Olivia Williams & Emily Watson – “Damaged” Sisters
Emily Watson’s and Olivia Williams’ careers have been running parallel since their early 20s. They first met each other while pondering the future on a patch outside The Black Swan in Stratford-upon-Avon. Williams says, “We met in the early 1990s at the Royal Shakespeare Company where we both performed in different plays during different seasons.” They never performed together. Watson adds that there aren’t many scripts for two women of the same age.
They would cross paths again as Williams began her Hollywood career with Kevin Costner’s The Postman, and Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. Watson was also leveraging her breakthrough success from Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves. Williams recalls, “I was at the Four Seasons. We had a cosmopolitan as that was the style back then.” There’s a bonding quality to those of us who felt like pioneers in Hollywood during the late 1990s. Everyone has their Los Angeles ‘first-timers.’ In those days, you carried a Thomas Guide in your lap.
They spent the next 20 years building their careers, and even shared screen time in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina. But neither of them imagined that a science-fiction epic would bring them together professionally. Williams was initially drawn to Dune: Prophecy by Watson, not because it was a remake of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novels. Williams says that she was contacted by her agent, who represents Emily Watson. She asked if she wanted to work in Budapest with Emily. “That’s how it was pitched to me.”
Emily Williams and Olivia Watson in “Dune: Prophetia”[Dune]
MAX
Watson and Williams, who played the morally ambiguous sister running the defacto cult, had plenty to do in the prequel series, which was about the Bene Gesserit – an order of women that becomes the puppet masters for the great houses of Dune.
“I began reading the scripts and thought, ‘Oh this is out of my comfort zone, but this woman is really interesting. Watson recalls that Valya is “powerful, damaged, and has a hell of a job.” Watson plays Valya, the Sisterhood Reverend Mother superior who tries to place a Sister in the Council of the Imperium while trying to restore the reputation of her family. It feels like a new territory for me, and that’s a great challenge. I have to find something with a different center of gravity and a different rhythm and voice than anything else I’ve ever done.
Williams, who portrays Valya’s younger sister Tula in the film, immediately understood the frustrations that a sibling feels when, despite their sacrifices, they are often underestimated. Williams says, “Show me an older sister who doesn’t feel undervalued.” “Ignoring a child can be the worst thing that could happen to them. It’s better to have negative attention rather than none at all. Tula was ignored because she was the good girl.
These two sisters, with their lingering traumas and steely resolve are waiting for a fire to ignite. Williams says that these women are in their middle age and have experienced years of rejection, disappointment, and resentment. They have accumulated a complex set of angsts which need an outlet. The fact that they can talk to their ancestors adds a few thousand more generations of angst, repression and disappointment.
Alison Schapker is a scifi veteran who has worked on titles such as Fringe, Altered Carbon, and Almost Human. Schapker, who has been a fan of Herbert’s series from her earliest years, was creatively attracted to the Schools of Dune trilogies, which were added by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderston and focused on the Harkonnen Legacy in the 2010s. Schapker explains that the story is anchored by a specific relationship between Valya, Tula and their family. They are destined to become the monstrous Dune villains one day.
Prophecy examines two timelines that have a direct connection to the roads that lead us eventually to Vladimir Harkonnen (played Stellan Skarsgard from the recent Dune movies)’s ruthless rule. In an earlier timeline, Jessica Barden’s character Valya is recruited to join a mysterious group by a charismatic figure. In the later timeline, she is its driving force. Schapker has built the world with Herbert Estate in collaboration. As I age, I’m more and more fascinated by the choices people make and how they are affected by time.
Schapker was not concerned that her two leads did not have the same fandom as some of their fans. She says, “I thought it was fun for them to take the sci-fi universe and ground it.” Schapker also wanted to test out the material so that it wouldn’t alienate people who were unfamiliar with the Dune franchise. She says, “We wanted to create a show for those who were just exploring the Dune Universe for the first time. It would be a good place to start.”
In Prophecy, it has been nearly a century since mankind defeated the “thinking machine” and gender equity is a distant thought. The Council of the Imperium, run by men who are quietly advised by The Sisterhood – human lie detectors if you like – whispering into the ears of the power-holders – is run by women. The series is a standout in terms of representation on screen. The Bechdel Test is more than met when two women are forced to use underhanded tactics to reach their goals. Studies show that women begin to disappear from television around age 40. A series with two female leads in middle-age is extremely rare today.
Williams says, “You have heard it a thousand times.
begins, ‘There is a man who …’. He might have had a wife, mother, daughter, or a mistress. But the mistress would be young, bossy, and his wife would be old and tired, and not understand him. There’s not much room for two fifty year old women. Even if a woman is paired with her best friend in a film, their roles are not equal. This was a remarkable story.”
Prophecy, a show that explores how women use their power, has given the two actors the chance to create a working environment in which they would have liked to work. They are leading a group of young women who, like them, are just starting their careers. Watson says, “It was an honor to be able to lead a cast of young women and make them feel seen. It’s not something you get to do very often.”
Watson and Williams, who have now finally crossed paths, are not worried about becoming weary of the joint venture. Williams says that Allison, and in particular Jordan
write beautiful scenes which are engaging to perform. The Dune universe offers a palette of colors and places that is unmatched. “There’s no risk of becoming bored, as the possibilities are limitless.”
Dune: Prophecy is now streaming on Max.
