In between the first and second “Dune” movies, directed by Denis Villeneuve, casting was set for the HBO prequel series “Dune: Prophecy.” Australian actor Josh Heuston, who’d been cast in the series as Constantine Corrino, had grown up a fan of the books and loved the first movie, but it all took on new meaning as the second film was rolling out, knowing he would now be part of the “Dune” universe.
“Seeing how incredibly talented everyone was on the second film, that’s obviously a level of daunting to jump into that,” the 27-year-od says.
The series, which premiered Sunday and airs weekly on HBO, is set 10,000 years before the first “Dune” film.
“It’s still the same universe, so there’s still the same themes and the tone is quite similar. What’s different is it’s still a grand drama, but then it also feels like an intimate drama at the same time, because sure, there’s the massive sets and you’re in a spaceship where you are in an entire castle, but there’s the family dynamic,” Heuston says. “You kind of get to pop the hood on a lot of the different houses.”
Josh Heuston
Lexie Moreland/WWD
The series has been part of Heuston’s life for nearly three years now. A pilot for the series was shot a few years ago, and then once it was confirmed the whole season was filmed last year, wrapping in December.
“I’ve spent more than 10 percent of my life on this thing,” Heuston says. “It’s a bit nuts.”
Heuston, who is best known for his role as Dusty in the Australian Netflix hit show “Heartbreak High,” was asked to send in an audition tape on a Monday with a 24-hour turnaround window. After watching YouTube clips for accent help, he sent his tape off and by Thursday, the offer was sent and he was flying to Budapest to shoot.
“It was the easiest audition I’ve ever had whilst also being the biggest,” he says.
His character, Constantine, is the illegitimate son of the emperor who is a bit of a party boy. He’s introduced briefly in the first episode, with more to come as the season unfolds.
“He’s just so deeply flawed, which I think gives you a lot of layers to play with. And where he is within the series beginning to end, he’s kind of continuously developing,” Heuston says of Constantine. “It’s almost like he has different masks that he wears for different places. When he’s with his father, he is different to how he is when he’s with his sister, and that’s also different to how he is when he’s out partying. So for me, it was nice to explore the different levels of him and while also trying to keep that in the same vein of one character.”
Josh Heuston as Constantine in “Dune: Prophecy.”
Heuston has only been acting for the last four years or so, having previously been studying for a dual degree in commerce and science at university. Having worked some as a model, he shot a music video that had “the tiniest little bit of acting” and he was hooked, signing up for night classes.
“I was doing both night school for acting and then would be at uni during the day, and then eventually dropped out of uni and just pursued this,” he says. “I’d always loved film and television, and in my spare time I’d go watch movies or television and was super interested in that. So I kind of was like, ‘well, if I’m doing this in my spare time and this is what I like to do for my hobby, I may as well just pursue this.’”
