Can you tell us your name and what role you're playing?
I am Philip Lenkowsky and I'm playing the Space Guild Agent. He's a representative of the Space Guild, and the Space Guild controls all the travel in this universe. The navigators from the Space Guild have figured out, due to their ingestion of the spice--it's always the space--they've figured out a way to fold space, which no one else can do. That means people can travel quite easily from one point of the universe to another. As long as the spice is flowing, they can do their job. So they're very powerful. They're sort of three organizations that have the power in this system: the Bene Gesserit, the Emperor and the Space Guild. I've been sent to Arrakis to see what's up because they know something's cooking and they want to see what's up.

Do you consider the Space Guild Agent to be a good character or a bad character?
He's neutral. He's really not evil. They're sort of mercenary, actually. They're almost just consumed with the business. They're main concern is that the spice continues to flow. They need the spice. Without the spice they're basically out of business. They take sides with whomever they have to take sides with at the time, that benefits them. They're basically businessmen. And I don't consider him evil. I don' think of him as good or bad. He's just a guy. A strange guy.

How do you like playing the Guild Agent as opposed to a member of the Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, etc.?
I like it a lot because he's a loner. He's really on his own. I like that feeling of just being there by myself, on my own. It's like the hired gun, almost, who comes into town. His attachments are to the guild, but they're not really around. He's traveling in a foreign land by himself. I had a choice. [Dune writer-director John Harrison] called me from Prague and said you have a choice. There's another character, Piter De Vries or there's the Space Guild Agent. So I looked at the script and basically I chose the character that would put me in Prague for a longer period of time because I'd been here once before and I loved it. I was here in 1983 for Amadeus [Editor's Note: He played Salieri's servant] and I really loved Prague and I wanted to go back. There was no question in my mind that if I had a chance to be here longer I'd take that character. So I chose that. But my feeling when I read the script was that Piter De Vries was the more interesting, the more colorful, character. I looked at the Guild Agent and said I don't know who the hell this guy is. There's not a whole lot of information in the scrip about him. He's a strange guy, but who is? Well, the more I started to think about it, the more I realized, well, he's just a guy, and actually he's quite similar to myself. He's coming to a foreign place, a foreign planet. He's all on his own. He doesn't know anybody. He's there to do a job; he's got a mission. And I thought, well, that's what I'm doing. It's quite easy; I'll just play that. The thing that really turned out to be a blessing with this character was that because you don't know much about him at this point--nobody really knows who the Guild Agent is; he's not exactly human but John claims he's not an alien--but he's strange. For me that was a real opportunity to go to some extremes. I could sort of create anything. And it's a little abstract, what I created, and I like that. I've done a lot of training over the years with my body as a mime and as an actor, I've done martial arts for a long time--Chinese martial arts, it's not like karate--and I've been able to use all of that in this character and create something that's stylized and a bit abstract, and as it turns out quite interesting. Physically it's almost like Kabuki Theater. I can do things that human characters can't do. I can get away with so much.

What makes the Guild Agent such a strange character?
I did something specific with voice, and the movement is really the key. He looks very strange. I shaved my head and I shaved my eyebrows. He's hairless. That made me quite sickly looking, and they've given me a very strange costume. So he's quite strange to look at and on top of that I'm doing these movements that come out of nowhere. I have left it kind of open. I don't really feel a need to explain why he moves that way. It's a small role; it's not a role that is completely mapped out. He's there for a purpose, and I have to serve the story. As long as I serve the story, I feel it's my job to make him engaging and entertaining, and the skies the limit.

When did you first read Dune?
I read the book when I was about 22, which was quite a long time ago, and then I read it again before I came here. I like the book. I think it's a little long-winded, but I think it's quite an interesting book. I love the world that it paints and the characters. I think the script is quite good. I almost enjoy John's script more than the book because it's a little more right-to-the-point.

How faithful is John Harrison's adaptation of the book?
Very.

Do you think people who aren't science fiction fans will enjoy the miniseries?
It's actually a very human story. It's science fiction, but I think people will relate to it. It's beautiful. The sets are incredibly beautiful, the costumes are incredibly beautiful and the photography will be incredible because it's [Vittorio] Storaro, and he's one of the best. And you have quite an interesting group of actors from all over Europe and a few from the states. So the talent is there. The script is good. I think it should be very enjoyable.

What do you think of the scale of this movie compared to other films?
These are about the most incredible sets I've ever seen. I can't understand how someone can design these things and create them.