The newest chapter in the Dune saga has debuted. Max’s new tentpole series, Dune: Prophecy, explores a time frame centuries before the birth of Paul Atredies. The series is focused exclusively on the rise of the Bene Gesserit. And frankly, right now, we definitely could use more stories about powerful women.
Thankfully we were able to sit down with a few of them, as Max gave us the opportunity to speak with three of the cast members of the hit series: Aoife Hinds (Sister Emeline), Faoileann Cunningham (Sister Jen), and Emma Canning (Young Tula Harkonnen).
The history of the Bene Gesserit is quite complex. A great deal of the history is rooted in the bitter centuries-old rivalry between House Harkonnen and House Atreides. Dune: Prophecy dives into this history, centering on the sibling characters of Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams). While Valya and Tula might be the central figures of the series, the ensemble is comprised of some terrific and complex characters, including the key acolytes that serve Valya’s Mother Superior and Tula’s Reverend Mother characters.
All this to say the idea of sisterhood is a primary theme and focus for this series, which explores multiple definitions of the word. Through Valya and Tula’s relationship the idea of familial sisterhood is deconstructed. Whereas through the acolytes and the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, the idea is explored as a powerful society controlling the destiny of the universe in their gifted hands. Our conversations with Hinds, Cunningham and Canning provided some incredible insights for both definitions explored in the series.
NOC: It’s brilliant talk to you guys, especially after watching the first four episodes of the series. I’m a Dune nerd. I love the movies! And when I heard the universe and its history was going to be explored further in Dune: Prophecy I got really excited. And then I met the characters; The entire sisterhood. And it was wonderful. And I have to ask, what was it like getting to be part of this world? Getting to be part of Dune, something with such a huge fan base that everyone has loved and adored since Part One, Part Two, and now Prophecy?
Hinds: It’s been mental. I mean, it’s been incredible. I think I can’t really believe how lucky we are to be part of this show, and to be part of a show within the Dune universe, and what that means and what that represents. So now extremely grateful!
Cunningham: Yeah, we’re so lucky. I mean, we basically have the most fun job ever! You know, I was like a child like honestly. Every day we would walk onto a new set. And, you know, I remember there was this evening where we finished filming early on our block, and we got to go and watch some of the stuff that’s happening on other planets. And we hadn’t seen some of the rooms yet. [To Hinds] Do you remember that Aiofe? The Harkonnen’s apartment? I was like, “Whoa.” Because, like, I’m a big fan of the Harkonnens as well from the films. Like, I really enjoy those characters, and it’s just kind of exactly what I had imagined it might look like!
Canning: The first movie was the only movie we had before shooting. The second movie came out after shooting. So it was really interesting to go and watch it. And be reminded that the Harkonnens look very different in 10,000 years. But yeah. Arrival… is one of my favorites… So it was incredibly exciting [joining the universe].
For Aoife and Faoileann, we’re in a time where I think “sisterhood” needs to be embraced a lot more. I think we’re seeing that in the world today, and honestly, with characters like Sister Emeline and Jen, we’ve got some of the most powerful female figures in sci-fi history. Which is one of the things I love about Dune: Prophecy. When you guys were working on the show and reading the scripts, was that something that was coming to mind and did that affect your performances?
Cunningham: Yeah, 100%. I wouldn’t say it necessarily affected our performances, but I think what it was is it was quite bolstering to, for the first time in my life, be on a set where everywhere I looked, there were women. And it was, it was just like, so inspiring. Because on the days where you faltered, or you maybe just felt a bit overwhelmed, because you felt, you know, a responsibility to serve the thing with all of your heart and soul, you would look around, and there was like 10 other women giving it their all! And I think that that was incredibly bolstering towards feeding the story with as much as we possibly could in every given moment.
Hinds: Yeah, definitely, I think we were incredibly lucky with the cast that we are. You feel supported and cheered on in every single way by all of the women around you. When you’re going on to this set it can be nerve wracking. And you know, you have days where you’re, you know, dealing with lots of different things. And you really, have to have that feeling of really championing each other through everything. I think that’s something that’s really apparent and has been like one of the biggest joys of this job.
Emma, what was it like getting the call to get involved with Dune: Prophecy?
