Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune might be getting another high-profile addition. Collider first reported today that Zendaya is in talks to play Chani, an important character on the planet Arrakis who falls in love with Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides. (Chani’s people are the Fremen. They consider Arrakis home, and that’s where Paul launches his eventual revolution from. Arrakis is also where the spice is, and everyone in the universe wants to control the spice. It’s a whole thing.) The news comes one day after Oscar Isaac was announced as Paul’s father, Leto Atreides I, and if the deal closes, Zendaya will be joining a cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica), Stellan Skarsgård (the Baron Harkonnen), Charlotte Rampling (Reverend Mother Mohiam), and Dave Bautista (a nephew of the Baron). Zendaya has a lot of experience playing very compelling girlfriends up to this point, so as much as she would make a great Chani, it would be cool to see her leading a revolution of her own instead.
