Denis Villenueve’s Dune boasts one of the year’s most star-studded ensembles, to the extent that working on such a high-profile project had Dave Bautista feeling like his decision to retire from professional wrestling to pursue a career in acting had been entirely vindicated.
It’s well-known that the ex-WWE star and Jason Momoa continued their nascent love-in while working together on the sci-fi epic, but in a recent interview with The AV Club, the Guardians of the Galaxy star reveals that it was one of the more surprising members of the ensemble that had him acting like a giddy fanboy.
“Those days in the steam baths, those were like some of my first days, and I was on set, I’m supposed to be this big, menacing, ominous character, and I’m literally sh*tting myself. I’m like, ‘That’s Stellan Skarsgård!’. And I was next to my buddy thinking this is all so surreal, like, ‘How the hell did I get from a professional wrestling ring to here? This is crazy!’. I was dying on the inside. My heart was beating fast, and I was just so excited, but, at the same time, just trying to be terrifying. So, terrifying on the outside, inside I was like a little fan-boy.
Skarsgård and Bautista clearly hit it off behind the scenes, despite playing a formidably evil uncle-and-nephew duo in Dune, with the former even suggesting the latter for a role in musical sequel Mamma Mia! 3, which was entered into development last summer.
If that doesn’t happen, at least we know the Harkonnens will be back on our screens in October 2023, now that Dune: Part Two has been given the official green light by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures following the box office success of the acclaimed first installment. After that, maybe we’ll see Skarsgård and Bautista getting their groove on to the next collection of ABBA hits to make their way to the big screen.