‘It’s your duty to explain this to me’: Chloe Lea and Olivia Williams understand the challenges of sci-fi and ‘Dune: Prophecy’
Most mainstream media leaned heavily on the idea of science fiction from a lighter standpoint. We had film adaptations of Dune by Frank Herbert in the past but for the most part, our collective foray into sci-fi didn’t take a nose dive into the hard sci-fi works. Until now.
Adaptations of Dune and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation have opened the door for a deeper dive into what fans deem as “hard” science fiction. But it is now being brought to a more mainstream audience. With shows like Dune: Prophecy, we’re building out the world that Herbert built and exploring subsets of the characters that the Denis Villeneuve films touch on. Like the Bene Gesserit.
I was lucky enough to partake in the Dune: Prophecy press room at New York Comic Con where we talked to the cast and creatives about the new series. When speaking with Olivia Williams, who plays Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen, and Chloe Lea, who plays Sister Lila, I asked about the approach to a project that is more heavily science fiction based.
Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen is “used to living her life in the shadow of her older sister Valya, but when an outside force threatens the Sisterhood, she is called upon to lead. To do so, she must choose between the Order’s needs and her own,” per the press release. Lila is “a young acolyte with a deep empathy beyond her years, Sister Lila was raised at the Sisterhood since her infancy and has no knowledge regarding her family of origin. Although she believes in the Sisterhood’s mission, she longs to know more about her roots.”
But talking with Williams and Lea about their approach to the sci-fi aspects of a Dune story was fascinating to unpack.
Williams is no stranger to sci-fi
When I asked my question, I pointed out that Williams has done science fiction in the past. Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse teetered the line between a drama and sci-fi series. But for Williams, she talked about how show runner Alison Schapker was always there ready and willing to answer her calls about the show.
“You are given and script and there are line that…I was on the phone to Alison a lot. I was like ‘It’s your duty to explain this to me,'” Williams joked but she talked about how she didn’t return to the books because she was told they’re different than what the show is. “I’m afraid I didn’t go back to books, but on their advice because they were taking the books into a different place. So it was just a very big hotline to Allison and Jordan going, ‘What does this mean?'”
Her co-star, Chloe Lea, agreed with the statement. “Alison and Jordan and also other cast members, because you get so lost in all the scripts and you’re filming out of order, you’re kind of like relying on each other to be like, ‘Actually no, this is when this happens. And this is, oh, but what about this piece of information that we’ve all forgotten about?’ So I think it was a bit of a whirlwind, but with Alison and Jordan’s help and other cast members, we got through. And also it was kind of remembering, these people are people without the whole Dune universe that is very rich and expansive. At the end of the day, they have human relationships and they are humans.”
Dune: Prophecy airs on Max on November 17.
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