The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with
Dune: Prophecy
stars Chloe Lea and Jade Anouka.
Lea and Anouka discuss Lila and Theodosia’s places within the Sisterhood.
Lea also goes into detail breaking down what it took to pull off Episode 2’s Agony scene.

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Dune: Prophecy Season 1, Episode 2]In the new HBO series Dune: Prophecy, Denis Villeneuve’s on-screen universe, adapted from Frank Herbert’s science fiction novels, is expanded by taking us back 10,000 years. The show explores the Sisterhood origins of the Bene Gesserit and the political schemes of the Great Houses, introducing us to pivotal characters like Valya and Tula Harkonnen, played by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams, who work their way to influential positions of power.

Season 1, Episode 2, “Two Wolves,” is a massive step toward establishing the Bene Gesserit, a faction of women with superhuman gifts who will utilize their powers to shape the political future of humankind. In this interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, stars Chloe Lea and Jade Anouka, who play Sister Lila and Sister Theodosia, shed some light on their characters who provide the audience with a look inside the mysterious Sisterhood. Theodosia (Anouka) trains under the tutelage of Mother Superior Valya (Watson), while Lila (Lea) is the favorite of Tula (Williams).

In this conversation, Lea and Anouka reflect on the parallels between their jobs on set and their characters within this world, share what it’s like performing opposite Watson and Williams, and tease what lies ahead for Theo and Lila after Episode 2. Anouka also reveals her character’s feelings about being assigned to Princess Ynez’s (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) service, and Lea explains how she approached enduring something as unimaginable as the Agony.

Meet ‘Dune: Prophecy’s Chloe Lea and Jade Anouka
The duo look back on past projects and reveal their favorite films.
Image via Mubi

PERRI NEMIROFF: First, I want our viewers and readers to get to know the two of you a little bit more. I don’t want to imply that you’re new to the industry, but when you’re in a show like Dune , it is going to send your star soaring in a very, very special way. Is there any past project that you learned something from that you were able to apply to your work on Dune: Prophecy ? But then also, can you tell me an acting first you experience making this show?

CHLOE LEA: A first for me is, I think Lila is the most similar to me, character-wise, that I’ve ever played. I think the characters I’ve played before tend to be really mean or really tough, and I feel like that’s so dissimilar to who I am. Also, I think she’s the first character that, when I got her, she was the same age as me. I look a lot younger than I am, so a lot of the time I’ve played younger characters, and it was kind of nice to be in exactly the same place as Lila when filming. So, that was fun.

JADE ANOUKA: I did His Dark Materials, which is an HBO show, and doing that was a good stepping stone for this. It was the first time that I did fight scenes. It was the first time working with green screen and stuff like that, and playing somebody with real inner power but also lots of mystery was really great. That was definitely something I could bring into this, which was great.

A first for me on this was… There were so many firsts, actually. A lot of the stuff you’ll see in the latter episodes were firsts for me and really exciting to do, but also being part of such a big ensemble company and also getting to go back to school. It felt like going back to school, especially in that first episode. And being in a cast with lots of people similar in age to me was really nice. Don’t laugh at that! [Laughs] I’m not playing younger than my actual age, I’m sort of the same age as you, [Chloe]. We’re like peers.

I’m gonna squeeze in one more get-to-know you question that puts you both on the spot. I apologize in advance. I need to know, what is your favorite movie of all time?

LEA: Oh my god!

ANOUKA: What? This question is impossible!

I walk around with this information in my back pocket, so I expect it of other people! [Laughs]

LEA: This is really difficult! Can I give you a favorite recent?

Sure!

LEA: One I’ve watched. So, it’s not of all time, but The Substance.

Oh my, I could talk about The Substance all day long!

LEA: I could talk about The Substance all day long!

ANOUKA: I never watched it.

LEA: Jade, you need to get on that because Demi [Moore], Margaret [Qualley], the performance is insane. I don’t want to spoil anything — transformative. That’s my favorite recent movie.

29:59 Related The Prosthetics in Demi Moore’s Body Horror ‘The Substance’ Rival John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ Moore, Margaret Qualley & Coralie Fargeat discuss how this violent body horror combats the beauty standards of society with rage and prosthetics.

Excellent choice.

LEA: Then I can give you one of my favorite films ever.

ANOUKA: Go on.

LEA: It’s a film called My First Summer and it is a gay teen film and it’s great. So, all the teen gays out there, if you’re looking for something great, watch that.

