'I knew that that would be unhealthy': Austin Butler toned down method acting in Dune: Part Two

Austin Butler scaled back on the method acting for 'Dune: Part Two'.

The 32-year-old actor plays the villain Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi sequel but didn't go as deeply into the character as he did when starring in 'Elvis', when he refused to abandon the music icon's unique drawl.

Austin told the Los Angeles Times newspaper: "I've definitely in the past, with 'Elvis', explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night.

"With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends."

He continued: "So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary. It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing.

"That's not to say that it doesn't bleed into your life. But I knew that I wasn't going to do anything dangerous outside of that boundary, and in a way that allowed me to go deeper."

Villeneuve described collaborating with Butler as "tremendously playful" and thought the actor mastered the balance of being in and out of character.

The filmmaker said: "When the camera was on, it was like you were possessed. When the camera was off, you were still maybe 25 or 30 per cent Feyd.

"Just enough to still be present and focus but removed enough that you didn't kill anybody on set."

Austin previously revealed that he didn't want to mimic Sting by wearing winged underwear in the role - just as the Police frontman did when playing Feyd-Rautha in David Lynch's 1984 version of 'Dune'.

The 'Bikeriders' actor said: "I think he did them so much justice that I had to do something completely of my own [laughs]. How do you follow that? I think he looks great in them... I love that movie, and I love Sting as a musician and as an actor. I feel honoured to be embodying this role that he had the opportunity to."