Tabassum Fatima Hashmi, known professionally as Tabu, is an Indian actress who will portray Sister Francesca in Dune: Prophecy.
Hashmi is a well-known and respected actress in Bollywood, and she brings her talent and experience to the role of Sister Francesca. She is excited to be a part of the Dune universe and to get this complex and powerful character to life.
In the interview, Hashmi discusses her experience working with the cast and crew of Dune: Prophecy and her thoughts on the character of Sister Francesca.
Tabu’s Building Sister Francesca’s Relationships
Temple of Geek: Your entrance is palpable as soon as you walk in. There is tension with where you go and even Natalia. What was it like working with Mark Strong? Jodie, even Emily Watson?
Tabassum Fatima Hashmi:
They are the most fantastic people I’ve worked with. Mark, Emily, Jodie and I, we were like this gang. But I warmed up. We warmed up to each other, and Mark is a dream. He is the best costar anybody can ask for. He’s just brilliant. His humor, his understanding of cinema, his experience and where he’s coming from and achievements. He’s just lovely.
Emily, of course, is is just so lovely. So beautiful. And Jodie and I were always chatting andgoing for walks after dinner. Even though we didn’t stay in the same place, we were all over the city, but just sitting and talking with Mark and having these completely fun, casual, crazy conversations with him on set was just so lovely.
He’s just really he’s one of the best costars anybody can ask for. Emily and I just ended up having all the intense, dramatic scenes. There’s a huge level of comfort and relatability you feel with the women involved because they’ve all like been there and done that, achieved, accomplished, but still so passionate and so sincere about what they’re doing.
It’s a very different experience when you work with people who have experienced so much in their careers and also in their lives as people. They know what not to take seriously. They know what should be taken seriously. And there’s so much democracy.Just putting everything on the table and discussing. I think it was a it was another level of experience that I had with, especially with the women
TOG: How exciting was it to reveal that Francesca is Constantine’s mother?
Hashmi:
the thing is, even though you don’t see Francesca’s backstory with Mark. But Constantine is the biggest the product of the relationship, right? So I think that Constantine is the face of the relationship. I would say you have him to to look at when you think about the relationship between her and Francesca.
And I think that cements and that makes her relationship with her vehicle that much more solid. It’s not a frivolous relationship. And that is why Valia has brought her. Because for Francesca and her ego, Constantine is also the the vulnerable part of the relationship. You know, if a child is involved in a couple, it’s always going to be having to navigate that part. So D’Amico is having to give a position to Constantine because Francesca wants it.
Understanding Sister Francesca
TOG: It’s very clear that she is loyal to the sisterhood, but She has a lot of love for Constantine. I wanted to know Francesca’s motivations.
Hashmi:
Her relationships. That’s what makes her very interesting. When I read the role, just 1 or 2 scenes, gave me the entire picture of what I could do as an actor with this character. And the fact that you don’t see the backstory makes it that much more great.
You don’t know whether she really loves him, or she does not love him. What are her motivations? Is she really playing him? Up until Valya does not tell her about her big plan to eliminate Corrino, she is, following the Bene Gesserit command. Of course, they all have a common plan of putting a sister on the throne. Because you’ve seen that from childhood. And that’s what binds them together. She is the Bene Gesserit. She has the power. That’s why she’s imprinting. You know she believes in that. But her biggest conflict is whetherthe Bene Gesserit plan is bigger than her love for Corrino. And also, it’s not just Corrino.
You make it that much more conflicted when you bring a son in the relationship. You know, for her, it’s he’s the father of her son and that’s her only reply. It’s a question. It’s a reply. It’s it’s a statement. It’s a sentence and everything when she tells Valya but he’s my son’s father.
TOG: That was a very powerful moment. There is love there, especially in the end scene in episode five, where Francesca gets her way with Constantine. Now, she is the one with power. What do you want the audience to understand about Francesca with this introduction of her?
Hashmi:
I want the season two to answer on this question. We need a season two, and flashbacks to just to clarify.But I think that’s the fun part of movies. Now you can just leave it open to interpretation. There were there were many options. I could have played it as, it’s great.
The the makers could have opted to, let the audience feel that she is just following the Bene Gesserits plan. But I don’t think that was Francesca, because Francesca has always been a hard person. She’s lived by the heart. She has a son. And, you know, the way she’s been handling these relationships, there is a lot of pain in her that she had to go, after putting this whole gamble to her marriage between the the emperor and, Natalia.
They were the ones who manipulated it. I’m sure she was pained by it because she’s so human. She’s so human. Then there is no way. And because she wants to see her son doing well, so she is ruled by feelings and emotions. I think that’s what is different about Francesca. Of course, all the characters are driven by feeling and by some emotion.
Valya is driven by, like, power, vengeance and revenge. Tula is so conflicted. And I think that’s the beauty of this show and of the story. It’s all tangled and you don’t see like a resolution for this characters.
How Tabu Brought Sister Francesca to Life in Dune: Prophecy
TOG: Additionally, Dune is a heavy fantasy and legacy world. However, you also have this established, long-standing Bollywood career. It’s fitting that Francesca was introduced to hit the ground running. Being such a pivotal character, how did you approach this character with all your background and the heaviness of doing it all?
Hashmi:
I listen and I know they were very clear they wanted me for this part. And that was the big part, big reason, for me saying yes, because they came with so much respect and so much love for me and not just for me as an actor, but who I am in my country. And the stature that I have. They had absolute respect and regard for that. Because Alison said, that I needed you for this spot because she has to make that entrance. Because Francesca’s aura and what Francesca is going to do in this story is very big. So Alison was very mindful of that. And that’s why she wanted to cast me.
I knew, it was a fantastic part. And I knew that when Francesca comes in this story, she’s going to create a stir. And that’s how you introduce her, also, before you see her, that she’s done it once, she’ll do it again. She she’s shaken the Imperium and all of that.
So there is a heavy weight, build up to her character. And because I know that finally, when she comes, this will become a unit like Javicco, Constantine and Francesca, they are a family. And because you you haven’t seen this family and you’re suddenly introduced to the mother of this boy who could have been emperor, they suddenly become a unit which everybody wants to invest in. People, have started investing in this family because they see the dynamics. The mother son, the father son, the mother father, you know, man, woman, and then the three of them together. So it’s a world of its own I feel.
I think for me, just reading the script and seeing how integral Francesca is. What she does, how she feels and how she thinks. The lines she speaks and the dynamics that are going to play out.
It was so interesting, and it was so nice that I just had to like, go with the flow and enjoy the part. I knew that I would enjoy playing this part that and that’s the most important thing.
TOG: This series seems to be about who should be given power in society. Who would you say should be given power in society?
Hashmi:
Yeah. Me, but I’m dead, so I can’t. But when you talk about power. I think power is so, addictive. It’s also so enticing and, it’s very easy for power to be abused by people in power. And that’s the worst thing about power that it has the ability to change people. And for me, I want it, whoever has power, I hope. I just don’t want them to abuse it. It could be anybody. Man, woman, child, whoever, you know. So I would like to see people in power who are not abusing it and who are using it, for the larger good.