I need some good recommendations in my life. I’ll take that!

LEA: Sapphic cinema.

ANOUKA: So that’s two that I don’t know.

LEA: I’m excited to hear yours!

ANOUKA: I was I was going to say the original Lion King because that changed my world and my worldview on the order of nature [laughs] and how mean lions can be. But also how cute. Gosh, I need a better one.

LEA: No, that’s deep.

Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

No, that’s a good one!

ANOUKA: I mean, I know, but it’s also animation, right?

LEA: There’s nothing wrong with that.

ANOUKA: I love animation. I’m gonna go with The Lion King.

The Sisterhood Offers Purpose and Belonging
But, the question is, at what cost?

Digging into your characters now, Chloe, I’ll come your way first. Can you tell us a little bit about how being raised by the Sisterhood makes Lila different from everybody else around her there?

LEA: It just makes her so loyal to the cause and to the order. It’s a type of indoctrination. There are a lot of religious themes in the show, and I think because Lila has never had a different outlook on life, this has been the thing that she’s trusted forever and a thing that she’s never had to question. I think it makes it very interesting later on in the show when Lila has a big decision to make, and it’s the first time she’s got to question everything she’s ever believed. It really differentiates her from the rest of the sisters because she lacks the outsider’s perspective. Also, she didn’t really have a reason to come to the Sisterhood, so it’s kind of just trusting the prophecy of her life, in a sense, that she’s meant to be there and that she can do good things for the order.

Jade, some mental gymnastics are going to be required to answer this one — can you tease why she is so loyal to the Sisterhood and maybe what it is about her that makes her such a strong acolyte?

ANOUKA: I think the Sisterhood is a place where she feels part of something and safe. And I think the fact that Valya saw her power in her and brought her into her world is just an amazing feeling for Theo, that she feels like she’s sort of wanted and needed for who she is and not what she can do. So, I think her loyalty to Valya comes from feeling seen. Basically, she feels like she’s an outsider, and then somebody sees her for who she is. I can relate to that feeling like you’re just othered, and I think she’s always been othered. Being part of the Sisterhood makes her feel like she’s actually part of the thing. She’s not the other. She is the thing. [Laughs] And being seen by Valya is just huge.

The Real Sisterhood of ‘Dune: Prophecy’
“It was just a really rewarding experience.”
Image via Max

Your sisters are Valya and Tula’s favorites, and when you’re someone’s favorite, I imagine it defines your character to a degree, so what is something about the two of them as scene partners that helped you find something in your own character that you might not have been able to reach without them?

ANOUKA: Oh my gosh.

LEA: Wow, brilliant question!

ANOUKA: That is so good.

I’m shocked I managed to say it in a way that made sense!

ANOUKA: That was so brilliantly formed. [Laughs] Well, definitely, as I said, being seen by Valya, but also on that double thing of being seen by Emily and working with an actor of that caliber and being her scene partner and her seeing me as an actor who can be in a scene with her and believing that I’m worthy of acting alongside her. She was so incredible and so encouraging, and it really felt like Emily saw me and saw what I could do, like my power in that way, and really made me feel like I was part of this, not just on the sidelines, like I was an important part of this piece and an important contribution to the show and to life while we were filming. I think that was that double thing that really helped with the character, as well.

Beautiful answer.

LEA: Mine’s kind of a similar sentiment, as well, with me and Lila being in really similar positions in just the act of me filming with all these actors who were, like Jade, pros, like absolute pros, and like Emily and Olivia. I felt like I had so much to learn on set every day, and I feel like that is a similar sentiment with Lila’s relationship with Tula. She just feels like she’s this beacon of knowledge that she has so much to learn from. With Lila’s loyalty completely being with the Sisterhood and wanting them to succeed, I feel like she has a lot to take in from Tula, and she can really trust her, and I felt like I could really trust Olivia as a scene partner. So yeah, it was just a really rewarding experience, and I think it did definitely translate to our scenes together.

Sister Theodosia Sees Past Princess Ynez’s Veil
“There’s much more to you than that.”
Image via HBO Max

To dig into some Episode 2 specifics now, Jade, in this episode Theo is assigned to try to befriend the princess. How does she feel about that mission? Is she honored to get that responsibility, or is it something she’d rather not do?

