Sometimes someone needs to try something incredibly outlandish and have it fail to pave the path for someone else to come along and improve it.
For those who have seen both major adaptations of Dune, that certainly seems to be the case. While David Lynch’s original version didn’t quite hit the mark that the 2021 adaptation by Denis Villeneuve did, for many reasons, the latter most likely wouldn’t have been possible — or as successful — without Lynch giving it a go first.
The wide-ranging and large-scale story that unfolds over the course of several books was a daunting task to turn into the visual medium, as has been noted by both directors (and plenty of others), but that first try by Lynch showed what is possible and what should probably be avoided. Once the 2021 version gained a foothold in fans’ hearts, it was only natural for some to go back and revisit the original adaptation, or even take it in for the very first time. As fans well know, Lynch wasn’t the first to take a stab at adapting Frank Herbert’s novel, and based on the success of Villeneuve’s version, he won’t be the last to do it either.
Lynch’s version features a slew of recognizable faces for its time, and even now, really, even launching a Lynch favorite’s career that still stretches on to today. It’s always fun to take a look back and bring that up to the current day, which brings us to the theme of the article—what is the cast of David Lynch’s version of Dune doing now?
Kyle MacLachlan (Paul Atreides)
Most memorably the face of Twin Peaks for his role as Dale Cooper, but also for quite a few other very recognizable roles, too. The man with the coffee mug also led the way in Lynch’s Blue Velvet. MacLachlan, along with remaining an extremely visible and recognizable face, also co-owns a wine company called Pursued by Bear in Washington state.
On the movie side of things, MacLachlan most recently showed up in the third installment of the Fletch series, Confess, Fletch, starring Jon Hamm as the titular character. MacLachlan stays busy, for sure, and has two more films on the way with Miranda’s Victim and the intriguingly titled Pussy Island set for future releases. As far as TV, MacLachlan has even more memorable appearances, such as roles in How I Met Your Mother, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Good Wife, and more. Just last year he was in multiple episodes of Joe vs. Carole and How I Met Your Father, with a role in the anticipated Fallout series coming up as well.
Sean Young (Chani)
With several still well-known roles to her credit, including Rachael in Blade Runner (which she reprised for Blade Runner 2049), Young had five movie roles in 2020 along with Planet Dune in 2021. For sure, Young’s biggest roles have made her someone any fan can recognize in an instant. In 2020, Young was in the movies Axcellerator (great title), A Beautiful Distraction, 5th Borough, Who Wants Dessert?, and Nick and Nicky. She most recently starred in a movie called No Vacancy alongside Dean Cain and T.C. Stallings that was released last year.
Patrick Stewart (Gurney Halleck)
Even in his 80’s now, Stewart hasn’t really slowed down at all, still providing charismatic, energetic, emphatic performances across TV and the big screen. Most notably, he has been carrying his own show starting in 2020, Star Trek: Picard, which follows Stewart’s famous titular character is in retirement until being drawn out for one last fight. After he perishes in battle, his consciousness is transferred to a synthetic body so another season (and then some) can resume following Picard. He also reprised his role as Professor Charles Xavier in last year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in which he saw a harrowing and surprising ending befitting of probably the most haunting MCU entity to date. He also appeared in The Ready Room from 2020-2022 and Yorkshire Tea just last year, with a third and final season of Picard on the horizon for this year, too.
Francesca Annis (Lady Jessica)
A genuine gem of an actress in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, the 77-year-old Annis has only appeared in two films over the past 10 years. Annis acted alongside Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, her first major role in 1963, and her two recent movie appearances include 2012’s Loving Miss Hatto and, most recently, 2018’s King of Thieves. However, on the TV side of things, she did appear in the British thriller Flesh and Blood in 2020, in which she plays a recently widowed woman who meets a new love interest and intertwines two families in middle-class Sussex in England.
Jürgen Prochnow (Duke Leto Atreides)
The now 81-year-old German actor continuously appeared in numerous roles between movies and TV essentially every year since Dune’s release, all the way up to 2019’s A Hidden Life. He paired up with Lynch for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and is a recognizable character actor from several well-known movies and shows through the past couple decades, including Air Force One, The English Patient, The Da Vinci Code, and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Everett McGill (Stilgar)
The 77-year-old McGill is well-known for Lynch fans from his original run in Twin Peaks as well as 1999’s The Straight Story, which was nearly his last role in Hollywood before Lynch had something to say about it. McGill stepped away from acting after that, in 1999, only coming back for Lynch to appear and reprise his role of Big Ed Hurley in 2017’s Twin Peaks reboot.
