Sarah-Sofie Boussnina has been a working actor for half her life. If you take a look at her IMDB page, it’s packed to the brim with acting credits, dating all the way to 2009. Her first gig in the dramedy Lærkevej as Mathilde Holm at the age of 19 firmly established her on Danish television and was her first taste of the mainstream in her native Denmark. From there, her continued success is sourced back to her dedication to the craft, with films and series littering her portfolio, Mary Magdalene, The Birdcatcher, Tides, and now the HBO original series Dune: Prophecy that sees her taking on the role of the headstrong, determined Princess Ynez Corrino.
The series takes place 10,000 years before the Denis Villeneuve films, exploring the establishment of the powerful sisterhood of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Interwoven among the political intrigue, backstabbing, and the hunger for power, is a story that continues to resonate and fascinate, that explores the very foundations of what it is to be human, against the background of an incredible space opera.
At the center of this story, is the Corrino family – enter Boussnina as the regal Princess Ynez. Helping add another layer to the deep lore of Dune, it’s clear that the series has gone through great pains to take care of the source material. When speaking with Boussnina, you get the sense that there’s almost a duty of care, that everyone fortunate enough to work on the project took it to heart. A constant student of the artistry and craft that is being an actor, Boussnina’s hard work came across on screen, captivating and commanding every scene she was in.
In conversation with 1883 Magazine’s Dana Reboe, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina discusses, Dune: Prophecy, why this story continues to endure, what drives her and the character of Princess Ynez, and so much more.
Sarah-Sofie, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with 1883. You said in another interview that you didn’t even know you were auditioning for Dune Prophecy. Can you take me back to that audition process and whether you hadd any kind of inkling? How did you best prepare?
I live in Copenhagen. When I get auditions, I get them from my agent and film them. So, I’ve done it many times before [laughs]. But this time my agent called me and said that I was going to get a cool self-tape, and it was for a TV series. There were a few lines about the character. I think it said something about a princess, strong will, something like that, but nothing more. That can be so many things because a princess, depending on what genre, can be so many different things.
It’s always so weird when you don’t get a script and you only get sent some scenes to do. You don’t know if you’re even on the right track. I’ve done so many of those where you never hear back, which is the life of an actor. But then I read the scenes and it just resonated with me so much. I thought they were well-written. I immediately got a sense of the character, at least how I wanted to give my view on them in the scene. I remember having so much fun with it. She seemed like someone who was not afraid to speak her mind. I sent it off. And then the following week my manager called me and said that the creators of the show wanted to meet me.
Normally, it doesn’t go this quickly. That’s when they told me what it was. I had just seen the first film and was blown away, like everyone else. They sent me the script for the first episode, and I remember thinking, “Wow, this is so interesting,” because one of the characters I was so intrigued by when watching the first film was Rebecca Ferguson’s character, Lady Jessica. I wanted to know more about these women. So, when I found out that the show was the origin story of the Bene Gesserit and read the first episode, I was blown away.
I tried to calm myself down, I was excited by the fact that the show was in this universe, I met the creators of the show and got even more excited because these are people that I admire so much, Alison Schapker. I mean, she’s just phenomenal, but she’s also such a nice person. Then the following week, they offered me the part. It was so quick.
I was talking with Josh Heuston—
I love Josh.
He said the same thing about the turnaround time. He did the audition, then a week or two weeks later, he was on a plane.
I’ve never had an audition process move so quickly.
Moving to the show itself, what I love about Ynez is how driven she is. There’s the responsibility and duty to her family, but she has her own goal. Can you talk about her drive, why she’s desperate to study with the sisterhood, and what drives you as an actress?
Something happened in her childhood that was traumatic and shaped who she is. Kasha was one of the people who found Ynez back then when that happened. I think for Ynez, Kasha and the sisterhood represent these strong women who are powerful and in control. That’s something that she wants to be herself because she’s born into this role of being a royal, but also being the heir to the Golden Lion throne. From a very young age, she realized that her life holds value to strangers, that she can’t trust a lot of people, and that everyone she meets kind of wants something out of her.
She believes that learning these abilities could empower her as a person and make her a stronger future leader one day, which is what she wants. She’s super, as you say, determined. She’s very proud of being born into this position, but she wants to do it her way and in a way that resonates with her. I love that about her. I love that she’s seeing how her parents are doing it and wants to do it differently. Look at these women, they’re so powerful. They’re advising all the great houses; people listen to them and I think that’s what she wants for herself.
Then, the second part of the question: What drives you as an actress?
I like to feel that I learned something new, to feel that I’m constantly evolving, that’s what drives me. On every project I’ve been lucky to work on, I’ve learned so much by working with people who are better than me and more experienced than me. I love learning. It drives me to feel that I can grow and to let myself grow in a way, if that makes sense.
