PRINCESS IRULAN FLORENCE PUGH

Tell us about Princess Irulan.

Who the hell is Princess Irulan! She is the daughter of the Emperor, who is played by the fantastic Christopher Walken. It’s funny, I was asked this morning, is she like any of the other feisty characters that I’ve played before? Whilst she may be internally, I think she’s probably one of the quietest characters I’ve ever played.

She is someone that is constantly listening, and always learning, and that was something that I was so excited [about] when I was reading the script. I always acknowledged that she was always aware, maybe when other people weren’t aware, that she was recording probably internally what was going on. She’s calculated.

I think that excited me the most, to see someone that was planning. You don’t necessarily know what they’re planning for, but they are aware and they are planning. That’s a very exciting character to get to work with, because you’re trying to figure out where her loyalties lie, where her wisdom ends and what her abilities are. And it may not be loud, and it may not be feisty, and it may not be gobby like my usual characters always are.

But she’s definitely intelligent. That’s been a really nice fine line to play. We’ll find out more about Princess Irulan, I’m learning about her

as well.

I didn’t break anything, thank god! It’s a huge privilege to work with crew members that are unbelievably dedicated to their craft, and I think especially on Dune, the attention to detail with locations and sets, it’s just mindblowing – it really transports you every time you come to set. And that was my first day of shooting!

We shot in that memorial space. It really is a very haunting space. There’s so many different pockets of the building, and pockets of the area, that completely transports you. Obviously it is exactly like the world of Dune. That was our first two days there and I was already kind of amazed that I was filming Dune, but I was also there with Charlotte Rampling…

It’s one of those incredible “pinch me” moments when you walk onto a movie as large and as epic as this, and you’re in a space that has huge respect and huge power. It only kind of gets you into the gear that you need to be put in for a movie like this.

What was the most ambitious or challenging moment of filming?

When you’re on a movie that matters so much to so many people, there really aren’t that many challenges. I’d say for everyone across the board, one of the biggest challenges when you’re doing something that you care so much about, and you’re wearing the clothes that we’re wearing, is always weather conditions. When you’re making something this epic, your complaint of being hot is so minuscule! Those are the little things but other than that, it’s a dream being on a job like this.