POWER RIVAL
Jodhi May is an Empress muzzled by a muted marriage and an overbearing Sisterhood
How would you describe the marriage of Emperor Javicco Corrino and Empress Natalya?
It is a really interesting relationship, charting the journey between those two characters. He’s kind of emasculated by the Sisterhood and the Bene Gesserit, so within the machinations of the Imperium, there’s also the disillusionment of a woman who was once in love with this man.
There’s a sense of her personal disappointment and the sense of how to make the best of a marriage that is so completely undermined on so many fronts. You imagine this is a power couple in the White House, and you’ve got a woman who’s really smart and trying to say to her husband, “Look, for a second here, can you just not rely on your political advisors? Can we just speak to each other as human beings?” But I like the fact that there’s a dysfunctional family relationship there to play on.