Austin Butler reveals his inspiration for villainous turn in ‘Dune’

Austin Butler, known recently for his portrayal of Elvis Presley, is gearing up for his role as the villainous Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two.

In a recent interview with NME, Butler revealed the legendary actors who inspired him for this menacing character.

“I’ve always been inspired by Gary Oldman in many of his roles,” Butler said. 

The Elvis star continued, “And you know, we’ve talked about Heath Ledger a lot, the sense of play that he had. And like I say, it’s not the specific things, but it’s more general inspiration.”

Ledger, who is no longer with us, was famous for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is followed in Dune: Part Two as he joins forces with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to exact revenge on those who slaughtered his family.

Butler plays the evil nephew and successor of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) in the epic science fiction movie. He earlier told The Evening Standard that having a bald head and no eyebrows "was freeing because you're not trying to be anything else." He also has black teeth.

The Masters of the Air actor added, “It was so nice not to have hair. Especially after Elvis, where the hair was everything."

Dune: Part Two is currently playing in theatres and stars Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, and Dave Bautista.