Dune 2021 movie

[ChrisReid]

you and I see eye to eye on pretty much everything. I don't know how to feel about walken either. he plays Christopher Walken in every movie, just like Jeff Goldblum plays Jeff Goldblum in every movie lol.

Christopher Walken has a very solid character in Severance - literally within the context of the show he doesn't play himself. I eagerly await his performance here.

 

[Bob McDob]

On the other hand, perhaps Mr. Villenevue will manage to get Mr. Walken actually play the Emperor and not himself.

Eh, is this really such a big deal? I haven't read the book in years, but doesn't the emperor have only a few lines in total?
I'm having a really hard time remembering Walken in anything other than Privateer 2 and that one Adam Sandler movie but I don't think the role calls for anything really extravagant or even has the dimension to; José Ferrer was far more memorable in the opening they made up for him than in anything he did for the rest of the film where his job was basically to look pretty as his dynasty dies.
Walken is kind of an odd choice but it should be fine as long as Villeneuve chose him and it wasn't forced on him.

One thing that comes to mind is that all of the actors who played the role are too old. The book states that Shaddam was 70 but looked 40; Ferrer was 71 during filming, Giannini 58, and Walken is 79. The role really is more about the image and dignity, rather than the personality (which is what, a stubborn old man?)

 

[Whiplash]

Eh, is this really such a big deal? I haven't read the book in years, but doesn't the emperor have only a few lines in total?
I'm having a really hard time remembering Walken in anything other than Privateer 2 and that one Adam Sandler movie but I don't think the role calls for anything really extravagant or even has the dimension to; José Ferrer was far more memorable in the opening they made up for him than in anything he did for the rest of the film where his job was basically to look pretty as his dynasty dies.
Walken is kind of an odd choice but it should be fine as long as Villeneuve chose him and it wasn't forced on him.

One thing that comes to mind is that all of the actors who played the role are too old. The book states that Shaddam was 70 but looked 40; Ferrer was 71 during filming, Giannini 58, and Walken is 79. The role really is more about the image and dignity, rather than the personality (which is what, a stubborn old man?)

I read the book fairly regualrly, and even though the emperor doesn't have a huge amount of "page time", I think you can play him a lot more nuanced than "stubborn old man". He cuts something of a tragic and lonely figure in my view. He is ostensibly the ruler of a vast empire spanning thousands of worlds, but is himself caught in the middle of political schemes and power plays engineered by other parties that he actually has very little control over. He has no friends (apart from Count Fenring), no legal heir, and no real allies; just lackeys who feign loyalty because of the position it affords them. He is a powerful figure but not a popular one, and comes across as somewhat insecure, probably because he knows that his position is far from secure. The fact that he prefers Sardaukar uniforms to royals robes speaks volumes; his famed legions are the one thing he is proud of, and his only source of real confidence. That confidence is of course misplaced, though he doesn't realize that until it is too late.
So yeah, I think there is plenty there for a good actor to sink their teeth into. Hopefully this emperor does more than just stand around looking dignified.