ANOUKA: I think that’s not what this is about. I think the idea of going to Salusa Secundus, which is where the princess lives, I think she doesn’t want to do that. She wanted to go to the safety of the Sisterhood. That was the deal. And I don’t think she thinks that much of the princess, but I think there’s a moment in that first scene, and it’s right at the end of the scene, where Theo’s like, “Okay, I’m going to have to be that person. ‘What do you want to know?!’ This is my role. Apparently, this is what I have to do now is babysit you.” Then she gets an answer from the princess that makes her just go, “Oh, you’re not quite the princess that I thought you were. There’s much more to you than that,” which is kind of cool.

16:28 Related Is ‘Dune: Prophecy’s Ynez the Greatest Threat? Sarah-Sofie Boussnina Insists “No One Can Stand in the Way of [Her] Plan Josh Heuston, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, and Chris Mason talk Episode 1 spoilers and the real-life inspiration for their characters.

I always tend to get hyper-focused on tiny details, and I’ll try to come up with a question about a one-second reaction shot.

ANOUKA: A look.

That’s the look that I really focused on because it says so much about how she perceives the princess.

ANOUKA: Definitely. Yeah.

Chloe, guess what I’m going to ask you about?

LEA: Oh god. [Laughs] Oh, yeah.

The Agony!

The Agony Was Never an Option for Lila
Chloe Lea discusses her character’s mindset and what it takes to portray that journey on-screen.
Image via Max

First, when she agrees to go through the Agony, is it more about her trusting Tula, or is it trusting her own choice?

LEA: It’s both. I think it really is both. I think because Tula has been such a rock for Lila throughout her whole Sisterhood journey, and I feel like there’s backstory there that’s maybe not even touched on in the first season between Tula and Lila. Lila feels safe in Tula’s decisions, and she’s always trusted her, and that’s why she’s still here, and that’s why she’s succeeding. But I also feel like it’s Lila’s first time where she feels like she actually has a purpose, and it’s a miracle that this purpose coincides with this thought that’s been eating at her her whole life about who she really is and where she comes from. So, I do think that while Sister Jen raises some really important concerns from a friendship perspective, I feel like Lila knows what she has to do, and I feel like she feels obligated to go through with it. Otherwise, what is she here for?

Digging into the procedure itself now, first I wanted to ask about the external part of that. Did you talk with your director, the writers, anyone at all in terms of what that poison does to the body physically so you knew how to reflect that on screen?

LEA: I spoke to everyone about everything I could know about because I think it’s just so insane. I mean, in the real world, the most excruciating thing I can probably think of is probably childbirth, right? That’s, like, the worst pain. Anyway, I’ve never gone through it myself, but I can imagine it’s the worst pain anyone can experience, and I think because this is to do with motherly ancestors, that immediately came to mind. But then, apparently having poison in your system that you’re struggling to transmute, that’s literally eating away at yourselves, I think it probably goes a little step further, if I do dare to say myself, than literally giving birth. So, it was just kind of trying to pull from everyone every little detail about how this could possibly be affecting someone’s body. And also I had to kind of get to the headspace of trying to imagine the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life, and then go 100 times further than that, so it was a big one.

And that’s only half of it. That’s the external. Then there’s the internal, which is just this chaotic show of lightning, people and so much more. What is the key to doing that half of the Agony and finding some sort of roadmap so it’s not random mania, but it makes sense why she’s experiencing one thing and then the next and then the next?

LEA: I think for me, the director, John [Cameron], who I was lucky enough to work with on that episode, he was very collaborative with showing me his storyboards and talking me through exactly what was happening and why it was happening with Lila. Otherwise, I feel like I would have been a bit overwhelmed because it’s constant agony, pain, terror all the time. I can’t imagine, and it’s inescapable. So, I was really lucky to have Alison [Schapker] and Jordan [Goldberg] and John, the director, to talk me through the points of the Agony because it’s a really terrifying thing, but it is like a journey. And I think for, like, the.

ANOUKA: There’s sense in it.

LEA: Yeah, there’s sense in it. And also, the stakes for Lila are huge. This is the first time she’s felt even needed really by the Sisterhood and the first time she gets to prove herself. So, there’s also a lot going on as well as the physical and emotional stress of literally your ancestors trying to, I don’t know, I guess, inhabit you.

Easy work, right?

LEA: [Laughs] Yeah, light work!

Dune: Prophecy is available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes premiere every Sunday.

TV series set in the ‘Dune’ universe which centers on the lives of the Bene Gesserit.Writers Diane Ademu-John , Kevin J. Anderson , Brian Herbert , Frank Herbert

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