Timothée Chalamet & Zendaya’s Emerging Friendship Helped Solidify Their ‘Dune: Part Two’ Chemistry, Says Denis Villeneuve — Contenders Los Angeles

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Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve knew the storytelling success of Dune: Part Two hinged on the developing chemistry between stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, as well as the antagonistic energy of Austin Butler, and worked carefully with the actors to ensure that those elements showed up onscreen.

Speaking during the Dune: Part Two panel along with screenwriter Jon Spaihts at Deadline Contenders Film event on Saturday, Villeneuve noted how the offscreen bond between Chalamet and Zendaya grew through the making of the first film and their promotional duties in a way that eventually provided a serendipitous payoff during the second installment. “They met each other in Part One, briefly, and spontaneously they became friends,” Villeneuve explained of the pairing of the actors as they played the ultimately star-crossed lovers Paul Atreides and Chani throughout the lengthy arc of two films. “And as we did the promotional tour, their relationship became, let’s say, a deeper meaning – they’re close friends.

And for me, it’s tremendous help, of course, because Jon and I had structured the whole story on their relationship through the birth of the love between Paul and Chani, then the struggle of this love with the pressure from the outside, from the politics, and then the break.” RELATED: 2024-25 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More “All that, I need, so it was all about the chemistry between them – I had put all my chips on that,’ the filmmaker said. “And so it was crucial that to capture that on screen and bring that chemistry on camera.” Villeneuve conducted a series of tests with both actors shortly after they were cast to ensure the chemistry would pop — “just to see,” he said. “We had