This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
In addition to the two title stars, Deadpool and Wolverine features a number of cameos and surprise appearances from other Marvel characters, many of which draw on the legacy of the Fox Marvel Universe and are something of a last hurrah for the actors who played them. There’s Wesley Snipes as Blade (the father of Marvel movies and a New Line character), Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Chris Evans not as Captain America but as the Human Torch, and Channing Tatum as Gambit, the character he was supposed to play in his own solo film but never got the chance to.
The most emotional performance in the film, however, is by Dafne Keen, who reprises her role as Laura/X-23, the young mutant who in James Mangold’s masterful Logan in 2017. Her campfire scene in the film, in which she has a candid conversation with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine (who, crucially, has never met her but can still sense their unwavering connection), is perhaps the film’s most important scene. It gives Keen, now 19, a chance to reunite with Jackman and play a role she feels a huge connection to. “She fills every creative void in me in a great way,” she says.
We were thrilled when Keen stopped by. Empire Podcast Studio to sit down with Chris Hewitt for an in-depth conversation about her return to the role of Laura, filming and the future. You can listen to the full interview, including a spoiler-filled foray into her recent role in The Acolytethis week Empire Podcast – but here are five things we learned from our chat with her.
She had not expected the call
“I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen,” says Keen. When she got the call from her agent, she was in the bath. “She said, ‘I’m really sorry to be calling so late, but I thought you should hear this as soon as possible: ‘You’re doing Deadpool if you want to.’ I thought, ‘I don’t think I can say no to that!’ I got out of the bath – I didn’t give a damn – and walked to my friend’s house, completely soaked, and thought, ‘I don’t know what just happened!'”
Alfonso Cuaron was one of the first people to learn about it
As it turns out, Keen’s best friend is Bu Cuaron, Alfonso’s daughter. And if she was the first to hear Keen’s special news, her father wasn’t far behind. “Alfonso came back from a long day of filming Disclaimer”, laughs Keen, “and Bu said: ‘Dafne is there Dead Pool!’ He said, ‘Oh, cool.’ Coincidentally.”
She loved her reunion with Hugh Jackman
Jackman has remained an important presence in Keen’s life since Loganalthough they had not seen each other for a while. “Since the Rich “I actually went to the awards in 2018,” Keen reveals. “It was wonderful to be able to act with him again. I honestly don’t think I’m better with any other actor. I do my best acting when I’m with him.” The campfire scene – in which Reynolds originally appeared as Deadpool – was particularly memorable for her. “It was a really beautiful scene that they wrote for us,” she says. “It perfectly summed up Logan’s guilt and Laura’s guilt for not saying ‘thank you’. She gets a second chance that you don’t normally get.”
“She’s so much fun to play emotionally and she’s so physically demanding and it’s something I love doing. I would kill to do it again.”
She enjoyed pursuing her side as an action heroine
In a scene in Cassandra Nova’s hideout, Keen is allowed to extend Laura’s claws again and comes into a confrontation with this week’s Juggernaut (Aaron W. Reed). “It was just really fun to get back into the action,” says Keen. “That’s how I discovered the character in the first place. She has a very special sound that I created for her when I was 11. When I rediscovered that sound as a 19-year-old, I was immediately amazed by the way she screamed. A lot of these fights were about simulating exact movements of Logan.”
She is ready to continue Laura’s journey
At the end of the film, Laura was plucked out of nowhere and placed in Deadpool’s world next to Jackman’s Wolverine variant. This means that she may still be there when Avengers: Endgame And Avengers: Secret Wars come into play. For her part, Keen is, well, more than eager to continue playing the character. “I would 100% do this for the rest of my life,” she says. “It’s so much fun to play her emotionally, it’s so physically demanding, and it’s something I love doing. I would kill to do it again.” There’s no need for such drastic measures. We’re guessing an email to Kevin Feige will suffice.
To hear more from Keen, check out this week’s Empire podcast here.