Dean Stockwell (Doctor Wellington Yueh)
For those who are a little bit older, the late Stockwell may still best be known for his role alongside Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap, where he relied on his faithful device known as “Ziggy” to help Bakula’s character, Sam, rewrite the past and make a better path for those wronged by history. Another very well-known face over the course of decades, the diversity and quality of his lifelong work knew no bounds. On November 7, 2021, Stockwell passed away from natural causes at the age of 85.
Freddie Jones (Thufir Hawat)
Appearing in more than 100 movies and films during his 91 years, the British legend Freddie Jones is most known for his role as Sandy Thomas in Emmerdale, in which he appeared in a staggering 776 episodes from 2005 to 2018. Emmerdale is 15th on the list of most episodes for a show in history, with a current count of 9,473 since its inception in 1972, and the soap opera drama is still currently in production. Jones died on 9 July 2019 at the age of 91.
Siân Phillips (Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam)
The 89-year-old actress is still keeping busy after an illustrious career, having appeared in three movies as recently as 2020 with TV appearances nearly every year up to the present. She was in the 2022 show McDonald & Dodds, with roles in Silent Witness in 2021 and Keeping Faith over 2020-2021 as well. She even had a voice credit in the 2020 World of Warcraft: Shadowlands as Overseer Kah-Delen.
Linda Hunt (Shadout Mapes)
You probably recognize Hunt even if you aren’t too familiar with her work. As one of the main stars of NCIS: Los Angeles, the 77-year-old actress has surely graced your TV screen at some point in time during her run as “Hetty” Lange from 2009-2021. She’s also done voice work for six God of War video games with her recognizably deep voice.
Virginia Madsen (Princess Irulan)
Madsen landed her role in Dune in just her second year of acting on screen at the age of 23, with a plethora of roles in the time since then. She was in a few recent horror films, Prey for the Devil in 2022 and the Candyman reboot in 2021, reprising her role in the latter from her appearance in 1992’s version of Candyman. She has a role in an upcoming film called Lola James that’s currently in post-production.
Silvana Mangano (Reverend Mother Ramallo)
You might recognize Mangano’s granddaughter as much as you would her — Giada De Laurentiis, of Everyday Italian fame. Mangano was married to producer Dino De Laurentiis and had four children, including her daughter Veronica, who is Giada’s mother. Dune was the second-to-last appearance for the Italian actress before her passing in 1989. Her last appearance was in the 1987 film Dark Eyes.
Jack Nance (Nefud)
Nance’s image might live on in your mind as the lead character from Lynch’s debut film Eraserhead, released in 1977. The longt-ime Lynch collaborator was a mainstay in Twin Peaks, and actually the bulk of his performances came with Lynch behind the camera, including Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway, and The Cowboy and the Frenchman. His final role was in another Lynch film, Lost Highway, in 1997, with several collaborations with the director in his resume as well. He passed away on December 30, 1996 from injuries that caused a subdural hematoma.
Sting (Feyd-Rautha)
With a hit-and-miss acting career, the little-known actor decided to try and make it in the music business. Jokes aside, Sting obviously is a pretty well-known musician worldwide, and is still at it. He has appeared in several other films, both as an actor and as himself, including the recently released Kaamelott The First Chapter, and Only Murders in the Building. As far as music goes, he released the album The Bridge in 2021.
Alicia Witt (Alia Atreides)
Witt has kept quite busy since her on-screen debut in Dune, both as a musician and a writer. She was still quite young when she was discovered by Lynch for her role as Alia in Dune. She was also in both releases of Twin Peaks, and has had numerous roles over the years, including over 2021-22 in Stargirl and a few Hallmark shows and movies. Most recently, she might be most recognized for her role in 2020’s I Care A Lot, and she was also in the movie Alice in 2022. Witt actually has a professional career as a singer-songwriter as well, with her most recent release titled The Conduit. She also released a book in late 2021 titled, Small Changes: A Rules-Free Guide to Add More Plant-Based Foods, Peace & Power to Your Life.
Max von Sydow (Doctor Kynes)
Von Sydow has a lot of recognizable roles in his career, but for recent times, he probably rings a bell as the Three-eyed Raven from Game of Thrones. He worked all the way up to his passing at the age of 90 in 2020, with a posthumous release in Echoes of the Past in 2021.
Brad Dourif (Piter De Vries)
Dourif is still most likely recognized for his voice work as Chucky in the Child’s Play film franchise, with plenty of other movie and TV roles to his name. The 72-year-old actor appeared in the 2022 film The Living, as well as the current TV rendition of Chucky on Syfy and The USA Network.