# Dream cast for "Dune" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814 "2009-07-13T01:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/21 "2009-07-13T14:36:39Z")
I think I should clarify. If I remember correctly, Pieter DeVries was unusual in that he was a Mentat-Assassin. The Baron found it educational to watch Pieter kill Dr. Yuweh. Lynch tried to provide some background for the mentats with Pieters little chant while drinking the juice that stained the lips. But it still required a little more knowledge than the average viewer had. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/22 "2009-07-13T14:50:44Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You realize that she’s already been in a Dune movie, right? Nope, didn’t realize that. She was 9 years old and played Alia, so someone obviously thought she had the Atreides look to her. She could still play an adult Jessica, not that this is anything more than fantasy casting anyway. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/23 "2009-07-13T15:06:44Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Nope, didn’t realize that. She was 9 years old and played Alia, so someone obviously thought she had the Atreides look to her. She could still play an adult Jessica, not that this is anything more than fantasy casting anyway. When I found out, I had a “Holy shit, that was HER?” moment. But I agree, she’d make a great Jessica. Jude Law would make a great Duncan Idaho. John Turturro as Pieter DeVries? Is Matt Damon to old to play Paul? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/24 "2009-07-13T15:51:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Is Matt Damon to old to play Paul? Yes. Paul is supposed to be 16 when he joins up with the Fremen. Now, most actors playing teenagers are in their mid-20s, but Mr. Damon is by far too old at 38. I don’t know enough male teen actors to be able to come up with a reasonable choice for this role. If Joseph Gordon Levitt were younger, he’d be good. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/25 "2009-07-13T15:58:40Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > Bad actors can work well if they’re cast properly. Think William Shatner as James T. Kirk. How is that an example? William Shatner is quite a good actor. In fact he’s the star of two of the top Twilight Zone epis. They have done two Dune films, neither did well, it’s unlikely there will be another. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/26 "2009-07-13T16:33:02Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Yes. Paul is supposed to be 16 when he joins up with the Fremen. Fifteen, actually. [/currently re-reading Dune] ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/27 "2009-07-13T16:39:05Z")
Over how many years does the story take place? Paul is not a boy by the end of the story. And a 15-year-old running around killing brutal warriors would just look silly. Some actors (and makeup artists, I imagine) can pull off looking much younger. Look at Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July. He convincingly pulled off every age that he had to play. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/28 "2009-07-13T20:23:33Z")
A few of the performances in Lynch’s version kind of suck, especially Everett McGill’s and Jurgen Prochnow’s. And, of course, the reimagining of the Harkonnens takes a bit of getting used to. But overall I think it was cast superbly. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/29 "2009-07-13T20:28:47Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > A few of the performances in Lynch’s version kind of suck, especially Everett McGill’s and Jurgen Prochnow’s. And, of course, the reimagining of the Harkonnens takes a bit of getting used to. But overall I think it was cast superbly. Did Brad Dourif act that way intentionally? I thought he turned in an absolutely dreadful performance. And I’ve seen the guy really act. ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/30 "2009-07-13T21:35:04Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Salma Hayek as Jessica? No way. Jessica is a redhead. I don’t think hair colour need be identical. And Salma Hayek combines exotic beauty with actual acting skills. > [@Rubystreak](#): > > Vladimir Harkonnen played by Jack Nicholson? Again, no way. Too campy, not enough real, degenerate evil. He’s also supposed to be grossly obese, and I can’t imagine Nicholson in a fat suit being very effective. Jack Nicholson is an avid Bush-supporter and an arch-conservative. He doesn’t have to act “pure, degenerate evil,” he already IS. > [@Rubystreak](#): > > Dwayne Johnson as Feyd Rautha? He’s supposed to be slinky and lithe, not buff and hulking. He was played by Sting in the Lynch movie, one of the only things about that movie that was sound IMO. Again, I don’t think it’s necessary to mimic the book exactly. Dwayne Johnson has the necessary presence to realistically portray the sort of physical menace that Feyd is supposed to have. Anyway, there aren’t many actors who have the sort of Bruce Lee whipcord build you’re talking about. > [@Rubystreak](#): > > You do realize that Gaius Helen Mohiam is Jessica’s biological mother, so there’s no way she could be credibly played by Whoopi Goldberg. Helen Mirren, playing Alicia Witt’s mother, now that I could see. If you have Salma Hayek playing Jessica, she’s dark-skinned enough to make Whoopi Goldberg a realistic possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/31 "2009-07-13T22:32:02Z")
