Emily Watson Relished Wielding Her Power in HBO’s ‘Dune: Prophecy’

[Editor’s note: The pursuing question and reply contains spoilers for Season 1 of “Dune: Prophecy.”]

It wasn’t capable for Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. to equine 3 big-budget spectacles directed by Denis Villeneuve based connected Frank Herbert’s classical “Dune” series. (The first 2 were blockbusters grossing $1.1 cardinal worldwide. The third, “Dune: Messiah,” besides starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Rebecca Ferguson, is owed December 25, 2026.) The studios besides teamed up pinch HBO to nutrient nan TV bid “Dune: Prophecy.”

Executive produced by Diane Ademu-John and showrunner Alison Schapker, nan show besides takes spot connected a monolithic scale. The seasoned who carries nan six-episode bid (which starts accumulation connected a 2nd play this summer) is Emily Watson, a British characteristic character who collapsed retired backmost successful 1997 pinch a Best Actress Oscar information for Lars von Trier’s “Breaking nan Waves.”

With 28 years of rich | activity down her (Oscar-nominated “Hilary and Jackie,” BAFTA-nominated “Angela’s Ashes”), Watson emerges successful a powerful domiciled arsenic Valya Harkonnen, nan ruthless, driving Mother Superior of nan Sisterhood, an early precursor to nan mighty Bene Gesserit. She and her black-veiled minions tally nan universe, wielding their acheronian arts down nan scenes. “Dune: Prophecy” is loosely based connected Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s “Great Schools of Dune” trilogy (2012–2016), which is group 10,000 years earlier nan events of “Dune.”

We talked astatine New York’s Park Lane Hotel. The pursuing question and reply has been edited for clarity.

IndieWire: The bid is beautifully mounted, connected each level. It’s thought-out. It’s smart.

Emily Watson: Yes, and we’ve sewage each chance of it heading successful a smart direction, because pinch Series 1, we had a spot of onslaught connected us. We sewage a batch of movement, things going rather crazy, shifting personnel.

You had started pinch your “Chernobyl” head Johan Renck, who near complete imaginative differences. Anna Foerster directed nan first 2 episodes instead. That was a spot of a wrench?

There was a batch of shifting ground. When I signed up pinch Johan, he’s a singular character, rather an astonishing guy. He had rather a Lynchian vision. And nan workplace evidently wanted it to beryllium to this existent beingness more. It ended up being a mendacious start. And past it was getting ducks successful a row. It went earlier it was ready. But they figured retired nan DNA of what they wanted and really they wanted it. And past we had nan strike. Now I consciousness Alison [ Schapker]’s successful nan driving spot and she’s been confirmed arsenic [successful]. I’m excited to get my teeth into [Season Two].

When do you start?

It’s mid to extremity of August, for me. I’ll commencement heading backmost to Bucharest.

So you and Olivia Williams arsenic your sister Tula Harkonnen anchor nan story. She was astatine nan Royal Shakespeare Company pinch you. Were you friends?

We were. I’ve known Olivia — my hubby was astatine Cambridge pinch her. So that’s like, 25 years ago?

I consciousness for illustration I came up pinch you. I was astatine Cannes for “Breaking nan Waves,” and specified Miramax 90s movies specified arsenic “Hilary and Jackie.”

We survived, right?

That was nan indie period. You picture yourself arsenic an indie movie person.

That was a existent heyday, wasn’t it? It was a unusual time. You had to fig retired what it each was, and what it meant, and really you could put your measurement done it.

But it was treacherous for women. Actresses especially. Did you study ways to fend group disconnected and support yourself safe, rules that you played by?

I was lucky, because I started pinch “Breaking nan Waves.” I was pinch nan domiciled model, Stellan Skarsgård, arsenic my partner successful crime. It was a creatively exposing and scary experience.

You were exposed astatine Cannes without your head Lars von Trier, who was acrophobic to fly.

“Breaking nan Waves”The Criterion Collection

So he didn’t come. I didn’t cognize what Cannes meant. I had nary knowledge of nan movie world aliases anything. It was a baptism of fire. They sent maine to Dior to put maine successful a dress, for illustration a chintz sofa that was very of nan period.

Do you respect Trier?

I emotion that he exists, that he’s changed nan map, that he’s done what he’s done, and, he’s been controversial. Other actresses person had not comfortable experiences pinch him, but that wasn’t my experience. But conscionable successful nan measurement that he’s envisaged what a movie is, I didn’t cognize it astatine nan time, but he was changing things.

You figured retired immoderate things connected that movie astir movie acting?

I conjecture I did, because of nan measurement we changeable it. There were nary setups. We conscionable filmed. We conscionable did nan segment complete and complete again, and nan camera was for illustration a characteristic successful nan segment going astir and looking astatine us. So location wasn’t immoderate consciousness of intrusion of nan method world. We were conscionable successful it. It was very immersive. And you study very quickly.

“Dune: Prophecy” was bid television. It must person been challenging for you to transportation it.

It took immoderate persuading to get maine to do it.

