Who is Olivia Williams? Meet the actress who replaces Shirley Henderson in Dune: The Sisterhood?

British actress Olivia Williams will play Tula Harkonnen in Dune: The Sisterhood, Deadline reports. The original choice for the part, Shirley Henderson, dropped out of production in February 2023.

Dune: The Sisterhood takes place ten thousand years before the original Dune story.

Apart from Olivia Williams, Dune: The Sisterhood will star Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen, Jodhi May as Empress Natalya, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Mikaela, Faoileann Cunningham as Sister Jen.

It also features Aoife Hinds as Sister Emeline, Chloe Lea as Lila, Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino, Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia and Chris Mason as Keiran Atreides.

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Olivia Williams to play Tula Harkonnen in Dune: The Sisterhood

Born on 26 July 1968 in North London, Williams attended South Hampstead High School and Newnham College, Cambridge. After obtaining a degree in English literature, she studied drama and even worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company for a couple of years.

In the year 1997, she made her film debut in The Postman, directed and starring Kevin Costner. Williams went on to play Rosemary Cross in the film Rushmore by Wes Anderson and Bruce Wills's wife in The Sixth Sense. She then appeared in a number of popular movies like Lucky Break, The Heart of Me, An Education, Peter Pan, The Ghost Writer, and Miss Austen Regrets.

From 2009 to 2010, she played Adelle DeWitt on FOX's Dollhouse. In 2002, she won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress for The Heart of Me. In 2010, she won the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Ghost Writer.

In an interview with Harpers Bazaar, she was asked about the changes in showbiz after a lengthy career. To which, she said:

"The astounding amount of interesting work for women in their fifties! Fortunately, if you imagine it like an eclipse with a shadow travelling across the land, I’ve been walking in the light throughout my career. I’m so, so lucky. You don’t have to be a young, alluring teenager to get interesting roles as a woman now – that’s been amazing."

"Also, the fact that film-making of such an incredible standard is way more international. If you wanted to make movies when I was in my twenties and thirties, you were in LA a lot, and now you can be anywhere. Everybody is making extraordinary film and television and theatre, and that is thrilling," She continued.

Olivia Williams is married to actor/playwright Rhashan Stone. They have two daughters together.

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Dune: The Sisterhood follow two Harkonnen sisters

According to HBO Max, the synopsis of Dune: The Sisterhood reads:

"Set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, the hero of the 1965 novel Dune, the series will follow two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit."

The long list of executive producers of Dune: The Sisterhood are Diane Ademu-John, Alison Schapker, Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Scott Z. Burns, Matthew King, John Cameron, Cait Collins, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert and Dana Calvo.

Created by Diane Ademu-John, Collider reports that HBO Max will probably premiere the show in 2024.