‘Dune’s Villain Looked Ridiculous Behind-The-Scenes

Before it was a legally-bewildering crypto scheme, apparently Dune was also a movie that came out last year, chronicling an interplanetary battle over a powerful ancient spice – and if it wasn’t for the fact that Dune is based on a famous, decades-old novel, we probably would have suspected that it was secretly paid for by a certain aftershave company. 

In both the book and the film, the villainous House Harkonnen is headed by Baron Harkonnen, who basically looks like The Kingpin if he were a Cenobite who routinely bathed in motor oil.

The Baron was played by acclaimed actor and handsome leading man generator Stellan Skarsgard. Anyone who remembers Skarsgard’s nude exploits in Thor: The Dark World likely deduced that his “cyborg Penguin” physique in Dune wasn’t exactly natural. No, Skarsgard’s Dune bod was the result of an intense prosthetic get-up that apparently looked a tad less intimidating in real life. The Ken doll-esque void where there should be genitals, for instance …

It took a whopping seven hours of make-up work for Skarsgard to transform into Baron Harkonnen. Just think of all the time and money the filmmakers would have saved by simply casting a dude who already kind of looked like that.

Creating this character was never not a ridiculous ordeal, apparently; even back in 1984, during the making David Lynch’s Dune, they had to cover the actor playing Baron Harkonnen with fake zits and put him a mall Santa-esque bodysuit, then haul him around the stage on wires to simulate the Baron’s ability to float.

You know things must be pretty crazy when Sting proudly modeling a futuristic metal Speedo isn’t the most memorable image in the movie.

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Top Image: Warner Bros.