Robbie Coltrane for the Baron. Shock the kids who only know him as Hagrid and have never seen him be a total bastard in _Cracker_. Tilda Swinton is a bit young, but would otherwise be a fine and creepy choice as the Revernd Mother. Clive Owen for Duncan Idaho because I’ll watch anything with Clive Owen in it, so that’s one ticket pre-sold. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/32 "2009-07-13T22:38:39Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Yes. Paul is supposed to be 16 when he joins up with the Fremen. Now, most actors playing teenagers are in their mid-20s, but Mr. Damon is by far too old at 38. I don’t know enough male teen actors to be able to come up with a reasonable choice for this role. If Joseph Gordon Levitt were younger, he’d be good. One could look through some of the teens in the Harry Potter movies, to cast Paul. Personally, if I was going to cast Dune I’d go with lesser known actors, not current stars that have a lot of background baggage. But I can’t help but agree Johnny Depp for Duke Leto would be cool. He’s about the right age too, if I remember correctly. And he wouldn’t be hanging around for the whole picture, to overshadow Paul. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/33 "2009-07-13T23:02:45Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Over how many years does the story take place? Paul is not a boy by the end of the story. And a 15-year-old running around killing brutal warriors would just look silly. Paul is 15 at the start of the book, 17 at the end. I don’t think the person playing Paul should be any older than 19. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/34 "2009-07-13T23:16:10Z")
I am so, so, SO sick of Johnny Depp. All he does anymore is play Johnny Depp. For the past four years or so he’s just been playing Johnny Depp. I’ve been thinking this for a long time but “Public Enemies” really sealed the deal. It’s too bad because they really did manage to get the physical resemblance right, but it was still Johnny Depp playing Johnny Depp, dressed up as a gangster. He should just retire from movies. He’s a smart guy, intellectual, eccentric, seems like a real interesting dude. I’d love to hang out with him sometime. But as an actor he has overstayed his welcome. I think the original cast of David Lynch’s Dune movie is still the best ever. And that movie is still amazing, no matter what anyone says. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/35 "2009-07-13T23:19:11Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > Jack Nicholson is an avid Bush-supporter and an arch-conservative. He doesn’t have to act “pure, degenerate evil,” he already IS. Uh…Wikipedia says: "Though he has not been very public about his political views, Nicholson has considered himself a lifelong Democrat.[19] On February 4, 2008, he announced his endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton in her race for the President of the United States.[20] In an interview on Rick Dees’ radio program, Nicholson said, “Mrs. Clinton has been involved in issues, everything from health care, which we know and prison reform and helping the military, speaking for women and speaking for Americans. And besides, it’s about time we have a Prez with a nice tush.” So I think you may be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/36 "2009-07-13T23:49:18Z")
# Duke Leto Atreides – Rick Moranis # Lady Jessica – Christina Applegate # Paul Atreides – Angus T. Jones (Jake on 2.5 Men) # Alia Atreides – Kathy Kinney # Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – John Lithgow # Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Dwayne Johnson # Gaius Helen Mohiam – Katy Segal # Thufir Hawat – Mickey Rooney # Pieter DeVries – Diedrich Bader # Duncan Idaho – David Faustino # Chani – The Olsen twins # Stilgar – Wallace Shawn # Gurney Halleck – Michael Meyers ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/37 "2009-07-14T00:08:56Z")
I think a new reinvention of _Dune_ should be entirely CGI. Rotoscoped or using modern 3D CGI characters. The world is a bit too fantastic and the descriptions of the characters a little too proto-human to be perfectly conveyed my human actors. Also, as noted there live action versions have been failures, maybe a CGI version would be different enough to try again. A CGI Alia and Paul could capture the mature beyond-their-years aspect without awkwardly casting someone too old or asking someone young to act old unconvincingly. Baron Harkonnen’s obesity could be expressed without a rubbery fatsuit. All in all, voice actors are the direction I’d choose to go. As an alternative something ultra-stylized and green screened like in _300_ could be a really compelling idea for the film. I think Arrakis could be made to look frighteningly barren and harsh in that way and add a sense of menace and improbability to the Fremen’s existence and secrecy. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/38 "2009-07-14T17:19:39Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I think I should clarify. If I remember correctly, Pieter DeVries was unusual in that he was a Mentat-Assassin. The Baron found it educational to watch Pieter kill Dr. Yuweh. Lynch tried to provide some background for the mentats with Pieters little chant while drinking the juice that stained the lips. But it still required a little more knowledge than the average viewer had. The whole movie required the viewer to be very, very familiar with Dune (the book) in order to make sense. _I_ knew what a Mentat\* was. My husband, who doesn’t read much, had no clue beforehand and was confused by the whole movie. I think that this was a distinct problem with the whole movie, it assumed that any viewer would have read, and re-read, the book. \*A Mentat in the Dune universe, as opposed to the mind and personality altering drug in the Fallout universe. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/39 "2009-07-14T17:40:17Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > # Stilgar – Wallace Shawn Never go up against a Fremen when SPICE is on the line! A few weeks ago I watched Logans Run and my roomie and I talked about the actor who played Francis 7 and what else he’s done. The very next night we watched Dune and there he is as Duncan Idaho! Weird. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814/40 "2009-07-14T17:43:07Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > # Duke Leto Atreides – Rick Moranis > > # Lady Jessica – Christina Applegate > > # Paul Atreides – Angus T. Jones (Jake on 2.5 Men) > > # Alia Atreides – Kathy Kinney > > # Baron Vladimir Harkonnen – John Lithgow > > # Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Dwayne Johnson > > # Gaius Helen Mohiam – Katy Segal > > # Thufir Hawat – Mickey Rooney > > # Pieter DeVries – Diedrich Bader > > # Duncan Idaho – David Faustino > > # Chani – The Olsen twins > > # Stilgar – Wallace Shawn > > # Gurney Halleck – Michael Meyers Great, but this cast SCREAMS for Gilbert Gottfried! Have him play Feyd-Rautha! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dream-cast-for-dune/502814.md?page=3)