Timothée Chalamet has said he felt nostalgic, and like he was losing a part of himself, while filming Dune Part III.
The 30-year-old stars in the final instalment of the sci-fi franchise and reprises his role as Paul Atreides, 17 years after the events of the second film, and follows the consequences of his rise to power as the galactic emperor.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the actor said the role, which he first stepped into in 2019, was the most “emotive” for him on a personal level – and described feeling nostalgic while filming the final movie.
Speaking at a Q&A Imax fan event, which was live-streamed from Los Angeles across a number of cinemas through the world including London, Toronto and Berlin, he said: “This is the most emotive on a personal level, not necessarily the character, but I’ve been living with this for so long.
“I’m so proud to live with it and so proud to work with Denis and his family.
“I felt there was a finality in the exercise that I was kind of nostalgic about, even the moment, even though I was 29 when we shot this, it still felt like, I was losing a part of me by getting through it.”
Moderator Brittany Broski, Denis Villeneuve, and Timothée Chalamet attend the Dune: Part Three Global IMAX Fan Event
The upcoming film is based on Dune Messiah, the second novel in Frank Herbert’s 1960s series.
Chalamet added: “This is a different movie.
“I think the first two are sort of siblings, and then this one is really its own energy, and I love that approach.
“I was familiar with this crew with this family, but there’s a new tone to this.”
Villeneuve echoed Chalamet’s comments and said the final instalment to the Dune trilogy is a “very different beast” and more “intense” and “emotional” story.
He said: “It will be the third and last Dune movie. It’s a Dune movie but it is a very different rhythm and its more intense.”
Chalamet said he was “very grateful” to the filmmaker for making the third film so soon after the second, which was released in 2024, after originally planning to do it “in a few years from now”.
The Canadian director explained: “We did both movies back to back and I was quite tired and said to everybody, ‘Listen, I’m taking a break’.
“I went back home and two things happened. First of all I kept waking up in the night with images and these images started to get stronger and stronger.
“I felt an appetite and a joy and a desire to finish that story and I felt a near responsibility.
“I was planning to do part three in a few years from now but I said, would it be a better idea instead of going back there on Arrakis by nostalgia, to go by necessity and honour these images that are coming to my mind right now?
“I wrote the movie right away and here we are. I’m really excited.”
Chalamet said he was “very grateful” to Villeneuve for making the third film so soon
Dune Part III sees a number of actors reprise their roles including Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica and Spanish actor Javier Bardem who returns as Stilgar.
It also sees US star Jason Momoa return to the epic as Hayt, a resurrection of his character Duncan Idaho who died in the first film with Anya Taylor Joy appearing as Atreides’ sister Alia.
Chalamet praised Joy’s performance in the final film for being “unbelievable”.
He said: “Just visually, it was breathtaking.
“She’s unbelievable in this movie. That’s not media hyperbole.
“She’s actually terrifying and amazing.”
Villeneuve also shared how growing up in Montreal and watching experimental movies from the National Film Board of Canada inspired him to start a specialist filmmaking unit to help bring “insane footage” for the movie.
He said: “I wanted to bring that kind of experimental feeling to Dune Part III.
“So I created a very special small, very tiny unit of a few filmmakers and their task was to do experiments in front of the camera to bring some crazy, insane footage that I will use for the movie.
“That unit was called a Psychedelic Unit.
“Their task was to bring some crazy images that you will see in the movie later.”
The event also featured a preview of the newly released action-packed war filled trailer with Paul appearing as a corrupted leader of the galaxy.
“Forgive me for all I have done,” Paul can be heard saying before Robert Pattinson’s character, shapeshifter Scytale, urges for a “regime change”.
“I found someone,” he says, before the trailer cuts to Chani.
Dune Part III will be out in cinemas on 18 December.
Source: Press Association