All of the cast members announced for the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood (which is a prequel to the Dune feature films) up to this point have been for female roles – which makes sense, since the show is going to be about “a mysterious order of women”. But now Deadline has broken the news that the show does have a male lead among its characters, and that role is going to be played by Travis Fimmel (Raised by Wolves).
Diane Ademu-John, who previously worked on The Haunting of Bly Manor at Netflix, Empire at Fox, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries at The CW, and Medium and Crossing Jordan at NBC, is the showrunner on Dune: The Sisterhood. Ademu-John is also writing and executive producing the show, which will be
told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis, known to its inhabitants as Dune.
Dune: The Sisterhood is set
10,000 years prior to the events of Dune and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.
Fimmel’s co-stars include the previously announced Emily Watson (Punch Drunk Love), Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Indira Varma (Obi-Wan), Shalom Brune-Franklin (The Tourist), Sarah-Sofie Boussnina (The Colony), Faoileann Cunningham (The Northman), Aoife Hinds (Normal People), and Chloe Lea (Foundation).
Watson and Henderson are playing Valya Harkonnen and Tula Harkonnen. “Together, these women have risen to power in the Sisterhood, a secret organization of women who will ascend to become the Bene Gesserit.” Varma is taking on the role of Empress Natalya, described as “a formidable royal who united thousands of worlds in her marriage to Emperor Corrino”.
Brune-Franklin will be playing Mikaela, “a strong-willed Fremen woman who serves the royal family while longing for a home planet she’s never known.” Boussnina’s character is Princess Ynez, “an independent young princess dealing with the pressures of her responsibility as heir to the Golden Lion Throne.” Cunningham will be taking on the role of Sister Jen, “a fierce, unpredictable acolyte in training at the Sisterhood School who rarely reveals her emotional core.” Hinds is Sister Emeline, “a zealous acolyte descended from a long line of martyrs, who carries fervent religion to her training at the Sisterhood.” And Lea will portray Lila, “the youngest acolyte at the Sisterhood School with a deep empathy beyond her years.”
Fimmel’s Dune: The Sisterhood character is Desmond Hart, “a charismatic soldier with an enigmatic past who seeks to gain the Emperor’s trust at the expense of the Sisterhood.”
Johan Renck, who executive produced and directed all five episodes of the HBO limited series Chernobyl (and won two Emmys for his work on that show) is directing the first two episodes of Dune: The Sisterhood. Dune director Denis Villeneuve had been planning to direct the pilot episode of this show himself, but a scheduling conflict with Dune: Part Two has made that impossible. Dune: The Sisterhood is filming in Budapest, Hungary at the same time Dune: Part Two (which is set to reach theatres on November 3, 2023) is also filming there.
Villeneuve remains on board Dune: The Sisterhood as an executive producer. An HBO Max and Legendary Television co-production, the show is also being executive produced by Scott Z. Burns, Mark Friedman, Matthew King, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, and Jon Spaihts, who has written the Dune films with Villeneuve and was supposed to be the Sisterhood showrunner at one time. Kevin J. Anderson co-produces.
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