How Dafne Keen Found Herself By Letting Go

15th August, 2024

Words by Emily Zemler
Photography by Rachell Smith
Styled by Celine Sheridan

Dress Maximilian Raynor

Initially, Dafne Keen wasn’t sure what it would feel like to revisit Laura, her iconic character from superhero film Logan. She’d been cast in the role at 11 and embodied the mutant, known as X-23, with impressive ferocity, throwing herself into the performance in a way that shook critics and audiences to the core. Coming back to her years later for Deadpool & Wolverine was unexpected for the now-19-year-old actress.

“I was honestly quite panicked about it,” Dafne admits. “Because I think I was so unaware of what I was doing during Logan and it came so naturally to me that I was scared that at 19 I would over-rationalize it and I would have lost it. But, weirdly, she was just in me. She came out as soon as we started rehearsing.”

The instinct to over-rationalize a performance is something that comes with age—at least in Dafne’s experience. She began acting as a child, securing her debut TV series, The Refugees, at nine. But Logan, released in 2017, was her first big thing. She earned the part after a series of auditions that displayed her uncanny ability to unfurl herself on screen without concern for how she came across. Now, as an adult, it’s something Dafne urged herself to find again.

Coat & jacket by Milo Maria

“Doing things that are mainstream and being aware of how many people are going to watch it make it harder to not think of yourself and be vain about it,” she says. “And I think it’s very important as an actor not to be vain. It’s such an easy thing to give into. But you shouldn’t because it cheapens your performance once you’re thinking about your face and what you look like and your physicality from a purely vain point of view, rather than from the character or from a creative point of view. When I did Logan I did not care what I looked like at all. But as a girl, the more you grow up, the more you start worrying about how you look.”

Preparing for Deadpool & Wolverine, which Dafne filmed in two bouts last spring and this past winter, meant releasing that fear. She had to ignore the potential audience of millions, which was augmented by the excitement from fans of finally bringing X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “I managed to tap into my 11-year-old self, but with the calm and

wise-ness of being older,” Dafne acknowledges. “The only way you learn how to swim is by jumping into the pool.”

Although Dafne was bullied as a kid, she’s always managed to push past her trepidation and take that leap. She looks for roles that challenge her, from Logan to fantastical HBO series His Dark Materials to recent Star Wars series The Acolyte, in which she played a Jedi trainee named Jecki Lon, to her next outing, horror flick Whistle. With every job, Dafne says she falls “more in love with acting,” a sensibility she credits to being part of something as dynamic and exciting as Logan early on.

Jacket Palmer Harding

“When you do something that's so huge and so well regarded at such a young age you think you've peaked,” Dafne admits.

“I always feel like I'll never top that performance, which I think is good because it means that I keep working hard at it. I don't get comfortable because I don't want to be the person who peaked at 11.”

Dafne’s curiosity about storytelling came from her parents, British actor Will Keen and Spanish María Fernández Ache, best known for their work in the theatre. They introduced Dafne to a broad array of film, theatre, art, and literature, which the actress describes as “really bougie.” It transformed her into an unusual kid (what 13-old-year cites Mirror by Andrei Tarkovsky as their favourite movie?), but it also set her up for success professionally. Acting gave Dafne a way to channel her youthful erratic energy and she never anticipated it would lead to an actual career. After appearing in a short film made by a friend of her mom at eight years old, Dafne proclaimed she wanted to start auditioning, fully understanding that auditions often lead nowhere.

“I grew up with very normal actors,” she says. “I knew that acting was basically just auditioning and not booking things until every so often you booked a guest star in an episode of something really random on 2 p.m. television. I don't think I ever had unrealistic expectations.”

Jacket by Milo Maria, body by ERES

Years later, Dafne’s driven by her love of being on a set, which she calls her “favourite thing in the world.” Part of her early fascination with sets was the camera itself, something she remembers being captivated by on the set of that first short film. She’s stepping into the role of producer on Night Comes, her next movie, and she hopes that will lead to writing and directing. And, in fact, at 19, she’s already written a few scripts. “I think you have to,” she explains. “And if you’re someone who’s passionate about stories, you just end up doing it because you’re excited to tell stories yourself.”

Every project, from a TV series like The Acolyte to a blockbuster like Deadpool & Wolverine, has taught Dafne how to be a better actress—and a better person. She learned from her Logan co-star Hugh Jackman, who set the tone for how Dafne wants to be on set and in the world.

“If I'd have done my first job with an asshole I would probably have thought that was normal,” she says. “And my normal was someone who bought lottery tickets for every single person on set and learned their names and their wives’ names and their kids' names. My first job was with such amazing people that I thought that was the norm and the more I work the more I realise how rare that is. Actors are usually a nightmare. But my biggest drive, every time, is for the crew to like me.”

Coat, skirt & bra by ERDEM

It's difficult in Hollywood, especially as a young woman, to let go of expectations and image, as Dafne had to relearn when making Deadpool & Wolverine, which is in theatres now. The pressure is immense, but Dafne is making a conscious decision to be who she is without bending to an outside perspective. It's what her 11-year-old self would want.

“Some studios really push you to grow your social media and I was feeling a lot of pressure,” she says. “So I was going to all the things and I was doing all the things you’re supposed to do and go to. And I had so many friends also coming up in the industry doing that and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm behind. I need to be at all these things.’ But as time has gone on I've looked at the careers I admire in the industry, like Meryl Streep and Timothée Chalamet, and those people don't do that. I would rather be known by the projects I do than the events I attend.”

Deadpool & Wolverine is in cinemas now