Watch: Austin Butler Opens Up About Fashion, Wanting a Cat, and That Chilling Same-Sex Kiss in 'Dune'

Austin Butler might be frighteningly good at playing the pitiless sociopath Feyd-Autha in "Dune," but in real life he's a cat-loving softie. Even so, he served up chills with a same-sex kiss in the sci-fi blockbuster, improvising a smooch for co-star Stellan Skarsgård.

And Skarsgård – who played the villainous Baron Harkonnen – was totally up for it, Butler recalled in a recent interview with Access Hollywood. "You surprised one of your co-stars" with the kiss, Emily Orozco, acting as guest correspondent for the entertainment outlet, noted.

"Stellen Skarsgård – oh, yeah!" Butler enthused. "He's game for anything. He's the best."

"You just like shocking your co-stars?" Orozco asked.

"You know, it's always about how you're trying to affect somebody else," Butler answered.

In the case of his dramatic roles, it's Butler who has perhaps been most affected by his approach to the characters.

"While Butler became infamous for Method acting thanks to this three-year transformation into Elvis Presley for his Oscar-nominated performance in 'Elvis,'" Variety noted, "he dialed things back considerably to bring the psychopath Feyd-Rautha to life."

The magazine referenced comments Butler made to the Los Angeles Times, in which he talked about how he had "explored living within that world for three years" in preparation to play Elvis, "and that being the only thing that I think about day and night."

Luckily, he chose a different method for his latest big screen role, Variety said.

"With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends" if he were to sink too far into the character's skin, Butler told the site.

"Dune" director Denis Villeneuve, also on hand to speak with the Los Angeles Times, recalled to Butler that, "When the camera was on, it was like you were possessed. When the camera was off, you were still maybe 25 or 30% Feyd. Just enough to still be present and focus but removed enough that you didn't kill anybody on set."

Butler's Access Hollywood interview was brief but wide-ranging, with Orozco punning that the movie's costuming was "taking the world by sandstorm" with its far-out looks before asking Butler about the adorable Buzzfeed video he and "Dune" co-star Florence Pugh appeared in, together with a litter of black kittens.

"I am so sad because I didn't get to take that cat home," Butler said of the kitty he bonded with during the shoot. "It almost brought me to tears," he added. "I loved that little cat so much."

Watch the Access Hollywood interview below.