Rebecca Ferguson is previewing her role in Denis Villeneuve‘s continuation of the Dune saga.
In a conversation with Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ferguson discussed returning to the desert planet with Dune: Part Three, which draws from Frank Herbert’s 1969 sequel novel Dune Messiah.
“I just dipped my toe in. I have no, sort of, comments on it,” the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man star said. “The script is great, I’ve read it. I think it’s gonna be fantastic. But my journey was No. 1 and 2. I don’t even think she [my character] was supposed to be in 3. And then Denis was like, ‘I need to have one scene,’ and I get one scene.”
She continued of exiting the trilogy: “And that was a weird feeling, walking onto a set that you know so well, and knowing that you don’t have a part of it. There’s a lot of FOMO. And the acceptance of, ‘This is just what it is.’ You just have to serve [the story].”
Ferguson, who appeared in the 2021 and 2024 predecessors, portrays the powerful Lady Jessica, a Bene Gesserit mother to chosen one Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). The actress was quick to shower praise on her director, saying of Villeneuve: “He’s just intelligent, creative; he’s a master, and he works with people that he makes better, and they make him better. It’s a symbiosis. And they are few and far between.”
There has been much hype around the third installment, due in theaters Dec. 18, with new character posters being unveiled earlier today. A highly anticipated trailer drops tomorrow, and Deadline will release commentary from Villeneuve about the epic sci-fi feature.
Chalamet, Zendaya, Isaach de Bankolé, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem star in what is billed as “the epic conclusion” to the sprawling trilogy.