[Only IN Hollywood] Epic ‘Dune’ series prophesies rise of sisterhood

LOS ANGELES, USA – “Sisterhood is powerful. In a nice change from recent Earth history, women are the series’ defining force, before and behind the camera.”

That was how Los Angeles Times’ Robert Lloyd praised Dune: Prophecy, the new HBO sci-fi epic series set 10,000 years before Paul Atreides. It follows the two Harkonen sisters who founded Bene Gesserit, the fabled sect of women who possess superhuman powers.

TV Guide’s Keith Pipps raved, “Dune: Prophecy establishes itself as an exciting, spectacle-heavy series driven by dramatic developments and intriguing secrets.”

Even Denis Villeneuve, who directed the two acclaimed Dune films, is eagerly anticipating the new six-episode original series created by Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker.

In my recent interview with Denis, I asked him about Dune: Prophecy. He replied: “I will discover, like everybody, the series, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited by the prospect of seeing somebody else’s angle on this universe. It’s going to be very exciting for me.

“I’m very curious. I know nothing about it. It’s a series that was made aside by other people because I was too busy making both movies.

“I’m someone who is a monomaniac. I can do one thing at a time, and I was absolutely dedicated. A hundred percent of my attention was on both movies.”

HBO staged a grand New York premiere befitting the series’ epic scope at Jazz at Lincoln Center, followed by an after-party at Bad Roman. Before the screening of the first two episodes, which made me want to watch the rest of the gripping series, guests trooped to an exhibition featuring immersive activations, costume and artifact displays, video and portrait studios, and more.

At the packed theater, guests cheered at the end of the screening of the series based on but is set after Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert’s novels, Great Schools of Dune.

Many of the show’s actors graced the premiere. The cast includes Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Edward Davis, Jihae, Tabu, Jessica Barden, and Emma Canning.

On the morning of the premiere, I interviewed via Zoom some of the talents in front of and behind the cameras: executive producers Alison Schapker (also the showrunner) and Jordan Goldberg, Travis Fimmel (who plays Desmond Hart), Chloe Lea (Sister Lila), and Jade Anouka (Sister Theodosia).

The following are excerpts from interviews with Alison, Chloe, and Jade. Excerpts from our chat with Jordan and Travis in a later column.

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Alison Schapker

With Dune: Prophecy, you’re bringing such a powerful group of female characters to the forefront of this sci-fi universe. How important was it to you to showcase this kind of female-driven narrative?

I love writing for women, men, and everybody. And what was great about this work or this novel is Frank Herbert imagined a world where women were powerful, where they were complicated and rich characters who were driving stories. So, in that sense, we’re being very true to the source material.

It didn’t feel like we were reinventing anything as much as digging into characters that were already there in the books. But of course, as a female science fiction writer, I’m always thrilled to be in a universe where women and men are all affecting politics and interpersonal relationships equally. So, that felt very exciting.

The Bene Gesserit in Frank Herbert’s Dune book series represents the most skilled female characters in science fiction. That’s one of the elements that I love about Dune: Prophecy — that powerful women are at the front and center of the story. And how does the women empowerment theme resonate with you?

I felt the same way you feel — that Frank Herbert created a universe where women were incredibly powerful. I never met a Dune fan who didn’t want to know more about the Bene Gesserit because they have so many layers. They’re operating on so many different levels.

And to see an all-female organization shaping the universe, in a very mysterious way, it was great to have the opportunity to go behind the veil to see how they might operate, to see how they rose to power.

So that was incredibly exciting to me as a writer and a creator. And it’s been fun for everyone involved with the project to be looking through that lens.

What makes Dune: Prophecy unique or different from the Dune movies?

Dune: Prophecy is set 10,000 years before the films of Denis Villeneuve. We were blown away and inspired by what he did, of course, but we also are in our own earlier time period of the Dune universe, when the Imperium is just being formed, when the great schools are rising.

So, we’re going to tell an origin story of the Bene Gesserit as we introduce fans and we hope, new fans, to another part of the Dune universe.

Can you elaborate about the story of Dune: Prophecy? How did you reimagine the world of Dune in your own way?

Dune: Prophecy is set in the shadow of the Great Machine War, so humankind has just bounced back from almost near extinction from a war with artificial intelligence and thinking machines. So technology looks very different.

This is a sort of neo-interstellar feudalism happening and we are examining the early days of the Sisterhood, which is the order that will eventually become the Bene Gesserit, and the women who will set about to create Paul Atreides 10,000 years in the future.

