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Why Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler Say Filming Dune: Part Two Felt Like School

Dune's Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet shared how they welcomed franchise newcomer Austin Butler during his first day on set in an exclusive interview with E! News.

By Gabrielle Chung Feb 05, 2024 10:54 PMTags
Watch: Dune 2 Stars Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet & Austin Butler: Full Interview!

The energy on the Dune: Part Two set was quite euphoric.

In fact, Zendaya and her costar Timothée Chalamet were giddy like children when it came time to welcome franchise newcomer Austin Butler into the fold. As the Euphoria actress exclusively told E! News, it was like a "kid's first day at school."

But that's not to say Austin felt like the new kid when he arrived on set.

"It was a dream come true," Austin explained. "These two welcomed me with open arms." (For more from the Dune: Part Two cast, tune into E! News tonight, Feb. 5 at 11 p.m.)

And Austin, who plays the villainous Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the film, quickly became fast friends with Timothée. After all, the 32-year-old shared they were "thrown into fight training" upon meeting.

"Zendaya was there filming," he continued, adding that Disney Channel alum "documented the whole thing" to commemorate the moment.

As for Timothée, he and Zendaya, 27, became even better friends when returning to work on Dune sequel. In fact, the two even got nicknames for each other. 

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"Me and Z got little to do together on the first one," Timothée said. "Actually, we barely got to work together on the first one."

 

 

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The Wonka star echoed, "Like Z said, it was first day of school energy when we finally met."

However, the trio will just have to wait a little longer to party with Florence Pugh, who also joined the cast for the second installment of the 2021 flick. As Timothée noted, the "only time the four of us were together was one night" when all their filming schedules overlapped, so they were only able to have dinner together before calling it a night.

"I feel like the tamest bunch," the 28-year-old said with a laugh. "Dinner was the extent of our shenanigans."

Dune: Part Two hits theaters on March 1.

To see the cast's full interview, tune into E! News tonight, Feb. 5, at 11 p.m. 

Watch E! News weeknights Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., only on E!.