A year before Dune: Part Two even released in theaters, it was announced that Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) was joining the cast—unfortunately, his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.
In a recent appearance on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Nelson talks a bit about getting cut from the film and how he would still be up for working with a director like Villeneuve. He says:
“I would still go over and do the part just for being directed by him (Denis Villeneuve) and filmed by Greig Fraser… I would go do it again, even knowing that I was cut out of it, because I had a great time.”
For context, Nelson was set to play a character named Hasimir Fenring in Dune: Part Two, and he was the emperor’s (Christopher Walken) adviser; but rather than being by his side in the film, Fenring was said to have been in the ships that arrive toward the end—the ones that the Fremen attack after Paul assumes the role of emperor.
It’s also worth noting that Fenring is the husband of Sister Margot, Lea Seydoux’s Bene Gesserit character who impregnates herself with the seed of Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).
With Nelson being a great actor on his own, there’s no doubt that he’ll be working with Villeneuve again sometime in the future. Maybe there could even be a role for him in Dune: Messiah. I’m just hoping they let him keep his Oklahoma accent like they did with Walken and the way he talked in the film.
Dune: Messiah is yet to receive a release date.
