The much-anticipated sequel to the epic by Denis Villeneuve — Dune: Part Two has hit the screens worldwide. The running-time behemoth — 15 minutes short of three hours — boasts a high-profile cast as well as extras from all over the world, as the filming locations included Italy, Jordan, the UAE, and Hungary. The Hungarian capital was where an international student from Kazakhstan Saniya Oshakbayeva had an opportunity to become part of the movie.
Saniya was doing her master’s in Sociology at Corvinus University of Budapest when she found out about the casting for Dune: Part Two. With some prior experience as an extra, she decided to take a chance.
QazMonitor reached out to Saniya to learn more about the casting process, her encounter with Timothée Chalamet on the set and impressive performance of the main cast.
"They took a couple of photos of me. I think for “Dune” they needed two types of extras: as the Harkonnens and as the fundamentalists in Arrakis. I got offered to work in “Dune” closer to the end of production in Budapest,"
As an extra, Saniya worked for four 12-hour-long filming days. “Usually, as a background actor, people don’t get to interact or talk with the main crew or lead actors closely,” she says. However, on one of the shooting days, she was as close as being face-to-face with the film’s star Timothée Chalamet.
In that scene, Paul Atreides (Chalamet) is walking through a huge crowd of fundamentalists and we were instructed [by the film crew] not to let him walk loosely through, creating a living corridor. You need to look at him angrily and obstruct him for a split second and then allow him to proceed further. I was on his way so we looked each other in the eye and then I let him pass. In the final cut, it's shown from above and all people are just little dots including Paul.
Even though Saniya has never been interested in a career related to film or entertainment, she admits that the spectacular ambiance she experienced during the filming of the scenes was amazing.
Seeing Timothée Chalamet with your own eyes delivering that speech of Muad’Dib [Chalamet’s character] was amazing. It didn’t require much effort to start admiring and worshiping Muad’Dib because Timothee's acting is just incredible. I can't even describe how we all felt…
Playing a part, even an unassuming one, in such a massive film as “Dune: Part Two”, was an unforgettable experience for Saniya, who watched the epic back home in Almaty, where she is now working as an ESL teacher.
Although I didn't really do much [during the production], when I went to the cinema to watch the film, I felt really proud to know I was there. [...] In that powerful scene of Muad’Dib delivering a speech in the middle of a temple or something, there are thousands of fundamentalists. And I believe that one of them is me.
“Dune: Part Two” (dir: Denis Villeneuve) is a 2024 epic science fiction that picks up where the first part of the film leaves off. The sequel follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in his quest for revenge against those who destroyed his family. Paul unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to continue their struggle to reclaim their land. According to comScore, the film collected ₸273,9 million ($610,676) in Kazakhstan since its release on February 29.
