Prophecy?
Faoileann Cunningham: "I did an audition tape in a shower in Canada. I was at a wedding in Canada and the tape came through and all these things are like...you don't really know what you're auditioning for, but you kind of do.
"I had a weird last day where...I was going to basically be waiting to go to the airport. My family booked a motel just to kind of leave our luggage in. There was no lamps in the motel. There was like barely a light in the bedroom. And my agents were like, 'okay, you need to tape this by tomorrow, because I was about to get on a 13-hour flight. I literally taped with my brother in the shower of a motel because the only blank wall was the shower wall. So that's how I got involved, Dan!"
Aoife Hinds: "Mine was maybe a little less chaotic. I was in my last week performing a play in London and this tape came through and we didn't really know what it was for because it had a code name, and we had no context. And the side was basically just a scene. I did the tape, and...then I think my agent said, 'by the way, you know, I can't tell you, but it's for Dune.' I thought, 'okay, whoa, well, let's see how this goes.' I probably won't hear back because...we do these tapes and you literally send them off into the ether and sometimes you forget about them and sometimes you hear back. And then a week later, I got a call saying I'd gotten the part.
"As actors, we're used to going through multiple rounds, meeting a director, meeting a producer. But this was just off the tape. I felt like, 'Oh my gosh, the trust!' Literally to be cast off the tape is insane. So yeah, it was nerve-wracking, but extremely exciting."
WiC: In the episode, Emeline and Jen both give different pieces of advice to Sister Lila (Chloe Lea), who is tryin to decide whether to undergo the spice agony, which is very dangerous, after Tula Harkonnen asked her to. Emeline is telling her, 'It's good to be self-sacrificing.' Jen is telling her, 'They're using you.' My question for you guys is, who's right and why?
Hinds:
Cunningham: "Fascinating question. I think we'll both fight tooth or nail to say that we're both right, to be honest with you, in the context of our characters. And we had this argument so regularly on set. It was such an interesting conversation...What is the value of hope? And who tells you what hope is, and who's like who's kind of incentivizing you to have hope, right? As a person, I have multiple opinions on that. As Jen, I think whatever things happened to her previously, she is incredibly distrusting of blind obedience and incredibly distrusting of like self-sacrifice that someone else is asking you to make.
"And I think it was that was quite an easy thing to want also in the context of playing the scenes with Chloe, because you inevitably develop quite a protective outlook over someone that is younger than you on a large set. I mean, we were treated incredibly well and cared for so much, but you can kind of amp these stakes up in your head...And that very much came online for me with Chloe to just channel that protective thing of, like, 'what you don't know right now is this' or 'you should question what you know.'
"I come from a deeply religious country. are both Irish, but we have very, very different experiences. Aoife doesn't have a religious upbringing and I do. And I have varying beliefs within my own personal life, but it's really interesting to amp some of them up or turn some of them down and fight tooth or nail to be like, 'why are you just believing in this story that they're telling you? You could believe in a different story. You have a choice.'"
Hinds: "Emeline...says that the greatest honor is to self-sacrifice for a greater cause. And she truly, truly believes that. And when she gives Lila that advice, it's the first time where she feels that she can really share this value that she has, and this belief.
"I think what was interesting when we got to the the filming of the agony scene is that there was something happening that I was discovering as it was going on that Emeline was feeling, because she goes into this prayer when Lila goes through the agony. And there were feelings of guilt coming up within the character. And that was really interesting because it's something that I hadn't really foreseen...I think both their views are extremely valid."
Cunningham: "And anyway, that's kind of what the sisterhood is asking of both of us from the get-go. It's trying to say, 'You might think you know something about the world, but the more mature view is to be open to all of it, and to be able to actually be in the presence of every other viewpoint...I think we felt that in that scene a lot, Aoife, where we were actually standing next to each other and as actors being like, 'no, no, no, I think your character is right.' And that was very unexpected and obviously down to the writing being very good, I think across the season."