It makes sense, because if you’re taking on a project, and you’re not learning something new about yourself or the craft, then what was the point?
It’s also super important that I portray the character in the best way possible.
As driven as Yanez is, we see moments of softness between her and Kieran, maybe not softness, but perhaps vulnerability. How would you describe her relationship with him? And what is it about Kieran that entices her? Or is he more of a fun distraction?
I think in the beginning, he’s a fun distraction [laughter]. In the beginning, he’s the hot trainer. She knows he’s an Atreides. I’ve always thought that because of the name and because of the role that they played during the Great Machine War, he’s kind of like a celebrity in a way. She thinks it’s cool that he’s in Atreides and he’s good-looking and he trains her. It starts as being more of a physical thing. The circle of people in her life that she trusts is very small, she usually never opens up to people because she just doesn’t trust them. I think it surprises her when she does that with Kieran. She’s so used to controlling her emotions. Josh and I spoke a lot about Prince Harry and William when we were prepping. From a very young age, they learned how to control their feelings. There might be going like a lot of things going on internally, but you can’t show it because you’re doing a job. I think it surprises her because she’s so well trained in not showing her emotions.
Can you talk a little bit about the familial dynamics in the Corrino household? What made it interesting for you to explore?
There are always so many things going on within every family. For the Carrinos, so many things have happened and they’re not good. They’re not good at talking about their emotions. They need a therapist. They’re not the united front they wish they were. A lot of things have happened within the family that they haven’t dealt with. They’re all doing what they think is best. In that, they work a little bit against each other, which is sad because I do think that there’s love there but I just think it’s so complicated. Mixing business with family doesn’t work.
What have you learned about yourself while filming Dune: Prophecy?
I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned to trust myself more in a way because it was Alison who created an environment where you felt like you could show ideas off if you had some choices you wanted to try. It was an environment where we felt safe enough to do that. That felt nice. Something that I take with me is looking at how Emily Watson was on set and the way she treated everyone, the way she always brought it, and the way she elevated everyone in the scene is something that I want to take with me. I’ve learned so much about myself. I’m learning that it’s okay to try something and to trust yourself. I’ve always admired her so much and getting to be in a scene with her was amazing. She’s just so talented and such a nice person. I just feel so lucky to work with her.
What is one thing about filming the series that tested you as an actress?
The physicality of the role. I’ve never done any stunt choreography like this before. That was a challenge because one thing is learning the choreography and the other thing is feeling safe while doing it and being able to do it at a speed that works for the camera. I think it’s always a challenge, especially if you’re not a native English speaker, to get a point across. You can be insecure about your accent when you’re not a native English speaker. So, for me, to just let go of that. From the beginning, the producers said they didn’t care about the accent. They were happy with who we were and how we spoke but I still worked with a dialect coach so that was a challenge.
Peeking at Instagram, you recently posted pictures of behind-the-scenes on set. What memories do you have from filming that kind of stick out to you?
There’s this one scene. I think it’s a breakfast scene and that was just so amazing to get to do because it was with Mark Strong, Jodhi May, Josh (Heuston), and Travis (Fimmel) and there’s so much tension in that scene. We had so much fun in between takes it was a perfect day. It sticks out because it was freezing cold, but it doesn’t look that way and we had so much fun and work wise it’s one of my favourite scenes because everyone has their different agendas.
If you had to give someone who had never seen the movies and knew nothing about the world. What would the elevator pitch be, if you had a minute?
I would say this is a very character-driven show. It’s an epic sci-fi show, that’s really beautifully shot but it is a very character-driven show about family dynamics, power, and love. It’s about finding out how you want to live your life and about character development. And it’s about characters that fight for what they believe is right in a very human way, because no one is just good or just bad, it’s very grounded that way and I really love that, so there’s something for everyone. There’s action for people that like that there’s horror for people that like that. There’s love for people who like that there is a bit of everything.
And finally, why do you think people keep coming back to this particular media? What is it about Dune that keeps people captivated?
It’s written in a way that resonates with so many people because even though the first book was published in 65, it’s wild how relevant it is today in terms of AI and technology. I think that’s something that interests a lot of people, and then it’s also a very entertaining story about family, about yourself, about values, about gaining power, losing power, finding power, keeping power, all of these things. I think there’s something that you can identify with, even though it’s very epic. It feels grounded and I love it because it still feels far away from the life that you live, you can kind of escape but you can still draw parallels.
Dune: Prophecy is streaming now on HBO Max.
Interview Dana Reboe
Photography Kyle Galvin
Styling Felicity Kay
Make-up Louise Hall
Hair Nick Rose
