Dune Prophecy: “The season finale is completely crazy”

As the series, broadcast on Max in France, reaches mid-season, actress Jessica Barden speaks to Première and tells the story of her young Valya Harkonnen.

You knew about the universe Dunebefore joining the cast of the series Dune: Prophecy ?
JESSICA BARDEN : I saw Denis Villeneuve's films, as a simple spectator at the time. And I thought it was great, I was disgusted not to be in it (laughs). I'm not usually a big fan of sci-fi sagas. Star Warsit was never my thing. But Dune it was different. Especially because there was Lady Jessica (played by Rebecca Ferguson) and the Bene Gesserit. I had never heard of Frank Herbert and the books before that, but I started to get interested in them. I explored a bit of Bene Gesserit history. Afterwards, I never read the books, because it wasn't necessary for the series. The authors often gave us information, summaries of what happens in the books, information sheets on the characters.

How do you see Valya Harkonnen's character? We have the feeling that she always has to pay the price for her ambition…
Yes, that’s exactly it! Every time Valya is in a position of power, she finds herself faced with choices to make, faced with dilemmas. When she arrives at the Bene Gesserit school, she quickly understands that she will be able to dominate the sorority. It's in his personality. But the question that then arises for her is: what to do with this power? What can we also do with our gift, which allows us to command others? When you have this talent that can turn the lives of others upside down, how can you use it well? Valya constantly faces these dilemmas.

How did you approach the character?
Already, it was a real challenge to live up to Emily Watson's performance! I tried not to ruin what she had managed to do… And not to ruin the image that the fans of Dune had in mind.

Did you work directly with Emily Watson – who plays Valya as an adult – to synchronize your performances, so that your two characters become one person?
You know, even before the series, people often told me that I reminded them of a young Emily Watson! No joke! So obviously, it was fun for me to play the same character as her. Now, to be honest, we didn't really have time to work on the scenes together to get our two characters in sync. The schedule for a TV series moves too quickly. We exchanged, we discussed it, of course. But things happened quite naturally while filming. I mainly watched images of her in interviews, to get a sense of her way of moving. We behave in a bit the same way. We both have very expressive faces. We have the same approach. So I would say that we're a bit similar basically already.

What awaits Valya in the sequel Dune: Prophecy ?
There are lots of things going to happen… And you haven't seen the most impressive yet. The season finale is absolutely crazy. I haven't seen it in full yet, just a few pieces while working on post-production. I had never shot in a studio like that before, with blue screens and such. And I think this episode 6 is going to be pretty crazy. As for Valya, the whole question is whether she will turn completely evil. If she ends up doing something truly evil…

Dune Prophecy will continue next Monday in France on Max.