Stellan Skarsgård reveals why he felt had to 'minimise' his role in Dune: Part Two

7 February 2024

Stellan Skarsgard wanted to "minimise" his role as the Baron in 'Dune: Part Two'.

Stellan Skarsgard is returning to his role as the Baron in Dune Part Two

The 72-year-old actor is reprising his role in the sequel to the Oscar-winning film but explained that he was hesitant to "bring anything more" to the character for the second time round because he wants the audience to know as little about him as possible.

He told Screen Rant: "I didn't want to bring anything more to the Baron. The thing is that the less you know about him, in a way, the better it is. If he would've been in several scenes, he wouldn't have been half as dangerous. So, you had to minimise him and make sure that he was really terrifying, and that stamp was put on the film and continued all over every scene for the rest of the film."

Asked how his role of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen has changed since the first film, he explained that his character is now a cripple and hinted he only accepted the job again because of its director.

He said: "He has been wounded. The poisonous gas in the first episode has made him a cripple, and he is depending on life support; those globes you'd see with tubes and everything. And he's weak, so he has to find a successor. What attracted me to the second one? I always wanted to play again with Denis Villeneuve, and I wanted to be a part of the second film as well, but I didn't want to be fat again. So, that was a sort of, "Alright, I'll do it,' kind of feeling I had."

The 'Mamma Mia!' star also heaped praise on filmmaker Denis Villeneuve as he recalled how orgnaised the director had been on set and how his "excitable" nature made him a "lovely" person to work with.

He said: "It was fantastic how pleasant it was, and how much he enjoys making film. And he has planned it well, but he hasn't planned it so well that he executes only what he's done at home at his desk. He improvises, and he sees things, and he gets excited by things, and you get excited because he's excited. It is very, very lovely.