Timothée Chalamet didn’t rattle Rebecca Ferguson. Zendaya didn’t shake her up either. Giant sandworms? Please. But one Dune co-star had her spiraling with nerves right before filming even started. And no, it wasn’t because of a scene partner her age. It was the legendary Charlotte Rampling.
Ferguson played Lady Jessica in Dune (2021), and her first scene on day one of filming was the iconic Gom Jabbar moment. No pressure, right? Well, it just so happened that the woman across from her was Rampling, playing the powerful and commanding Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. That combo of scene + star? Cue the anxiety.
“I was very nervous,” Rebecca Ferguson told The Cut. “I was having heart palpitations knowing she was going to walk in.” To be fair, Ferguson wasn’t alone in her fear. Director Denis Villeneuve and even Chalamet were just as intimidated. The presence Rampling carried on set was no joke. “We were very afraid of Charlotte. We love her,” Villeneuve admitted, laughing. Timothee Chalamet added, “We love her, but, man, she has that power. You feel it.”
And she wasn’t even stomping around. She floated. That presence absolutely fits the role. Charlotte Rampling, though only in two scenes, left a profound impression. Her Reverend Mother carried menace, mystery, and power and somehow pulled it off with less than 10 minutes of screen time.
For Rebecca Ferguson, the pressure to perform alongside her wasn’t just about status. It was the gravity of the Gom Jabbar scene itself. It was one of the most critical moments in Dune, both in the book and in Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation. It set the tone. It tested Paul. And it marked the start of Jessica’s massive emotional rollercoaster. So yeah, nerves were justified.
And while Ferguson walked in with palpitations, she walked out with a number. “I’ve got her phone number, by the way,” she casually dropped. Legend behavior, start to finish. Charlotte Rampling may have spooked half the cast, but it only made her performance land harder. And Ferguson? She survived the Gom Jabbar, on set and off.
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