User:TAnthony/Draft B

• Keep the current 1984 image, but I'm intrigued by Erik's idea of incorporating the 2024 tattoo Jessica (Option 2) with sourced commentary. OK I'm going to overthink this for you now LOL. The Francesca Annis version of Jessica is the first adaptation and very iconic/distinctive. I love Rebecca Ferguson, but her looks from the 2021 film don't jump out insofar as they're just the actress in simple couture, and don't look much different than the Commons image we already have of Ferguson as herself. The tattoo image is spectacular and distinctive, but is too specific for the infobox, as not doesn't quite represent the character as a while. Erik's idea is genius, because we can use two images of actresses in character instead of one, and the body of the article is perfect for the Part Two representation. I've expanded the Villenueve films section of the article and think Option 2 would fit right in there.

In 2020, Funko produced a Lady Jessica figure as part of their POP! Television line. It is a 4.5-inch (11 cm) vinyl figure in the Japanese chibi style, depicting Jessica in a glow-in-the-dark yellow outfit styled after the 2021 Villeneuve film.

• McFarlane Toys - Jessica
• Dark Horse: Lady Jessica 8.9 inches

On February 1, 2024, a Lego Dune playset based on the Atreides ornithopter from the 2021 Dune film was released, containing a Lady Jessica Lego minifigure.

2021 and 2024 films

Rebecca Ferguson portrays Jessica in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film Dune and its 2024 sequel, Dune: Part Two. The films adapt the 1965 novel in two parts. Ferguson was initially dismissive of the role, as she felt it was too similar to Ilsa Faust, the character she plays in the Mission: Impossible franchise, and she did not want to be typecast as a "strong female character". However, she was convinced after hearing Villeneuve's ideas and reading the book, saying she enjoyed the "simplicity of wanting to save something you have created and all of these shades".

Villeneuve was intent on increasing the prominence of the female characters and themes from the book. He said, "Femininity is there in the book, but I thought it should be up front. I said , 'We need to make sure that Lady Jessica is not an expensive extra.' She's such a beautiful and complex character." Ferguson said that while Villeneuve respected Herbert's characterization in the book, Villeneuve's modifications had helped improve the quality of female characters by expanding the role of Lady Jessica as a soldier and member of the Bene Gesserit. As such, the studio labeled this role a "warrior priestess", in contrast to the joking label of "space nun" that Villeneuve felt was implied by the book. Ferguson said of Jessica, "She's a mother, she's a concubine, she's a soldier." The Los Angeles Times wrote that Ferguson's Jessica "has a fierceness and a fighting prowess, along with her Bene Gesserit mental abilities, not always evident in the novel."

For Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve said, "Lady Jessica kind of disappears in the second part of the book, and I made sure as I was writing the screenplay to do the opposite, to make sure that she will be active, to bring her back to the front of the story." Ferguson said of Jessica in Part Two, "She's a mom protecting and training someone, something. I say something because she knows [she's dealing with] an entity bigger than themselves. When Paul starts going off, she begins losing power, and it puts her on an unpredicted journey to discover who we are in response to other people." Villeneuve explained, "She lost everything. She is a survivor like her son Paul, and she has to strategize how to accomplish her ambition. It’s a really beautiful and nicely complex character.” Jessica becomes fixated with fulfilling the Fremen prophecy and installing Paul as their messiah.

While Jessica is depicted in "ornate and ceremonial" costumes as the concubine of Duke Leto in the first film, she wears ritual garments and her face is covered in tattoos in the aftermath of her transformation into the Fremen Reverend Mother in Part Two. Villeneuve explained, "She's trying to play on the symbolism that was put in the prophecy. She's supposed to be the mother of the messiah, so I wanted to bring the idea that she was like the Pope of the Reverend Mothers on Arrakis. There's some kind of madness in writing elements of the prophecies on her face. Frankly, I think when you drink the worm poison, it affects your sanity—and the same with Paul. I like the idea that we feel she's going too far." The Guardian wrote that Jessica is "twisted" by the Fremen ritual and "takes on a chilling ruthlessness". Villeneuve said, "We see that there's a darkness, a very specific darkness in her eyes. Lady Jessica is one of the masterminds of Dune. She's trying to play her own agenda." The Washington Post wrote that Jessica "goes off the deep end" in pursuing her ambitions for Paul.

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The Telegraph praised a "tremendous, melodramatically on-target" Ferguson in the first film, describing her chemistry with costar Timothée Chalamet, who portrays Paul, as "devotional, bordering on incestuous". Empire praised her "wrenching performance" as Jessica waits for Paul to complete Mohiam's test.

• Looking back at Ferguson’s Lady Jessica in both Dune Parts 1 and 2, she stands out not just as the best performance among an incredibly stacked cast,
• In a film where many of the emotional beats can get drowned out a bit by the expansive backdrops and dour atmosphere, the foundational scenes of Part 1 illustrating the contradictory relationship between mother and son stand out as some of the film’s best. Jessica bore Paul out of love for his father, Leto, consciously choosing to grant him a son when she was instructed to do otherwise, and she cares for Paul’s safety above all others. At the same time, she is also a cunning manipulator who has been training Paul in the superhuman abilities of her order against their wishes, and grooming him for a dark destiny that the young Atreides spends much of the two films hoping to avoid. Jessica is simultaneously driven by a genuine love for her son and a desire to facilitate his rise to power, and Ferguson walks the razor-wire line between these two aspects with pinpoint precision.
• This continues into Part 2, where we see Jessica step into an even more overtly villainous role as she schemes her way into assuming the mantle of Reverend Mother of the Fremen. Her relationship with Paul becomes more antagonistic as she sets in motion the events that will lead to his accepting the role of Lisan al Gaib and challenging the Emperor, to the point of even being deemed a traitor to the Bene Gesserit despite ostensibly doing what they wanted by bringing the Kwisatz Haderach into existence. That Jessica has any sympathy from the audience – despite being a eugenicist and megalomaniac who usurped the religious leadership of an indigenous culture so her son could claim dominion of the universe almost purely out of her own vanity – all comes down to Ferguson imbuing her with inner life and dimension that makes us feel like we understand her even when the script doesn’t actually give us every detail about her motivations.

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Villeneuve said, "I'm looking forward for the world to see what Rebecca has accomplished. She's not afraid to go very far away. She's a force that I can count on."