Dune 2 director confirms Austin Butler only method acted “25-30%” while on set

Dune 2 director Denis Villeneuve explained that Austin Butler didn’t go full method actor while on set after controversial Elvis training.

Dune: Part Two is shaping up to be the best movie of the year so far as critics continue to praise its stellar cast and story.

Following director Denis Villeneuve ‘s 2021 sci-fi epic, Dune: Part Two will see Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) join forces with his love Chani (Zendaya) as they fight various dangerous threats including Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler).

Butler, who is best known for his intense method acting practices in past films, has apparently toned down that aspect of his character work on this particular set, according to Villeneuve.

Dune 2 set didn’t see the full range of Butler’s method acting

The pair recently sat down with The Los Angeles Times ahead of the sequel’s highly anticipated release in early March.

During the conversation, Villeneuve explained that Butler didn’t grace the Dune 2 set with his trademark method acting, which was well documented when the actor stared in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.

“I’ve definitely in the past, with Elvis, explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler explained, “With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends. And [Villeneuve].”

“So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary. It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing. That’s not to say that it doesn’t bleed into your life. But I knew that I wasn’t going to do anything dangerous outside of that boundary, and in a way that allowed me to go deeper.”

The director explained that Butler was “very playful” while on set, hinting that the actor made the method acting boundary very strong, but added, “When the camera was on, it was like you were possessed. When the camera was off, you were still maybe 25 or 30% Feyd. Just enough to still be present and focus but removed enough that you didn’t kill anybody on set.”

Butler’s Elvis method acting became somewhat of a meme as the actor still maintains a bit of the late singer’s accent, but his ability to create a wall between himself and his sadistic Dune 2 character must have worked as early audiences reactions have nothing but praise for his performance.