Anya Taylor Joy Cast in Dune 3 Following Streaming Hit

Anya Taylor-Joy adds another achievement to her busy year. After starring in an action thriller alongside Drew Starkey, Annette Bening, and Timothy Olyphant, she prepares for one of the most-awaited movies of the winter. That stands out in a year of enormous box-office numbers, largely due to the success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey.

Taylor-Joy recently starred in Lucky, the television show streaming on Apple TV. While it had a quiet release, Lucky built up its audience week by week. Viewers tuned in to follow the story of Luciana, played by Taylor-Joy, a woman who pulls off a high-stakes heist in Las Vegas with her husband, played by Starkey. Her husband then betrays her, steals the money, and leaves her to fend off the FBI. The seven-episode thriller premiered in July, staying at the top of Apple TV viewing charts through the summer while maintaining a 79% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Anya Taylor-Joy will add the strangest edge to the sci-fi movie event of the year

Taylor-Joy caps off her year with the premiere of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three. She plays Alia Atreides, the younger sister of Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet. She appeared briefly in Dune: Part Two in a surprise cameo in one of Paul’s prophetic dreams. This time around, Alia has a bigger presence, featuring prominently in the trailers and playing a key role in the story of the source material, Frank Herbert’s Dune: Messiah.

“Dune was everything that I hoped it would be. I cannot say more wonderful things about Denis [Villeneuve]. It was so deeply inspiring to be in these really harsh elements and know that every person is doing their absolute best work because they believe, trust, and adore the person that’s leading the ship,” Taylor-Joy told The Hollywood Reporter. “In the future, I hope that I never get jaded and that I still have that childlike exuberance. When I look at Denis, I’m like, Oh, it’s possible.”

Taylor-Joy’s take on Alia remains shrouded in mystery, but she has long been one of the most exciting and complex characters in the franchise. Alia appeared in the original novels and in David Lynch’s Dune as a child with the mind of an adult Bene Gesserit, played by Alicia Witt in one of the best and strangest parts of that movie. Villeneuve chose to include her in the last entry of his trilogy instead, when she is older, after Paul has ruled for years and conquered most of the galaxy. This approach solves one of the biggest adaptation hurdles in Dune.

Readers know that Alia is one of Messiah‘s major players, serving as the religious face of Paul’s government and one of his fiercest allies. For those who have not read the book, audiences can expect plenty of strange and unsettling elements.

“Anya is something special in this movie,” said Chalamet at a Global IMAX Fan Event hosted over the summer. “That’s not media hyperbole. She’s actually terrifying and amazing.”

Dune: Part Three premieres in theaters on Dec. 18.

Source: Polygon