Olivia Williams: 'Dune: Prophecy' women are not to be emulated

Olivia Williams says her Dune: Prophecy character Tula cares more about the power of her mystical sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit, than the novices who belong to it.

Wrapping up its first season Sunday on HBO and Max, the sci-fi drama is based on the novel, Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

It takes place 10,000 years before the ascension of hero Paul Atreides (played by Timothee Chalamet in the film franchise) and follows the Harkonnen sisters -- Tula and Vayla (Emily Watson) -- as they establish the Bene Gesserit religious and political order.

"It's appalling. This is the thing that Emily and I have to keep saying to ourselves and to people who interview us," Williams said during a recent virtual press conference.

"We see ourselves as role models in terms of being actresses who get to head up a TV show in our 50s, but these are not women to emulate," she added.

"The basis of our science is eugenics and the practice of it. With all due respect to [showrunner Alison Schapker], my character is pretty hopeless. Anyone who got on my table comes to a pretty sticky end."

Williams said her heart breaks for Lila (Chloe Lea), the young acolyte who, pressured by Tula, sacrifices herself for the greater good of the organization.

"I'm terribly, terribly sorry about what happened with poor Lila. She's rightly -- and all the ancestors are rightly -- outraged at the result," she added.

Schapker emphasized that, regardless of the risk, Tula and Vayla do whatever is necessary to build up the sisterhood at a critical time in their world's history.

"That sort of fierceness and the will to place the good of the future ahead of any one individual person's good makes for the kind of ruthlessness that I think Olivia is gesturing to and that I agree with," the writer said.

"It's incredibly hard choices that don't make sense from what we owe one another as individuals, but only take on, I think, an imperative based on sort of looking over a larger span of time. But I think, ethically, that is a solid grey area, and I think we can all debate, [if] the ends justify the means."

Williams went on to say Tula is conflicted about the dangers she exposes the women in her care to.

"That is why an actor likes to play these roles," she said. "It's not a simple choice: my big sister told me to make this happen and walked away and left me to clean up the mess."

Watson said she loves the fact that Tula struggles emotionally about what she has to do, while Valya doesn't.

"I just see that as dishonesty and weakness because the end result is the same," Watson added.

"You feel bad about it, well, you still did it. I think Valya, in a way, she's really got a piece missing. She doesn't deal in empathy or something in her is very frozen in a way. But I think by the end of [Episode] 6, everything she thought she knew is incinerated. Yet, she's been through a powerful experience. Everything has changed."

Watson said that means Valya's relationship with Tula has evolved, as well, especially when she learns her younger sister has been keeping a big secret from her.

"It's blown everything up, but I think Valya is probably still holding: 'I am the chosen one. I have the destiny' is still her guide. That's her guide through this. I'm very curious to know what happens next," she added.

Schapker said that with a big cast and several intertwining story-lines, she worked hard to make sure everything was clear and every character had his/her moment to shine.

"That was one of the things that was carefully plotted across the six episodes -- how to give each episode its own identity, but at the same time, feel like things had changed and that the story, the characters had undergone something that had shifted the story, going forward, and it was very important to always understand Valya's through-line and Desmond's story and Tula's story," Schapker explained.

"I would say they were our main characters, but it was then a matter of trying to introduce everyone," she added. "It's a big world and it's a dense world, so it was a bit of a balancing act. But I'm really pleased with how the six episodes builds and culminates to the finale."

The show has already been renewed for a second season.

Travis Fimmel co-stars as Desmond, while Mark Addy plays Evgeny Harkonnen, Jodhi May plays Empress Natalya and Mark Strong plays Padishah Emperor Javicco Corrino.