Why Timothée Chalamet's Dune Casting Required Some Discussion Behind The Scenes
As the prophesied hero turned brutal ruler of the Freman, Paul Atreides is the face of "Dune" — and thanks to Denis Villeneuve's recent blockbusters, Timothée Chalamet is the face of Paul Atreides. The actor, who earned his first Oscar nomination at the tender age of 22, puts in a fantastic performance as the multi-faceted Muad'Dib in 2021's "Dune" and this year's "Dune: Part Two," but at one point, the film's casting department wasn't certain he was the right man for the job. The reason? He was too old.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, "Dune" casting director Francine Maisler spoke about the challenge of assembling the right cast for the sci-fi epic and admitted that during the casting process, there was some "discussion" about Chalamet's age in relation to Paul in the original book. "All the ['Dune'] actors wanted to work with Denis Villeneuve, and some knew the book and wanted to be part of it. We didn't have Timothée [Chalamet attached initially]," Maisler told the outlet. In a different THR interview, Villeneuve asserted that Chalamet was his only casting choice, stating, "There was no plan B. But it's nice to make radical choices like that and say, 'It's either him or nothing.'"
Timmy's older than Paul is in the books
The possible hesitation related to Chalamet's casting was understandable. At the beginning of Frank Herbert's first "Dune" book, Paul Atreides is only 15 years old, but he ages throughout the sprawling series. "That was a discussion that took place because in the book he was a little bit younger," Maisler explained, "but that wouldn't work for the whole movie, so a discussion took place about Timothée before he was hired." Clearly, Villeneuve had aspirations to adopt more than just the beginning of the "Dune" story, and the team behind the film ultimately decided Chalamet could embody Paul as he grew up.
This was a wise casting choice on Maisler's part, as "Dune: Part Two" sees Paul thrown into more adult situations that wouldn't work as well if an actual teen had been cast in the role. If Villeneuve pulls off an adaptation of "Dune Messiah" next, Paul will be 12 years into his rule and on the verge of becoming a father — all plot points that are more believable with the now-28-year-old Chalamet in the role instead of someone younger (though Villeneuve has joked that Chalamet will look too young forever). The first-ever "Dune" film adaptation, David Lynch's 1984 effort, also opted out of choosing a teen lead, instead casting 24-year-old Kyle MacLachlan in the role of Paul.
The best actor for the job
"The only way I do it is who is best for the role," Maisler said when describing her casting process to THR. She admitted that "Dune" wasn't conceived of as a star-studded production, but the project attracted big names. "I can't say that we started either ['Dune' or 'Don't Look Up'] looking for stars; we didn't," Maisler explained. "It's just they were such strong scripts and such great directors that everyone wanted to be part of it." For his part, Chalamet has been open about his active pursuit of the role. "Every room I was in with [Villeneuve], I'd try to put myself in his eyeline or just try to make him familiar with me," Chalamet once told Entertainment Weekly.
The actor had auditioned for the filmmaker before, for 2013's bleak missing persons thriller "Prisoners," but he told EW that Villeneuve finally asked him for a meeting after seeing "Call Me By Your Name." As Chalamet told the outlet in 2021, "He asked me to come meet him at the Cannes Film Festival where he was president of the jury, which did not feel casual at all. So I went out there and just had one of the coolest meetings ever with him, where I felt he was already treating me as a potential collaborator." That meeting would lead to not one but two wildly successful adaptations of a nearly impossible-to-adapt story, with even more "Dune" on the way.
"Dune: Part Two" is now in theaters and available on digital.