One of the most shocking and surprising moments in Dune: Part 2 is a rather unsettling kiss between Feyd-Rautha, played by Austin Butler, and his uncle Baron Harkonnen, played by Stellan Skarsgård. This act, for all its gruesomeness, underscores Feyd’s perverted submission to his uncle. The most shocking thing is that this kiss wasn’t in the script at all—it was a complete creation of the actors who performed it.
Butler emphasized in an interview with Access Hollywood that the kiss was his idea, even going as far as pretending to talk like Skarsgard just to make the Baron seem more convincing. He did point out that it was imperative to him that the relations between the characters, particularly the relation of Feyd to the Baron, were comprehended.
Stellan Skarsgård, who has revealed earlier the experience of working with Butler was not easy, accepted however this did work to Butler’s advantage because it was interesting to observe how much Butler was prepared to indulge the more extreme elements of his character. Even then, Butler asserted that he knew he needed to put off some of these boundaries so as not to lose the equilibrium between his method acting and his real life. It was a purposeful choice to have his performance maintain a particular level where it does not have a negative impact on his family or friends relationships while still enabling him to explore the inner workings of his character significantly.
This attempt at improvisation on the part of Butler added yet another dimension to Feyd’s already eerie and villainous nature which made Dune: Part 2 that much more interesting for the viewers.