Austin Butler Says Dune 2 Set Was 110 Degrees, People Got Heat Stroke

Austin Butler was hospitalized after he wrapped filming on Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” and it appears it was something of a miracle he avoided a similar fate on the set of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” The Oscar nominee joins the epic franchise as Feyd-Rautha, the cruel and sadistic younger nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Butler told Entertainment Weekly that heat stroke impacted several people on set during his first week of shooting. How’s that for a welcome?

“It was 110 degrees and so hot,” Butler said. “I had the bald cap on, and it was between two soundstages that were just these gray boxes of 200-foot walls and sand. It became like a microwave. There were people passing out from heat stroke. And that was just my first week.”

“It really bonds the entire crew,” Butler added. “There’s something so humbling about being in such an uncomfortable environment.” 

The first scene Butler shot for “Dune 2” was Feyd-Rautha’s gladiator match on the Harkonnen’s home planet as he battles fighters to prove he should be his uncle’s heir. During prep, Butler made sure to pay close attention to Skarsgård’s vocal performance in the original “Dune” movie as it held the key to bringing his version of Feyd-Rautha to life.

“I felt that because he grew up with the Baron, the Baron would be a big influence on him in many ways,” Butler explained to Entertainment…