Timothée Chalamet discussed the inspirational email he received from Hollywood icon Tom Cruise following the completion of 2021’s Dune.
In an interview with GQ Magazine conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Chalamet spoke about the overwhelming support he received from the Mission: Impossible franchise star. The two actors met after Dune wrapped production with Cruise later emailing the Dune star not only a list of Hollywood stunt coordinators but also some important words of wisdom.
“After I met Tom Cruise, right after finishing the first Dune, he sent me the most wonderfully inspiring email,” Chalamet said “He basically said, in Old Hollywood, you would be getting dance training and fight training, and nobody is going to hold you to that standard today. So it’s up to you. The email was really like a war cry.”
Chalamet’s inspiration from Cruise went beyond just the email. The actor revealed his love for Cruise’s work in the 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, which he viewed multiple times while shooting Dune: Part Two. Chalamet went as far as renting a theater in Budapest for the Dune cast and crew to see. “Top Gun was just hugely inspiring to me last summer when we were making Dune,” Chalamet said. “Some of the crew were kind of scoffing at going, but I just thought it was one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen.”
The story of Dune: Part Two
The Chalamet interview with GQ was released in time for Dune: Part Two’s originally scheduled release date of October 20th. The sequel was delayed until 2024 due to the ongoing strikes. Continuing the story of the original Dune based on Frank Herbert’s classic 1965 novel, Dune: Part Two revisits Paul Atreides (Chalamet), who allies with with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen “while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family,” reads the synopsis. “Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two stars Chalamet and Zendaya alongside Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux.
Dune: Part Two hits theaters on March 15, 2024.