So, we’re going to see how they started and also the early days of the Harkonnen and Atreides families. One of the things we’re doing that’s unique is our story is rooted in two Harkonnen sisters, Valya Harkonnen and Tula Harkonnen, and their story and how they shaped the Bene Gesserit.

How did the idea to cast Tabu as Sister Francesca come about?

I’ve been a fan of Tabu for many years. Sister Francesca comes in later in the series. All Tabu fans need to be a little bit patient because when she comes, she comes in a very big way.

And we needed somebody who could come in and be that charismatic and to claim a place in the show later in the season. We needed somebody who had a tremendous amount of charisma.

Tabu has all of that and more. So, she really was an exciting choice because she has to come in later in the game and just take the spotlight. And we wanted somebody who really could do that. And she can.

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Chloe Lea and Jade Anouka

Could you briefly describe your characters?

Chloe: I play Lila. She is a young acolyte in training at the Sisterhood who is a bit confused about where she comes from and wants to find out.

Jade: I play Sister Theodosia who’s also at the Sisterhood school. She’s hiding a secret about her past.

The Bene Gesserit in Frank Herbert’s Dune book series represents the most skilled female characters in science fiction. That’s one of the elements I love about Dune: Prophecy. How does the women empowerment theme resonate with you?

Jade: That’s part of the reason that I was so delighted to get this job. To be part of a show that puts women front and center and the power of women and their capabilities. These women have honed in on their natural skills.

They’ve made them the best they can be so much so that they can literally control people with their voice. It’s an amazing achievement to be part of that. Women front and center.

Chloe: I feel that in a lot of shows, it’s seen as quite normal for the first woman on the cast list to be number 12, number 13, number 14, and it’s all been men before that, which is so absurd, right?

So, coming into a show like this, where the women have their own stuff going on. It’s quite ironic because the powerful men, the leaders of the houses think that the women are there to serve them.

When instead, the women know they’re controlling the forefront, the leaders of the houses, the most powerful people. It’s such a cool idea.

And it’s such a perfect show to be like, actually, women do deserve to be front, center, and champion in a powerful way. That’s not just to serve a man in the story.

Jade: They’re not just restricted to domestic or romantic roles. They’re driving the story. So yeah, it’s incredible.

Did you undergo any special training or preparation to portray the physical and mental disciplines of the Bene Gesserit? And what was the most challenging aspect of portraying a character with such advanced mental abilities?

Jade: The most challenging was learning the moves, which is a bit like a meditation movement. You see us doing that in episode one on the side of a cliff when the rain’s coming down and all of that.

That’s quite a lot of choreography that we had to learn. So that was one of the parts of the training.

Chloe: There was also fight training, and physical training. These sisters have a lot of mental capabilities but they can also fight. They can defend themselves. They can attack when they have to.

So, that was challenging but fun. I’ve never done anything where I’ve had to physically learn a fight routine against someone else. That was a fun challenge.

Jade: I loved learning the fight routine. It was good. Because we got to fight each other, which obviously is no real fight. Because sister Theodosia against sister Lila, I mean, come on.

Chloe: Who knows what happens in real life?

Jade: It would be exactly the same as that. It’s all love in real life.

Can you, as an actor, talk about how helpful it is to have actual and well-made sets and costumes?

Jade: It’s amazing and really helpful. As soon as I put on the costume and step into the Wallach IX set, I was like, oh, I get what this is. And also, it’s epic. It was bigger than I thought it was going to be.

Especially going into that set, my character particularly is new to this world, and is new to being in the sisterhood. And they’re at the start of their training, the start of their life there. So, I was able to use all of that.

Chloe: For Lila, she was born in the sisterhood. So, for me, having the actual physical sets there, every location we were in was physically built in front of us.

It was so useful because this was something that she would have known since birth. This was the only place she’d ever been.

The costume team, the makeup team, the set designers, and the prop team did a brilliant job of immersing us in the world. So, it’s one less thing we have to worry about.

Jade: And the details on the costume, the details in the pen that we write our schoolwork with. Everything is so specific.

There’s like a level of pretense that we don’t have to worry about. We can focus on telling the story properly because we’re living in this world while we’re on set. – Rappler.com

HBO Original drama series ‘Dune: Prophecy’ premiered on HBO and Max, a brand new streaming experience. All subsequent new episodes of the six-episode series continue every Monday, from November 24.