Starting her career at a fairly young age,Dafne Keenhas already been in a number of fantastic movies and shows. Born in 2005, the Spanish and British actress got her start at just ten years old in the TV series,The Refugees. After that, she had her breakthrough with 2017’sLoganas Wolverine’s daughter, Laura (X-23). After her initial role as Laura, Dafne Keen appeared in a handful of other projects, including leading theBBC One/HBO adaptation ofHis Dark Materials, and found a place within the Star Wars franchise with her great role inThe Acolyte.
She returned to her role of X-23 forDeadpool & Wolverine, and hasexpressed interest in playing the character in future MCU projects. Despite still being so early in her career, Dafne Keen has built an impressive resume as an actor, and looks to have a bright future in Hollywood with the upcoming horror film,Whistle. There is a lot to like about Dafne Keen’s filmography so far, with some truly fantastic projects already to her name.
6The Refugees (2015)
Dafne Keen as Ana “Ani” Cruz Oliver
Every actor has to start somewhere in their career, and for Dafne Keen, her first role came in the TV series,The Refugees, in 2015. The series revolves around a rural community faced with millions of refugees who come from the future, seeking shelter in the present. It’s an interesting premise but doesn’t quite explore it to its fullest, running for only one season for a total of eight episodes. It’s still a solid entry in Dafne Keen’s filmography, but also the weakest of the bunch.
Despite only being 10 years old at the time, Dafne Keen already showed a lot of promise with her performance, with glimpses of greatness she would show the world just a few years later. One of the coolest aspects of Dafne Keen inThe Refugeesis thatshe acted alongside her father, Will Keen, who was one of the series' leads.
5Ana (2020)
Dafne Keen as Ana
Released in 2020,Anatells the story of a used car salesman taking a young girl on a road trip after being placed in his care. It’s set in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, highlighting the struggles they faced after. It’s a tender, heartfelt film about two people who are so different from each other, but begin to form a familial bond throughout.
Anawas shot entirely in Puerto Rico with an all-Puerto Rican crew.
Despite being released in 2020,Ana was actually shot just a few months afterLogancame out, which marks the first acting job for Dafne Keen afterLogan. Her performance as Ana is a highlight of the film, showing vulnerability and toughness in equal parts, taking on a character that shares similarities to her role as Laura inLogan, but with even more differences. Dafne Keen continued to show how good of a child actor she actually was.
The Acolyte
Cast
The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
Star Wars has grown incredibly divisive over the years, andThe Acolytegot the full wrath from those who despise everything that Disney has done with the franchise. Still,The Acolyteisn’t nearly as bad as many might be led to believe. In fact, it is pretty good, existing as the earliest movie or show in the timeline, showing off the High Republic and having some of the best fight choreography from the entire franchise. On top of that, Dafne Keen was really great in it.
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One aspect of The Acolyte that is undeniable is how great Dafne Keen is in her role as Jecki Lon, a padawan that is shown to be incredibly skilled with a lightsaber. Keen is more stoic than ever as Jecki, but she does an admirable job and her ending on the show is both incredibly cool and also quite tragic, with one of the best lightsaber duels in the entire franchise.
Deadpool & Wolverine
A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Seven years after Dafne Keen’s breakthrough in Logan, she returned to her role of X-23 forDeadpool & Wolverine. It proved a smart move asDeadpool & Wolverinebecame the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, and one of Marvel’s biggest films ever. Featuring a multiverse-spanning plot,Deadpool & Wolverinehad all the gleeful, violent wackiness associated with Deadpool, while marking the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Though Dafne Keen reprises her breakthrough role, Laura doesn’t get nearly as much screen time as she did inLogan.
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2024
Still, Keen shows that she still has what it takes to play the character, retaining a lot of her signature physicality during her fight scenes, while also being able to communicate with Jackman’s Wolverine on a much deeper level, given how much older the character is now. The decision to keep her as the same variant that was featured in Logan was brilliant, andwith the door open for her possible return in the future,Deadpool & Wolverinecould be the next stepping stone in her career.
His Dark Materials
Based on author Philip Pullman’s beloved novel trilogy, His Dark Materials is a fantasy/drama television series that follows Lyra, a brave young woman from another world. Lyra’s quest to find her kidnapped friend leads her to uncover a sinister plot of a secret organization, encounter extraordinary beings, and protect dangerous secrets. Lyra will find that her life is inextricably linked with another as they discover they may be the ones to change the world.
His Dark Materialswas the first major acting role for Dafne Keen after her breakthrough performance inLogan. Based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman,His Dark Materialsis an underrated fantasy series, following the story of Lyra Belacqua, an orphan who is searching for a missing friend.The series ran for three seasons, adapting all three books in the trilogy to strong reviews, carving out its place alongside other top-tier fantasy adaptations.
She is tasked with carryingHis Dark Materialson her shoulders for most of its runtime, and she lives up to the pressure, delivering an exciting, nuanced performance that captures the spirit of the source material.
Dafne Keen as Lyra is a much different character than herLoganrole, showing just how much talent she had at a young age. She is tasked with carryingHis Dark Materialson her shoulders for most of its runtime, and she lives up to the pressure, delivering an exciting, nuanced performance that captures the spirit of the source material. IfLoganwasn’t convincing enough for some reason,His Dark Materialssolidified Dafne Keen as one of the best young actors out there.
Logan
Logan is set in a near future where an aging Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, takes care of a frail Professor Xavier, portrayed by Patrick Stewart, at a secluded location near the Mexican border. Their secluded existence is disrupted by the arrival of a young mutant, pursued by malevolent forces.
WhenLogancame out in 2017, it was instantly thought of as one of thegreatest superhero movies of all time. Eight years later, andLoganstill feels a step ahead of most of its peers, drawing more from Westerns than superheroes, telling one of the most emotionally effective stories in the genre. It initially served as the swan song for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and including his clone “daughter” Laura (X-23), was a stroke of genius.
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Dafne Keen was only 12 years old whenLogancame out, which makes it all the more impressive that she was one of the biggest highlights of the entire film.Barely having any speaking lines, Dafne Keen’s physicality as Laura was inspiring, as she was able to show so much of her character with so few words, embodying the same feral energy of her “Dad”, the Wolverine. Not only isLoganher best movie, it is her greatest performance.
