Anya Taylor-Joy’s Dune: Part Three Role Explained

Anya Taylor-Joy’s Dune: Part Three role explained

Anya Taylor-Joy is finishing a remarkably busy year with a major role in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, following the gradual success of Apple TV’s seven-episode thriller Lucky.

Earlier in the year, Taylor-Joy appeared in an action thriller with Drew Starkey, Annette Bening and Timothy Olyphant. Her next project arrives during a packed cinema season, marked by strong box-office performances from films including Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey.

Lucky became a quiet streaming success

Lucky premiered in July with relatively little fanfare, but its audience grew from week to week. Taylor-Joy plays Luciana, a woman who carries out a high-risk Las Vegas heist with her husband, played by Starkey.

After he betrays her, takes the money and disappears, Luciana is left to deal with the FBI alone. The series remained at the top of Apple TV’s viewing charts throughout the summer and holds a 79 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

For more entertainment and gaming coverage, browse the RETROCADE Arcade Blog or explore our latest arcade videos.

Alia Atreides steps into the spotlight

In Dune: Part Three, Taylor-Joy plays Alia Atreides, the younger sister of Paul Atreides, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. Viewers briefly saw her in Dune: Part Two, where she appeared in a surprise cameo during one of Paul’s prophetic dreams.

The new film gives Alia a much more substantial role. Trailers have placed her prominently, reflecting her importance in Frank Herbert’s source novel, Dune: Messiah.

Alia has always been one of the franchise’s more unusual and complicated figures. In the original novels, and in David Lynch’s Dune, she is a child who possesses the adult mind of a Bene Gesserit. Alicia Witt played the character in that earlier adaptation.

Villeneuve has chosen to introduce Alia at an older age in the final chapter of his planned trilogy. By this point, Paul has ruled for years and conquered much of the galaxy, offering a way around one of the story’s most difficult adaptation challenges.

Readers of Dune: Messiah will know that Alia becomes a central figure in Paul’s government. She acts as its religious representative and remains one of Paul’s strongest allies. The story also takes the character into stranger and more unsettling territory.

Taylor-Joy praises Villeneuve’s approach

Taylor-Joy has kept details of her interpretation of Alia private. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she described the experience of working with Villeneuve as deeply inspiring and praised the trust, commitment and care within the production.

She also said she hopes to retain a sense of childlike enthusiasm rather than becoming jaded, particularly when working with a director she admires.

At a Global IMAX Fan Event held over the summer, Chalamet described Taylor-Joy as a particularly striking presence in the film, calling her performance both frightening and impressive.

Dune: Part Three is scheduled to premiere in Australian cinemas on 18 December.

If the scale of Arrakis has you thinking about your own games room, our arcade machines and arcade machine buying guide cover the practical choices involved in selecting a cabinet.