Florence Pugh Reveals Who Has The Best Christopher Walken Impression Of The Dune Part 2 Cast
On June 29, 2023, a trailer for "Dune: Part Two" revealed Christopher Walken as Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, the ruler of the known universe. To remind readers, Shaddam IV is a key player in the "Dune" sociopolitical drama. The planet of Arakkis, the only known source of a rare substance called the Spice, was ruled by the evil House Harkonnen for many years. The Emperor decreed, however, that the Harkonnens are to leave Arakkis and cede control of the Spice to the gentler House Atreides. The ceding, however, is eventually revealed to be part of a massive assassination plot that would allow the Harkonnens to destroy the Atreides and re-take Arakkis. It's all very complicated.
Emperor Shaddam IV's daughter, Princess Irulan, will be played by Florence Pugh. In Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, as well as in David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation, Irulan served as the narrator.
Pugh, then, filmed multiple scenes with Walken, an intimidating experience to be sure. Walken first appeared on the big screen in 1966 and has enjoyed a lengthy and celebrated career ever since, appearing in musicals, prestige pictures, small-scale indie films, horror movies, and genre blockbusters. His unique mannerisms and pattern of speech have allowed him to play intense, threatening characters, but are also ripe for imitation. As the old saying goes, Christopher Walken impersonations are like belly buttons. Everyone has one. And, yes, Walken knows about this.
Pugh, in a recent interview with the video podcast "Happy Sad Confused," hosted by Josh Horowitz, revealed which of her "Dune: Part Two" co-stars did the best Walken impersonation. It seems that Austin Butler (who plays Feyd Rautha, the heir to the Harkonnen throne) is the current champion.
During sushi
Pugh's description of Butler's Walken was brief. She said: "We were eating sushi and he did his impression. And I was like 'Are you going to do it for him?' And he was like 'No.' And I was like 'Don't.” It seems that Butler's impersonation was not something he wanted to flaunt. When goaded to do her own Walken impersonation, Pugh was demure. She wasn't about to go on record imitating her co-star.
Butler may have been too shy to perform his imitation for Walken himself, but he had no compunctions about performing it on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" back in January of 2023. It seems that Bulter can really nail Walken's unique patois while quoting a notable line of dialogue from "Pulp Fiction." Something about a wristwatch.
Impersonations of Walken have, of course, been compiled on YouTube, and the Everything Hollywood Channel has a few impressive Walken impersonations from celebrities edited together in a video from 2021. Adventurous link-clickers will be treated to Tom Hiddleston, Jay Mohr, Gary Oldman, Robin Williams, Chris Pine, Craig Gass, Kevin Spacey, Ryan Reynolds, Anthony Ahern, Jay Pharaoh, and Amy Poehler all taking a crack at it.
It's well known, however, that comedian, director, and podcaster Kevin Pollak does the best Walken impersonation of all time, an impersonation he does often when appearing on talk shows. Pollak also does amazing impersonations of Woody Allen, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Falk, William Shatner, Robin Williams, Larry King, and many, many others. Sadly, Pollak does not appear in "Dune: Part Two." Perhaps he will appear in one of the inevitable "Dune" sequels. Dream cast: let him play Irulan's son, Leto II.