Quite a bit of news has come out tonight all in one go. A lot of the stories tonight will be about Hans Zimmer’s unveiling as the composer attached to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. Add to that the news that filming has started and it may get lost that we’ve had another casting announcement. There was a press release shared by Brian Herbert earlier about filming having started and the extra name was in amongst all the ones we already know.

Stephen McKinley Henderson, born in 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri, now has his name amongst a baker’s dozen in the IMDb listing. The only thing missing is what character he’ll be portraying.

Whilst there is a slim chance that he may be down to play the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, I don’t see it happening. I think it most likely that he is going to be the mentat master of assassins, Thufir Hawat. He has a good look for the role and would be a great counterpoint to David Dastmalchian in the role of Piter De Vries.

It’s great to see another quality actor attached to the project. Henderson has a great pedigree, having attended the famous Juilliard School, and he has garnered many award nominations for his work on stage and screen. He also does a lot of work teaching acting, including at Juilliard.

On screen, you will have seen him lately in Lady Bird, Manchester by the Sea and Fences. All in all, he’s been in five films which have gone on to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, which is a good omen in my book.  I think he’s a great pick for Thufir. I’ll confirm that as soon as I know more.

You can check out my other casting reactions, along with my original picks, below.

Fantasy Casting – Dune

Casting Dune – Chang Chen initial reactions

Casting Dune – David Dastmalchian initial reactions

Casting Dune – Jason Momoa initial reactions

Casting Dune – Josh Brolin initial reactions

Casting Dune – Javier Bardem initial reactions

Casting Dune- Zendaya initial reactions

Casting Dune – Oscar Isaac initial reactions

Casting Dune – Charlotte Rampling initial reactions

Casting Dune – Stellan Skarsgård initial reactions

Casting Dune – Dave Bautista initial reactions

Casting Dune – Rebecca Ferguson initial reactions

Casting Dune – Timothee Chalamet initial reactions

Thanks for reading,

Richard