Canning: When I got the offer, I didn’t know about Tula’s story. With a project like this, the scale of it, there’s huge secrecy behind it. So things like this you’re sent a different name… I knew it would be more intense than the scenes I was given. I did a Zoom call with Anna, our first director. And she had me doing crazy things like channeling my deepest rage and screams before the scenes… I came out of that Zoom call and I had no idea how that went at all. So to get the offer was a huge surprise. And Allison didn’t send me the script. They set up a Zoom before we read the script. She wanted to talk me through it and lay out Tula’s story for me. So we had this long Zoom where she was stepping me through it all through Tula’s point of view. Then when I read the script… I never got to experience things the way audiences will. So through Alison I always knew the reasons it was there… It was just really exciting to be trusted to portray such huge events.
For Aoife and Faoileann, I love the fact that the Bene Gesserit is literally the most powerful force in the universe. You know the things that they could do, the things that they know; it’s astonishing! And you do have, of course, within positions of power, people using that for their own advantages. For leverage, and all that stuff. When you guys are looking at, you know, the Harkonnen sisters, for example, as your characters, as Emeline and Jen, do you think that they’re behind the greater Harkonnen cause, or do they think that there’s at least a little bit of corruption there? Are they questioning this sort of “Sisterhood” and choices that are being made by Tula and Valya?
Cunningham: I think, like for me, if you’re a smart person, and you realize that every single person has a flaws, and I suppose the way I was always looking at Emmeline was like, “Cool. you’ve just chosen a story to assuage the fear of the fact that you know these people are human, despite the fact that they’re really well trained.” And obviously, like, when you in reality, come to terms with that (like Lila going through The Agony and stuff like that) you’re faced with exactly what you knew was true. You can’t cope with it necessarily very well. But I think that was my viewpoint. These are still women… They’re living, breathing women. They’re not machines. And I think, yeah, the nuance of that is the power and also the downfall, in some senses… I definitely think if you have any musings on the corruption of that as a as a character, then you’re always maybe looking for the potential for it in people, or the full spectrum of humanity in each person.
Hinds: Definitely. And I think there’s something about, you know, this school where they’re on session of what they’re going to learn. First of all, they don’t really know exactly all the hours that they’re going to learn. They don’t know how they don’t know what they’re going to go through. And there’s, there’s this level of respect that comes when you arrive in the sisterhood. And then as things kind of start going a bit haywire, they start wondering, questioning, what is it? Why are we here? What is happening? What’s actually the meaning of all this? And it’s bringing up all of these complexities and all the contradictions, also within characters and within what we’re seeing. Yeah, that’s really it’s brilliant for us as actors to be able to play all that.
Speaking of Valia and Tula, I mean, like you guys were on set holding your own against legends like Emily Watson and Olivia Williams. And I have to ask, what were really some of the best learnings that you got from them? Did they give you any tips or coaching or anything like that? Because you guys really just like, went in there and stood your ground and were amazing alongside of them.
Canning: [Olivia] had already been shooting a while before I got there. So we got together and we chatted. And she is incredible! I just really really admire her both as an actress, but on and off screen. She’s so graceful and warm. She really kind of shared Tula with me in a way that was so generous. She wasn’t very clear cut or dominating in any way. She was just gentle… We spoke about family dynamics a lot and what it means to be the youngest in the family. She is the youngest in her family. So from that point of view, since I’m the eldest… by happenstance that was really useful to talk to her about. Plus production put together a scene-pack for me. And I watched those. I didn’t watch with a specific goal in mind… I used it more as a touchtone and anchor if I ever felt lost.
Cunningham: There’s a thing with a show like this where you have to be so focused. And I think I watched both of them arrive with very little ego, having done immense, like, immeasurable amounts of work on their characters. And to be able to like drop into like this, like razor sharp moment of like existence of their characters was a real learning curve. Because I think with something like this, is very easy to get overwhelmed in the like the wheel of it all and the like scale of it all. But that’s what our job is. To be very focused and pull into being this very focused moment of existence. And I think they both taught us a lot about that, really.
Hinds: Yeah. Like, amazingly, exactly how they held themselves on set was very inspiring to watch. They were just so supportive and so encouraging. And that really, you know, gave us the [inpiration]… to step up. We couldn’t let them down.
Well, you guys, didn’t. They’re seasoned legends, but now you guys are new legends. I honestly can’t thank you enough for being part of this wonderful franchise, for playing these amazing characters, and for really supporting the idea of sisterhood, especially in a time when the world needs it right now. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you guys so much for everything, and honestly, I hope you continue to kick ass, because this show is just wonderful!
Dune: Prophecy airs every Sunday at 9pm ET, only on HBO and Max!
