Children of Dune had the benefit that the first Dune miniseries was well-received, and that many of the original cast were willing to return to follow their characters. A couple of answers have been given for this but nothing definitive: the later books have time skips on the scale of thousands of years, so hardly any recognizable characters would reappear in them (apart from a few ghola-clones). What Could Have Been: Despite being a critical and commercial success, the Sci-Fi Channel never tried to follow up on this by adapting the later books of the Dune novel series.Role Reprise: Paul, Irulan, Chani, Gurney, Baron Harkonnen, Otheym and Mohiam are all played by the same actors as the previous miniseries.Promoted Fanboy: James McAvoy was a huge fan of the Dune novels prior to starring in this mini-series.When Saskia Reeves was unable to reprise the role due to her pregnancy, the filmmakers simply recast her with Krige. In Lady Jessica's case, Alice Krige has been the original choice to play her in the first miniseries.
The Other Darrin: Several actors do not return from the first Dune mini-series those who were recast include the Lady Jessica, Stilgar and Duncan Idaho among others.In the second episode of the series, Alia mentions she was only 15 when she became regent and the twins' birth, meaning the then 37-year-old Amavia was playing a teenager at the time of release. The nine-year-old Leto II and Ghanima were aged up to their late teens in the miniseries, and were played by actors in their early 20s.