The first two cast members for Dune: The Sisterhood have been cast. The HBO Max sci-fi prequel has added Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson to the roster. In the Legendary Television series rooted in the world of Frank Herbert’s canonical Dune books, Variety claims that Watson and Henderson will play the two principal characters. Dune: The Sisterhood, which takes place 10,000 years before the events of Dune, will focus on the Bene Gesserit, a powerful and secretive society that includes Paul Atreides’ mother, Lady Jessica (played in Dune 2021 by Rebecca Ferguson). In Dune, Watson and Henderson play Valya and Tula Harkonnen, who are likely forebears of the corrupt House Harkonnen and its plots against the more honourable House Atreides.
The show will chronicle their ascent through the ranks of the Sisterhood, an organisation that will eventually morph into the Bene Gesserit and give them the authority to decide humanity’s fate. Watson, an English actor, has been nominated for an Academy Award twice: first in 1996 for her debut film, Breaking the Waves, and once in 1998 for Hilary and Jackie. She has been in two films this year, the A24 drama God’s Creatures and the upcoming Brian Epstein biography Midas Man.
In addition to his role as the spectral Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Scottish actor Henderson has been in the movie Trainspotting and the Bridget Jones series. She also provides the voice of Babu Frik, a popular Star Wars character who made her debut in The Rise of Skywalker and will return in the forthcoming third season of The Mandalorian. Diane Ademu-John is the brains behind the programme, and she also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Co-showrunner and EP Alison Schapker is one of the principal creative forces behind the show. The pilot and the second episode will both be directed by an executive produced by Johan Renck.
Frank Herbert’s son Brian Herbert and his grandsons Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert will serve as executive producers alongside Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Matthew King, John Cameron, and Cait Collins on behalf of the Frank Herbert estate. Kevin J. Anderson, who wrote a trilogy of Dune books with Brian Herbert, will serve as a co-producer. Last year, Legendary produced and Villeneuve directed the critically praised version of Dune; work has begun on Dune: Part Two, which adapts the second part of the novel.