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“Dune: Part Two” features one of the most stellar casts in recent memory. From Timothée Chalamet to Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista and more, there’s rarely a scene in the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel that isn’t packed with star power. However, the cast was supposed to be even larger, but the filmmaker had to make some cuts in the final edit that left at least one actor “heartbroken.”
Tim Blake Nelson, a Coen Brothers regular thanks to films like “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, was announced as a cast member for “Dune: Part Two” in January 2023. It does not appear in the theatrical release.
“I don’t think I’m at liberty to say what the scene was,” Nelson said recently. he told Movieweb about being cut from the sequel. “I would leave it to Denis if he wants to talk about it. I had a great time there filming it. And then he had to cut it because he thought the movie was too long. And I’m heartbroken about it, but there are no hard feelings. “I loved it and I can’t wait to do something else with it, and we certainly plan to do that.”
Some “Dune” fans speculate that Nelson filmed a scene as Count Hasimir Fenring, the husband of Lady Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux), who is also an advisor to the Emperor (Christopher Walken). The reasoning is linked to another actor that Villeneuve cut from the “Dune” sequel: Stephen McKinley Henderson.
Henderson starred in the original “Dune” film as Thufir Hawat, who serves House Atreides as a “Mentat” (which is basically a human supercomputer in the “Dune” universe). Villeneuve excluded Thufir Hawat from the sequel, which was not an easy decision for the director.
“One of the most painful decisions for me in this case was (not including) Thufir Hawat,” Villeneuve said. Entertainment Weekly. “He is a character that I love, but from the beginning I decided to make a Bene Gesserit adaptation. That means the Mentats aren’t as present as they should be, but that’s the nature of adaptation.”
Because Villeneuve moved his “Dune” adaptation away from the Mentat characters, some fans believe Nelson must have been playing Hasimir Fenring, since he is also a Mentat who has an important role in the novels. Henderson said in the “This is Purdue” Podcast Last year he filmed scenes for “Dune: Part Two” with Austin Butler.
“What a good person,” Henderson said. “He’s just the nicest guy and he and Timmy are wonderful people. And they play those enemies in the movie, so it was wonderful to see them off camera. And Austin was so kind to me… I really appreciated Austin, a wonderful, wonderful person.”
Any fans wondering if these cut actors could appear in a director’s cut of “Dune” are out of luck, as Villeneuve has long been vocally opposed to such releases.
“I firmly believe that when it’s not in the movie, it’s dead,” he said. he told the collider before “Dune: Part Two” opened in theaters. “Sometimes I delete takes and say, ‘I can’t believe I’m deleting this. I feel like a samurai opening my insides. It’s painful, so I can’t go back after that and create a Frankenstein and try to reanimate the things I killed. It’s too painful. When it’s dead, it’s dead and it’s dead for a reason. But yes, it is a painful project, but it is my job. The movie prevails. I’m very stern in the editing room. I’m not thinking about my ego, I’m thinking about the movie. … I kill loved ones and it is painful for me.”
Both Nelson and Henderson are listed in the special thanks section of the closing credits.
“Dune: Part Two” is now playing in theaters nationwide.