Emily Watson successful ‘Dune: Prophecy’Courtesy of HBO

What was your worry? You had conscionable acted successful “Chernobyl.”

I’ve ne'er done thing that’s a returning [to a franchise]. I’ve done tv before, obviously. She was an exhausting characteristic to play. She was reliable and hard. And my earthy surface beingness is mostly empathetic and receptive, and she’s not. I had to scope for it a bit. Once I’d recovered it, past she was there. But it was besides starring a squad of young actors and actresses, a batch of them were rather inexperienced, conscionable trying to thatch group really to survive: “This is really precise and concentrated and successful it you person to beryllium to past nan truth that you’ll only person a mates of takes, maybe, and it’ll each spell by successful a whirlwind, and it’s not going to beryllium what you deliberation it’s going to be, because they’ve sewage to do that, and they’ve sewage to do that, and they’ve sewage to do that.” Helping group still consciousness for illustration they’re doing thing meaningful and real, and creating a consciousness of a company.

I sewage a footwear retired of Valya. She’s ruthless and powerful. Did portion of you bask that?

It was absorbing for me, playing a characteristic for illustration that, because I grew up successful a religious, weird cultist business [The School of Economic Science]. I person acquisition of charismatic leaders and really they enlistee people, really they show young group that they’re special, they’re chosen, and this is nan path. That is her story. She’s lost, she’s vulnerable. She’s powerful, talented successful nan consciousness that nan rate of that beingness is intelligence prowess and acuity, and she’s sewage that successful spades. And nan leader picks her retired and says, “You’re nan one. You’re going to thief maine alteration nan universe.” And that’s really nan momentum of those things gather, because those group deliberation they’re typical successful a measurement that nan extremity of justifies nan means. It’s nan building of a cult, which becomes successful 10,000 years successful nan Paul Atreides universe, nan Bene Gesserit.

What does she deliberation her ngo is? What is driving her?

She’s utilizing eugenics to brace nan correct humans, truthful that nan correct leader, who is going to prevention humankind, will group them connected nan correct way of bid and justness and prosperity and goodness. We will make that hap by controlling. But to support that work, we person nan sisterhood and each nan the truthsayers, who are capable to discern truth from lies and support everybody making bully decisions. But we besides person a very blase web of spies and underhand methods of manipulating group truthful that we make ripples that make group deliberation that they’re successful power of events, but successful fact, we are manipulating people’s reactions truthful that things happen.

You learned thing astir what a powerful despot tin be. It’s timely, correct now. You’re watching it play retired successful nan existent world.

Frank Herbert wrote these books backmost successful nan ’60s, but these things don’t spell away. It’s a cycle. The sisterhood, connected nan surface, they discern truth. But successful fact, they manipulate it. They power it. They create nan myth. They create nan circumstances erstwhile what they want is favored. In nan existent age, there’s a request to look astatine that.

This bid reminds maine of “Wolf Hall.” It’s royal intrigue!

When Olivia was cast, I said, “We’re going to spell to nan National Portrait Gallery successful London and we’re going to look astatine each those women, Elizabeth I and each nan Mary’s, each nan group who lived successful that totalitarian fear-driven place.” Those corridors of powerfulness were truthful paranoid.

What’s coming successful Season 2?

Next time, you’re going complete to Arrakis. During nan [Season 1] finale I spell into what happened to Desmond (“Vikings” prima Travis Fimmel). He’s had a reasoning instrumentality put into his eye. I cognize that personification is manipulating him, and personification deliberately group america up.

He is reunited pinch his mother, Tula. What is nan fearfulness virus?

In nan finale, I get him to deliberately infect me. He could look astatine you, and past later, you’d commencement burning. The fearfulness microorganism useful done fear. You inflame it, and past it takes complete your assemblage chemistry and burns you from nan inside.

Actresses often kick a batch astir about nan roles that they are offered, but you’ve had a bully run.

I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been connected nan correct broadside of that change. I’m a characteristic actor; that liberates maine from a definite trajectory. It has changed pinch nan advent of streaming. Fifty percent of nan assemblage are women. And nan guidance is nary longer being dictated this man, this man, this man, this man, this man. There are 5 group who tin make a bankable movie successful Hollywood. It’s not nan aforesaid for television. But it’s been nan mentality for a agelong clip that you person to person a bankable antheral lead, and that has changed because it’s you and maine sitting successful nan surviving room pinch nan buttons going: “That’s boring. I don’t want to watch this.”

You person coming up Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet,” based connected Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 bestseller.

I’m playing Mary Arden, mother of Shakespeare, who is simply a emblematic female of her time trying to survive, joined to a man who is simply a drinker. She encounters this young woman, Shakespeare’s woman Chloe [Jessie Buckley], who is magical, witchy, connected. She tin show things astir group by holding their hand. It’s astir nan decease of Hamnet, their eldest. They had a brace of twins, but Hannah died erstwhile he was 11, and it’s a communicative astir giving commencement and losing children and nan women astir that.