Why Timothee Chalamet And Denis Villeneuve Didn't Speak English While Filming Dune

Shot in two parts over three years (and unexpectedly broken up by a pandemic), Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" movies stand as an impressive, if grueling, achievement. The second film, which covers the second half of Frank Herbert's celebrated sci-fi novel, wasn't even guaranteed; indeed, there is an alternate universe where the first movie failed to make enough money to justify Warner Bros. adding $190 million to their already risky $165 million investment. The books' popularity had peaked decades ago, so there was a good deal of uncertainty as to whether this sweeping interplanetary epic could capture the imaginations of Millennials and Zoomers, who were barely a notion when David Lynch's "Dune" opened — and flopped — in 1984.

Aside from managing a challenging a massive physical production, Villeneuve had to tend to an enormous acting ensemble chock full of bonafide stars, stars on the rise and Oscar-winning legends. This could not be your typical Hollywood blockbuster olio where actors can get lost in the green-screen machinery. It had to be actual cinema that connected with moviegoers on more than a shallow superhero level.

To accomplish this, Villeneuve found ways to communicate in unique ways with his actors. When it came to his lead, Timothée Chalamet, it meant speaking a shared language.

Timothée Chalamet was born and mostly raised in New York City, but he spent summers in his father's native France, where he became fluent en français. This proved enormously useful on the set of both "Dune" movies. In an interview with The New York Times, journalist Amy Nicholson noticed that, prior to their conversation, Villeneuve and Chalamet were speaking French with each other. So she asked if they did so on set. Their reply:

Villeneuve: Yes. It was the way that we were able to find intimacy in the chaos. It was our protected landscape. A second secret language.

Chalamet: He said it perfectly. Our bubble.

I take this to mean folks like Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Dave Bautista and the Swedish Rebecca Ferguson elected to learn different languages during their high school years — or, like many of us, they lost their ability to be conversant in a learned language once they stopped studying it. I do, however, have a feeling that Ms. Léa Seydoux could puncture this bubble. Just a wild hunch.

In any event, this on-set intimacy resulted in an assured turn from a young man who, what with the box office success of "Dune: Part Two" and "Wonka," is now one of the most desired movie stars on the planet. So kids, learn your French, don't let it atrophy, and maybe you could be the next Timothée Chalamet!