Dune 2’s Dave Bautista Explains His Huge Man Crush on One Costar

Dave Bautista is about to return to cinemas this weekend with the arrival of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 2. The highly anticipated sci-fi epic has already logged some impressive critical praise, massively outshining its predecessor, and is hoping to do the same with its box office gross in the coming weeks. Bautista will once again appear as Rabban Harkonnen, and while attending the movie’s premiere, he opened up about the daunting task of sharing the screen with so many big-name stars – including his self-confessed man crush, Josh Brolin.

At the New York City premiere of Dune 2 on February 25, Bautista discussed how intimidating it was to work with actors like Christopher Walken and Stellen Skarsgard in an interview with People, but he soon veered off to have a loving chat about his former Marvel costar Brolin. He said

“It’s really intimidating, looking over and seeing Stellan Skarsgard and looking down and seeing Christopher Walken, and seeing [Timothée Chalamet] and Zendaya and Austin [Butler] and Florence [Pugh] and Josh Brolin. God, I have a man crush, a huge man crush on Josh Brolin. I love him as a performer, as a human being.”

Diverting to address how his friendship with the Thanos star began back when they worked on movies for Marvel Studios, Bautista continued:

“That’s where we got to know each other. I’ve known Josh for years, and we really got, I think, close during our conversations, very intimate conversations during our Marvel years.”

Dune 2 Has Allowed Bautista to Flesh Out His Character

Dune 2 will pick up the story where its 2021 predecessor ended. Bautista’s Rabban begins the movie as a pivotal figure in the ongoing battle for control over Arrakis, and the sequel is expected to delve deeper into his character, allowing audiences to find out what lies beneath his brutishness.

The actor revealed that one of his favorite memories of filming the movie involved a conversation with director Villeneuve about finding out exactly what makes Rabban tick. He explained:

“My favorite memory was my first day at work when I was just there for costume fittings. Denis had come in to say hello to me. I was dying to have this conversation about the character because he’s more fleshed out. He’s more developed in this. And I said, ‘Let’s talk about it. Who is he? What do you think?’ And he said, ‘Let me dream about it tonight, and I’ll tell you tomorrow.’ I thought that was the best answer I’ve ever gotten from anyone in my life. It just gave me chills. Even when my parts aren’t that big, he’s just invested, invested in my characters and invested in me.”

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Dune 2 has wowed critics and now has the challenge of doing the same with audiences. With plans already being prepared for Villeneuve to complete his trilogy with Dune: Messiah, everyone will be watching the movie’s box office very carefully in the coming weeks.