DuneStars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler Were ‘Nervous’ Meeting ‘Legend’ Christopher Walken (Exclusive)

Dune: Part Twofeatures an all-star cast, but there was one industry legend in particular who inspired awe inTimothée Chalamet,Zendaya, andAustin Butler.

Christopher Walken, Chalamet tells PEOPLE, is an “absolute legend.”

“I didn’t speak, I was too nervous,” says Zendaya, 27, of meeting the actor. Recalling the moment, she begins stuttering: “I mean, what? I didn’t even — I was like, ‘Hi.’ I didn’t even speak to him.”

With a laugh, she adds, “How did it go for you guys?”

Butler, 32, remembers meeting Walken, 80, “in the hair and makeup” trailer on the set ofDune: Part Two.

“I mean, he’s a legend,” he says simply of the Oscar-winningDeer Hunterstar.

Christopher Walken in “Dune: Part Two”.Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

In writer-directorDenis Villeneuve’s sequel to 2021’s hitDune, in theaters now, Walken plays the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, who schemes to quash the royal house of Chalamet’s Paul Atreides.

Along with Butler as the ruthless warriorFeyd-Rautha Harkonnen,Part TwoincludesFlorence Pughand Léa Seydoux, plus returning cast membersRebecca Ferguson,Josh Brolin,Dave Bautista,Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling andJavier Bardem.

Chalamet, 28, who also met Walken during the hair and makeup process, admits, “I hadn’t seenKing of New York, so I watchedKing of New Yorkwhen I was on set and I just was blown away.”

He tells PEOPLE that Pugh, who shared many of her scenes with Walken, called him the “rare legend” who “is still cooking, still delivering the goods.”

And, adds Chalamet, “the rare person to make Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin nervous. Sort of sheepish!”

Christopher Walken at the “Dune: Part Two” premiere Feb. 25.Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

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“It’s intimidating,” the 55-year-old star admitted. “It is. It’s really intimidating, looking over and seeing Stellan Skarsgård and looking down and seeing Christopher Walken, and seeing Timmy and Zendaya and Austin and Florence and Josh Brolin.” (Bautista also quipped he has “a huge man crushon Josh Brolin.”)

When asked at the premiere whether he stepped into the role of a mentor among theDune: Part Twocast, Walken himself told PEOPLE he only got to know “some of them.”

“Everybody was nice,” he said, adding, “I was only there for a few weeks. It was very nice.”

(Left-right:) Austin Butler, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet on Feb. 21.Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

As for advice for his younger castmates, the actor responded, “The only advice I would give anybody is you always make sure you wear your seatbelt.”

Dune: Part Two, which was originally scheduled for a November 2023 release and wasdelayedamid Hollywood’s strikes last year, is in theaters now.

Read more about Chalamet, Zendaya and Butler in this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands now.

source: people.com