Dune Taught Timothée Chalamet A Hard Skill That He Never Hopes To Use For Real

In the interview, Chalamet discussed both the elaborate fight choreography and the unusual way of walking across sand that he had to learn in order to portray Paul. The fight choreography took months, while the walking probably took a lot less time to learn but had fewer practical applications. The “sand walk” was developed by choreographer Benjamin Millepied, best known for doing the choreography for Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan.” The walk is explained in the first film via a video Paul watches about life on Arrakis (narrated by “Dune” editor Joe Walker) as a way to try and avoid the giant sandworms that lurk beneath the surface. The walk is famously described in the Fatboy Slim song “Weapon of Choice” with the lyrics “walk without rhythm so you don’t attract the worm,” immortalized in the music video with Christopher Walken, who ironically stars in “Dune: Part Two.”

Chalamet told USA Today that sand-walking was “one of the more challenging parts of the role.” He went on to say, “I hope I won’t have to use it in real life. I don’t know what situation would require it, but I’ve got it in my toolbox of skills.”

It truly is hard to imagine a situation that would require sand-walking, save for maybe rollerblading or cross-country skiing. Then again, he could always end up playing Paul again in multiple future “Dune” sequels and have to get his sand-walk on once more.