Summary

  • Dafne Keen's breakout role in Logan earned her critical acclaim and awards.
  • Laura (X-23) was charismatic, innocent, wild, and powerful, despite having few lines.
  • Keen continued her success by taking on the lead role of Lyra in His Dark Materials and securing roles in Ana and the upcoming Star Wars TV show, The Acolyte.

Young actress Dafne Keen has grown her career immensely since playing X-23 in Logan. Spanish-British actress Daphne Keen started acting at nine years old when she played Ana in the Spanish TV show The Refugees (Refugiados). However, she hit it big when, at just 15 years old, she got cast in her first-ever Hollywood project, Marvel Comics’ Logan, opposite Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Keen played Laura, better known as X-23, the young clone of Wolverine.

Logan is considered one of the best superhero movies of all time, and that’s partly thanks to Keen’s incredible performance. The actress plays Laura as charismatic, innocent, wild, and powerful – all while saying less than thirty words. Unsurprisingly, Keen garnered multiple nominations and awards for her performance, including the MTV Movie + TV Award for Best Duo, shared with Hugh Jackman. Since then, Dafne Keen’s career has boomed, with her taking on many big roles.

dafne keen and ryan reynolds in logan and deadpool
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Dafne Keen Starred As Lyra In His Dark Materials

Keen Perfectly Captures The Character Of Lyra Belacqua

Lyra looking serious in His Dark Materials

Two years after playing X-23 in Logan, Dafne Keen took on the lead role of Lyra Belacqua in His Dark Materials. Adapted from the eponymous fantasy trilogy by Philip Pullman, this show follows Lyra, a girl from another world destined to save the world from a sinister, secret organization. Dafne Keen’s performance as Lyra Belacqua perfectly captures the multifaceted personality of the book character. She’s equally brave, stubborn, and intelligent. Lyra’s relationship with her dæmon, Pantalaimon, is heartwarming to watch and is a testament to Keen’s incredible acting abilities — especially when considering that Pantalaimon is an entirely CGI character.

Unfortunately, His Dark Materials season 4 won’t happen since season 3 wrapped up the last book in the trilogy. This doesn’t mean Keen won’t return as Lyra again. Two more books by Pullman — Lyra’s Oxford and The Secret Commonwealth — continue the character’s story after the events of the His Dark Materials book trilogy. It’s plausible Lyra’s story will continue in another series based on the other novels. In the meantime, Dafne Keen has taken on other great acting projects.

Logan is available to stream on Disney+.

What Else Dafne Keen Has Done Since Logan

Keen Became One Of The Actors In Both Marvel And Star Wars

Dafne Keen's Ana has a blank look on her face in the movie Ana.

In 2020, Dafne Keen took on the title role in the comedy movie Ana. The next year, she voiced Shirley Hitchings in the paranormal horror podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, which was nominated for Best True Crime Podcast at the 2022 British Podcast Awards. Keen was also cast as an unnamed character in the horror movie Whistle. Additionally, she’ll appear as a yet-to-be-named young Jedi in Disney+’s Star Wars TV show called The Acolyte, cementing Dafne Keen as a part of both the Marvel and Star Wars universes.