When you hear Austin Butler speak in “Dune: Part Two,” it’s rather shocking. Not only does Butler sound nothing like any of his previous performances, bearing no resemblance to his Elvis Presley voice, but it’s almost like he’s stolen someone else’s voice. And that’s largely because he has. Butler has explained in several interviews that he was originally using a version of his own voice when playing Feyd-Rautha but that he thought it sounded too contemporary. The actor explained to Entertainment Weekly the realization that ultimately helped him find the right voice:
“I felt that because he grew up with the Baron, the Baron would be a big influence on him in many ways. So then I started thinking about the way that he speaks, and that being linked to the person that you see with the most power from the time that you’re a child, who you do end up emulating in some way.”
There’s a slight gruffness to Stellan Skarsgård’s natural voice, but as the Baron, the actor pushes it down to a more villainous tone, one that feels like it’s weighed down by his massive body. Butler borrowed some of Skarsgård’s vocal sound and cadence, but of course, it’s younger and more fast-paced, which makes this Harkonnen even more terrifying.
The decision to so closely echo Skarsgård’s voice was not something that he revealed before sharing scenes with the star of “The Avengers.” As Butler recalled during an interview with ComicBook.com, Skarsgård eventually asked him how he was able to imitate his voice so accurately. Butler explained, “I listened to a ton of him talking, and I have an amazing dialect coach named Tim Monich.”
So how did Skarsgård’s react to Butler’s hypnotizing performance? He laughed.