Surprising Prince Harry connection to Aussie star of new Dune: Prophecy series

Heartbreak High star Josh Heuston has graduated into the big leagues with a new role in a spin-off from the Dune films that star Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. Dune: Prophecy is set 10,000 years before the events of the Dune films and follows two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit. It is based on the novel Sisterhood of Dune and stars several other Aussie stars alongside Josh, including Travis Fimmel, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Yerin Ha and Brendan Cowell.

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle about his character, Constantine Corrino, Josh says, "He's the illegitimate son of the Emperor Corino, he's a bit of a guy that's lost at sea, if that makes sense? I guess, because he's not rightfully in line next to become the emperor – his sister Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) is."

He adds, "His connection to his destiny is a bit more fragile, and he has had a lot of childhood traumas, and I guess growing up and the pressure of being like a royal and stuff, he looks at certain vices, whether it be drugs, sex and alcohol, to try and, I guess, soothe some of that pressure. So for him, at the beginning of the series, he's very much trying to figure out what he wants to be, whilst also trying to maintain his loyalty to Nez."

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Josh Heuston turns to Prince Harry for Dune: Prophecy inspiration

Josh turned to two famous royals for inspiration to build Constantine, revealing that he looked to Prince Harry and the William Shakespeare character Prince Hal.

"So, Sarah-Sophie, who plays Ynez, we spoke a lot about other royal houses and royal families, so I used Prince Hal and Prince Harry as examples because it's rare to be able to find a look into siblings that are also both in line to be royals – they usually keep that quite guarded," Josh says.

"But then, Prince Harry's book, Spare, gave a lot of intel on how that would feel on a personal level and a much more first-person look, whereas, you can look at stuff on YouTube and you kind of get, I guess, a bit more of a guarded look into it. But generally, when you see those roles on YouTube, there's like a different facade that they put up."

The star continues, "So, then we explored that sort of mask that they would have when they're in public and then also, while looking into the book, you kind of see how they would operate on a personal level, which was nice."

Josh reveals that they also looked into the Indian caste system for research, explaining, "Constantine, he goes between the upper echelons of society and also the lower ranks. So, you're kind of trying to build the Dune universe in a way that – I guess because it's such a grand scale, but then also thinking to make it like a much more intimate drama at the same time."

Speaking about his incredible success over the last few years, Josh remained humble saying, "Getting this role was incredible, but I think, for me, I guess going onto set – the scale of Dune, all the sets are practical, and then you have insane actors like Emily Watson and Mark Strong and Olivia Williams."

He added, "So the pinch me moment was feeling like I'm actually doing this right now, at this scale, with so many talented people, and I think that was one of the pinch me moments. And then I guess the New York premiere was also nuts.

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"Just all of it, this whole experience has been a bit of a pinch me. I'm just being pinched, constantly being pinched."

And will Josh return to Heartbreak High? "It's a million dollar question, isn't it?" Josh tells us, adding with a laugh, "Who knows?"

Dune: Prophecy premieres November 18 on BINGE, with new episodes dropping every Monday.

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