When audiences see Jason Momoa in the upcoming Dune: Messiah, the actor is going to be sporting a different look. On his official Instagram account, Momoa shared a video of himself shaving off his beard as he prepares to return to director Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed sci-fi franchise. The post also doubled as an update on Momoa’s Mananalu Water, detailing the company’s partnership with Boomerang as it continues its mission to reduce waste and emissions. Momoa reflected on how Mananalu has evolved since it launched six years ago, and he also made it clear that he’s not the biggest fan of his clean-shaven look.
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“Only for you Denis,” Momoa said in the video after letting out a loud sigh. “Yeah, damn it. I hate it,” he exclaimed after he was done shaving. Check out the actor’s post in the space below:
Momoa played Duncan Idaho in 2021’s Dune. Though the character died in that film, Momoa is returning for the third installment. In the Dune: Messiah book, the Tleilaxu and the Spacing Guild present Emperor Paul Atreides with a gift: a ghola, an artificially created being, that is designed to look just like Duncan Idaho. This ghola, named Hayt, has seemingly been trained to serve Paul, but the intention is actually for Hayt to eliminate the emperor.
Dune 3 officially started production earlier this month, serving as the conclusion to Villeneuve’s trilogy. Momoa will be joined by a very special family member in the cast. His son, Nakoa-Wolf Momoa will play Leto II Atreides, the son of Paul and Chani. Momoa is very proud of what his son has been able to achieve at the outset of his acting career, impressed that Nakoa-Wolf was able to hold his own with a respected auteur like Villeneuve.
Moviegoers are familiar with the distinct beard Momoa has in several of his projects, but Duncan Idaho was clean-shaven in the first Dune. That’s probably why Momoa will be sans facial hair in Dune: Messiah. He was reluctant to say goodbye to his beard (as he notes in his caption, he hasn’t shaved for six years, or around the time he started work on the original Dune), but his admiration for Villeneuve’s vision is clear. The Oscar-nominated director is seemingly the only one who could convince Momoa to shave. As much as he loves his facial hair, working with one of this generation’s most talented filmmakers makes it worthwhile. The beard can grow back once Dune: Messiah has wrapped.
It will be interesting to see how Villeneuve opts to bring Hayt to life in his film. While the director has reverence for Frank Herbert’s source material, there’s a controversial storyline from the novel involving Hayt that may need to be changed. Villeneuve incorporated some changes in the first two Dune movies, so he’s clearly not opposed to altering details to make the film stronger. He’s undoubtedly aware of how Hayt’s story unfolds in the Dune: Messiah novel and has a plan in place to adapt the character. The first two Dune films earned Best Picture nominations, so fans can rest easy knowing the franchise is in strong hands.
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