WiC: I really like that you two play very different characters but you were clearly together in that moment. You were holding hands.
Cunningham: "That was one of the hardest scenes. We were like hens with eggs that day because we had so many conflicting questions.
"This is what I love about this show; you have a split second where you think you know where what a character is thinking. (And I really think this gets worse as the series goes on and it's SO fun.) I think we were genuinely in the eye of the storm...e had practically been through a lot, like we had filmed the scenes, but we had also had this external training around the whole system of the Sisterhood. So all the reference points in your head are everything you've been told to believe and how to be. We've even been put at a distance. We've been put up in this balcony, away. So they fundamentally know we can't be down there because we would maybe intervene.
"But as actors, it was really challenging to figure out. I think some of our biggest self-doubt as actors came up that day, where we were going, 'we don't really know what we want,' but that was so true to these two characters. The hand-grabbing. I remember reading that and being like, 'no, no, no, we're going to have to have a chat about that. That doesn't make any sense.' And it just happening in a take. And being like, 'well, there you go.' Who are we to say what humans would do in any situation? Open yourself up to the contradictions and possibility in all. And I I think that that is what we tried to achieve with it."
Hinds: "Yeah, for sure. I mean, that scene was extremely upsetting to watch. I remember both of us just being like . And just thinking of Chloe going through it again and again and again. And the set so clinical, she's in this white gown. And I think that's why something within Emeline comes up, which doesn't feel as right as she thought it would.
"Jen and Emeline have completely opposite worldviews...so they've butted heads quite a bit since the beginning...But I think in that moment there's something that brings them together. It's like, 'well, we're going to have to stick together in this, because this is going down a route that is murky and it might only get worse.' And I think that was lovely for us to play because we're such big mates."
WiC: Let me ask a lighter question. Do you guys have a favorite scene partner, apart from each other, since you've obviously each other's number one?
Hinds: "Well, yeah, you literally took it out of our mouths."
Cunningham: "I think obviously Chloe. I got to do a lot of scenes with Chloe
"Sometimes as an actor, I'm loathe when people say this, but was this thing of life imitating art on set. There were days where someone came in and they felt really confident, or there were days where someone maybe hadn't slept or had filmed every day in the week or had like to train for fights and was really tired. And someone was always carrying the group differently or carrying the other person in the scene. And we're all very young actors. You know, we're learning very quickly about what reads for these scenes and what's necessary to tell the story and what the long form of the whole thing needs or doesn't need or what ambiguity is available to us. And with Chloe and with , it was just so comforting to know that you could have a professional dialogue where you were able to be like, 'what do you think?'
"And that obviously started from the top down. Emily and Olivia , they led by example, but they also, in no uncertain terms and in such a personable way, came to each one of us and kind of told us what we had to offer. And that is such a beautifully generous thing I think to do to young actors. And it doesn't happen all the time. And it was incredibly bolstering to allow your brain, your heart, your soul to speak through your character and also to receive what was being offered to you by other people in this sea of madness...It was a very rare joy."
Hinds: "Yeah, we are extremely lucky...You're present within your character, but also as an actor, you are just so in awe with what's happening in front of you coming from the other actor...There's something about really cheering each other on from the inside, like all the way through."
WiC: Aoife, I didn't realize until I looked you up for this interview that you are the daughter of Ciarán Hinds, who has been in his fair share of big-budget HBO shows like Rome and Game of Thrones (Mance Rayder). Did he have any advice for you as you started your own big-budget HBO show?
Hinds: "Run! No, I'm joking. He was extremely thrilled. Every set, every job, everything is extremely different. Apart from offering his excitement and support and all that, he , 'go out and discover and discover it for yourself, and report back.' We're always learning from each other."
Thanks so much to Hinds and Cunningham for talking to us! New episodes of Dune: Prophecy drop Sunday nights on HBO and Max.
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