Austin Butler Surprised Dave Bautista On Set Of Dune In A Deeply Emotional Way

After altering his voice to play the king of rock and roll in "Elvis," Austin Butler made a dramatic shift by portraying the heartless Harkonnen warrior Feyd-Rautha in "Dune: Part Two." It's a choice that worked out well, as even though the star's latest performance also came with an on-screen voice that demands further examination, Butler proved he was just as adept at playing cruel and cunning as he was at transforming into iconic musical figures of the 20th century.

The nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Feyd-Rautha was a big part of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel on which the "Dune" films are based. In the book, protagonist Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet in the modern films) returns to the capital of Arrakis and faces off against Feyd-Rautha in a final battle — one which was brought to life for the big screen by director Denis Villeneuve and his production team for "Dune: Part Two."

All of which must have been a fairly vertiginous experience for Butler. In a behind-the-scenes clip, the actor compared the experience of coming onto the "Dune: Part Two" set to feeling like "the first day of school," adding: 

"I'm always nervous and especially when you're coming into a film that's already been established before. But [...] they're just such a great group of people it feels like a family and very quickly I felt like I was just welcomed into the family." 

But it seems Butler wasn't the only one who was intimidated coming into the sequel. In fact, one returning cast member found the "Elvis" star to be quite the imposing presence at first.

Feyd-Rautha was famously played by Sting in David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of "Dune," but is much more of a presence in "Dune: Part Two." This time, rather than infamous shirtless intro scenes and leather codpieces, Denis Villeneuve chose to make Feyd-Rautha a bald, ruthless killing machine. All of which sounds great, but it essentially meant Butler was faced with a fairly imposing task. The actor found himself setting foot on the gargantuan sets of "Dune: Part Two," joining a cast that had already been well-established on the first film, having to learn complex fight choreography for his big showdown with Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides, and doing it all in a full bald cap that stretched from his eyebrows to the back of his neck (Butler wasn't allowed to shave his head as he had another film lined up).

At least the actor chose to establish a boundary he didn't have on "Elvis" and refrained from going full method, which meant he wasn't stuck in the dark headspace that comes with playing the vicious character. It also probably helped that the man just sounds like a stand-up guy and managed to ingratiate himself with the whole cast and crew.

Take Dave Bautista, for instance. The wrestler-turned-actor underwent a similarly extensive transformation to portray Glossu "The Beast" Rabban Harkonnen in "Dune" and "Dune: Part Two." But it seems even an established star like Bautista found being in the presence of Butler an intimidating experience. Luckily, the younger actor turned out to be as approachable and affable as the rest of the crew.

In an IMDb interview, Dave Bautista spoke about working with Austin Butler, referring to the experience as "effortless" and complimenting his co-star's talents as a performer. But what really made the experience so "effortless" for Bautista was Butler's personable approach to his co-stars. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" star continued:

"We got to know each other a little bit before we started actually working together. And I just felt so comfortable with him. I was surprised that he actually took an interest in my life and my former career in wrestling."

When asked why he was surprised by Butler taking an interest in his life, Bautista explained that he didn't know what to expect, given Butler's standing as a movie star. He continued:

"You see people on screen and you see how talented they are and you see how much love they're getting for their work, and Austin is one of the biggest stars in the world. So, you don't know what to expect. There's always going to be a part of me who just can't believe that I'm here and I'm doing this and I'm acting and I'm on stage with these people. So, I don't know why. I don't know why I remove myself from that position, but I do. It's just who I am."

Thus far, Bautista has made a solid case for being our very best wrestler-turned-actor, especially following his star turn in 2023's "Knock at the Cabin." He also seems like a pretty good guy, and it's nice to be reminded the man behind the leader of the Sardaukar army in "Dune" is actually a big softie.