It is hard to keep things a secret, especially in Hollywood. Dune: Part Two has quite possibly the biggest cast of any movie this year, but director Denis Villeneuve managed to keep it a secret that Anya Taylor-Joy would be in the film. After the London premiere, her appearance shocked everyone, so now the filmmaker is breaking down why and how the team managed to keep the Furiosa star a secret from the world until the last minute.
While it is easy to avoid her role, people were eager to shout from the rooftops who attended the London premiere. Her presence only added to the staggering nature of the film’s cast. It stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Christopher Walken, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, Stellan Skarsgård, Austin Butler, Dave Bautista, and more.
At the New York Premiere, Denis Villeneuve Adding Anya Taylor-Joy to the Dune: Part Two Cast as a Secret
At the New York premiere, Denis Villeneuve talked to The Hollywood Reporter about Dune: Part Two and the “experiment” of keeping Anya Tayl0r-Joy a secret. Due to Hollywood being a “gossipy town” he wanted “to see how long we could keep a secret.”
It took major coordination to manage the feat. In Africa for the production that spanned multiple countries worldwide, they had “a special unit” to keep her hidden from the public. Her scenes were discretely shot to ensure no leaks happened.
For Denis Villeneuve, executing the secrecy of Anya Taylor-Joy for Dune: Part Two was something that he “loved.” It was about keeping “something [as] a surprise for the audience until the very end.” To him, this was a “gift” for audiences.
The sequel is already catching attention ahead of its March 1 debut. Reviews are currently glowing as people are in awe in the second part of the Frank Herbert adaptation. In The Nerd Stash’s official review, our own Joshua McCoy gave it a 9/10. He wrote that the film “is everything it needs to be.” As “a longtime fan” of the universe, he called the war epic “a jaw-dropping masterpiece beyond my wildest expectations.”
