Is Jessica Barden in Dune Prophecy​?

Jessica Barden plays the younger version of Valya Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy.

Dune: Prophecy is a much-talked-about sci-fi series, especially after its Season 1 finale was released on December 22, 2024. Fans of the Dune films were excited about the release of the prequel series, as it is set in the same universe. The show is set 10,000 years before Paul Atreides became the Emperor of the Known Universe. The cast of the show includes Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Tabu, etc.

Among the cast, Jessica Barden is also a part of the show. She plays a recurring guest role in the show. In May 2024, the makers of the show announced the casting of Jessica Barden as the younger version of Valya Harkonnen. She plays an important role in the show as she sets the background for Valya’s character. Let’s take a look at her career and the character she plays in Dune: Prophecy.

Jessica Barden in Dune: Prophecy​

Jessica Barden plays the role of young Valya Harkonnen in the show. She is portrayed as a resentful, smart, and ambitious young woman who later becomes the leader, the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood. She appears in the flashbacks in the show which showcases how Valya achieved power and high status in the society, ultimately becoming the most important member of the Sisterhood.

In the flashback, Valya's family and relatives have accepted their low status and do not try to restore the family’s name. Valya’s mother sees her ambition to climb the social ladder as greed and entitlement. In an interview with CBR, she was asked about her character, and she replied, 'She just has a fire inside of her, and she's confident. She wants to do something different.'

When asked about which part of the show surprised her, she shared, 'There aren't really a lot of good female characters for multiple people to play. It's still kind of remarkable that Dune: Prophecy got on air because there are so many women in it.' She added, ‘There aren't a lot of female stories and this show is genuinely better because of it.’

Who is Jessica Barden?

Jessica Amy Barden, also known as Jessica Barden, is a British actress, born on July 21, 1992, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. She started her acting career as a child actress with a minor role in the TV show My Parents Are Aliens in 1999. She made her film debut in 2007 with the film Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution. She is best known for playing Alyssa Foley in the TV show The End of the F***ing World from 2017 to 2019.

Apart from The End of the F***ing World, she has worked on many TV shows like The Outcast (2015), Penny Dreadful (2016), Pieces of Her (2022), You & Me (2023), American Horror Stories (2023-2024), Dune: Prophecy (2024), etc. She has also worked in many films like Hanna (2011), Mindscape (2023), The Lobster (2015), The New Romantic (2018), Scarborough (2018), Jungleland (2019), Holler (2020), Pink Skies Ahead (2020), etc.

In 2019, she appeared in the music videos for Manic by Conan Gray and Under the Graveyard by Ozzy Osbourne. In 2021, she married Max Winkler, the director of Jungleland. The couple has two children together.