One Emotional Dune Scene Had Kyle MacLachlan Intensely Frustrated
Looking back at Kyle MacLachlan's career today, there's no denying that he's a great actor. Not only did he give a beloved performance as FBI agent Dale Cooper in the mysterious drama series "Twin Peaks," but he also went on to play two different versions of Cooper (or possibly three) in "Twin Peaks: The Return." He's also impressed mainstream audiences with his deranged portrayal of The Captain on "How I Met Your Mother," not to mention his recurring role as the wacky mayor in "Portlandia." And of course, who could forget that "Law & Order" episode where MacLachlan's character publicly shoots a child for totally justified reasons? The clip goes viral on Twitter every month or so, mainly because of how delightful it is to watch MacLachlan completely sell the ridiculous material the writers gave him.
But back when he was filming David Lynch's better-than-you've-heard 1984 adaptation of "Dune," however, MacLachlan found himself severely doubting his acting skills. MacLachlan played the young Paul Atreides, who at one point is forced to fight the Fremen hothead Jamis (Judd Omen). In the book and in every subsequent adaptation, this is a pivotal, emotional scene where Paul is forced to directly take a life. It's one where Paul, trained since birth to guard his emotions, sheds a tear for one of the only times in the whole book series. The problem was that MacLachlan wasn't quite able to cry on demand. As journalist Paul M. Sammon explained in a recent oral history of the movie:
"[Kyle] was having trouble summoning up the proper tearful response to his killing of Jamis. It was more an actor's frustration at not being able to tap into the required emotion, especially when he had hundreds of people standing around watching during a major story sequence."
Insufficient tears
MacLachlan himself shed some light on the problem, saying, "I was young, and when you're that age, that's one of the things that stops you dead in your tracks, because you know what's coming and you're like, 'Ahhh, I don't know.'" The crew's solution was to give MacLachlan a menthol tear stick, which he was supposed to apply lightly under his eyes. MacLachlan grew frustrated that this wasn't working, so he rubbed his eyes to the point where accidentally got menthol in them, not just under them. "Then I'm really crying," he said, but it wasn't the right kind of cry. Paul Atreides is not the guy to bawl his eyes out over Jamis' death; he's the type to wrestle against his grief to the point where only a tear or two escapes.
"It wasn't really an organic progression," MacLachlan said. "You have this little passage of time, and there's the moment of mourning, you know what I mean? That's when the realization hit him. That progression makes sense to me as the actor, but it wasn't the way it was." He did manage to complete the scene, but the whole sequence was ultimately cut for time, and he was happy to see it go. It wasn't a great moment for MacLachlan's confidence as an actor, but it did at least reaffirm the trust and faith David Lynch had in him. "David was very understanding and kind during that," Sammon explained. Sean Young, who played Chani, also confirmed this:
"David really believed in him. He had to fight for Kyle. There were a lot of other people who had more credit. David won that fight, so he would take a lot of time with Kyle. He wanted to be vindicated for that choice."
Why the Dune crying scene is so important
It's a shame the sequence was cut, even if the reasoning behind the decision was understandable. Paul's killing of Jamis, and his mournful reaction to it, is a key moment for his character — one that star Timothée Chalamet, who was the one and only choice for the new Paul Atreides, captured well in the 2021 adaptation. It's Paul's first experience with taking a life, after all; this task is step one on his journey toward avenging his father and trying to become Emperor of the known universe.
The sequence is also important in the way it establishes the many culture clashes Paul will have with the Fremen. His advanced Atreides training makes it so he can easily overtake Jamis, but because Paul doesn't wish to kill him, he accidentally drags the fight out to a degree the Fremen find distasteful. When Paul asks Jamis to yield, it's interpreted as mockery, because Fremen customs dictate that yielding isn't a real option. That anger goes away, however, when Paul sheds a tear for Jamis's sake at his funeral. To shed water for someone, even just a drop, is a huge deal on the desert planet of Arrakis.
"Dune" is often criticized for being too stoic a story, so making sure the actor can properly sell Paul's emotional turmoil can go a long way in making the film accessible to mainstream audiences. One of the reasons the 2021 "Dune" film was so successful was because the movie had enough time to sufficiently shoot the scene, and to include it in a film that wasn't rushing through all the plot beats. The Lynch film might've denied us this pivotal moment in Paul's character arc, but nearly forty years later, director Denis Villeneuve took his chance to do it justice.