Dafne Keen: "Ed Sheeran named his daughter Lyra and we all had a bit of a freakout."

Dafne Keen knows the fantasy genre oh-so well. From her starring role as a young mutant alongside Hugh Jackman in Logan (2017) to the beloved Lyra Belaqua in His Dark Materials  - a role and name that have surged in popularity since the critically acclaimed series  first debuted on our screens in 2019  (Ed Sheeran famously named his daughter, Lyra Antarctica). To the announcement that she’ll be joining Star Wars’ The Acolyte. Her talent knows no worldly (or otherworldly) bounds.

As the dust begins to gather ahead of the third and final season, Contributing Fashion Editor, Sarah-Rose Harrison sat down with Dafne to discuss her audition process - jellyfish stings and all -, lessons learnt on set and what we can expect from Belaqua. Lyra, Belaqua…

What does the fantasy genre mean to you?

I think it's a space to explore problems of our normal, regular, boring life through metaphors.

What drew you to the role of Lyra?

It's one of those special parts that comes along once in a lifetime you can't say no to. It's so rare to get to play the part of a girl who isn't sexualized, who is uninhibited, fun, intelligent, adventurous. I can go on and on. It's so rare that you really can't really pass on that opportunity.

It must feel funny to you that so many people have now called their children, Lyra.

Oh, yeah. It’s so exciting for me. It's so fun. I feel really honoured that people have named their children Lyra because of the show and also, of course, because of the books. I'm very aware, very aware that Ed Sheeran named his daughter, Lyra. It was a big, big, big thing on set. We all had a bit of a freakout. 

We don't know if it's because of the books or because of the show. But, either way, big freakout. It’s pretty cool.

How did you feel when you booked the job? I read you recorded a tape in 2016 and then did another one in 2017. Is that correct?

Correct. I did one audition when I was filming Logan but didn't hear back from them for ages. I thought, ‘oh I haven't got the part.’ And then, a year later I was on set for a different film, we were filming in Puerto Rico and I’d just wrapped and I was on my two days off for the summer holiday and the production company had kindly booked us all this lovely, lovely trip to this little island outside of Puerto Rico. 

I was having such a wonderful time and then I suddenly received an email saying ‘we need your tape in right now’ and we’d like it in a Cockney accent. So I was on this island, with terrible wi-fi learning a Cockney accent preparing to send the tape within 24 hours.

I was ready to go and I thought, no. Let me go for a swim first because the ocean was just so beautiful and I was in this truly beautiful place. So, I go into the ocean and immediately get really, really badly stung by a huge jellyfish. Right across my face. It was so bad. There was no hospital, everyone was bringing my aloe vera, people were offering to wee. Everyone was offering solutions, I didn’t like any of them.

But I still read for it. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity but I felt like there’s no way I’m going to get this because of how this has happened. I was super badly lit, the video quality would have been awful due to the terrible wi-fi and I have a huge jellyfish sting. 

But I got a callback for Lyra and I was so excited, I never expected it after that ordeal. I went in to read with Ruth Wilson and it was amazing. I went in there, I did my thing and proved that I’m not always jellyfish stung with a bad accent and got the job. 

Have you purchased anything to mark the role? 

No, that's a really good question. I didn’t treat myself to anything in the beginning, I was just super excited to get straight into the role and now I’d say my treat was the wrap party that we had. Which wasn’t my treat but it was the loveliest, most over emotional amazing night, where we all dancing and crying and dancing. But I really should treat myself to something because I’ve been playing Lyra for ages and she deserves a proper goodbye.

What was your process for getting into character?

Lyra’s such a talkative character the way I got into her was through the words she uses. In season one she uses the word ‘need’ all the time, so it was finding the word for her each season, although I have to say ‘need’ was such a substantial theme throughout  as she’s such an intense character. There’s no in between.

Her physicality is also so different from me, we walk, talk and move so differently. So that was a big part too and it was so helpful putting the costumes on as I moved more like her immediately after putting it on. 

Was there a particular fragrance/song/playlist that helped you to do so?

I usually have a thing but for this season I didn’t as Lyra is just so dirty. I found that applying the dirt was me being her. Being broken down, remembering where Lyra’s been and looking at the dirt in the mirror and, because of the way that the makeup team had designed her makeup, it was really fun to see where all the dirt came from and the stories behind it.

How did your wardrobe inform your character?

We’ve started to investigate her adult femininity this season and it was so interesting to see the clothes in this series as they’re so much more grown up. They weren’t like Mrs Coulter’s clothes which are calculated, super-flattering and figure-hugging. But it was finding a feminine angle and a more adult approach to the clothes without them being sexualised. It’s always so much fun playing around with her outfits and finding the story behind each piece as it appears that no effort has gone into her looks and there things she’s found or been put in by Mrs Coulter but so much effort and thought has. 

From the very beginning of the show, we had all these discussions with her wardrobe and fabrics and colours as I came in knowing what colours suited me, as Dafne and what colours I felt were Lyra. For all of season one it was her vitality and her colour was red. Whereas colder tones came into season two after (spoiler) the death of Roger where we investigated blues and greens, those colder tones. Season three was all of those elements and shades combined - she’s wearing everything she’s been through. It was a way of, for me, finding that when you grow up you don’t stop being the things you were, you add onto them. 

Who’s your favourite actor (within the series) to have scenes with?

Oh that’s a really mean one. I’m going to say from this series Amir Wilson, I love working with him. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lewin LLoyd, Ruth Wilson and I didn’t get to work with him a lot but I loved to work with Kit Connor.

Favourite location you’ve filmed in?

We went to Spain for two weeks and, obviously being from Spain, I was so excited to have all my onset friends and family there together and have both of those worlds merge into one for me. It was amazing to be in Spain, speaking my language and then acting in English and then speaking in Spanish to the Spanish crew. It was heaven for two weeks.

What’s your favourite line from a script?

Oh in season one, I think they cut it, but it was my most iconic Lyra moment ever. They asked me for my name and I said it like I was James Bond. Belacqua. Lyra, Belacqua. I was so happy.

What’s a lesson or note you were given on set that’s stayed with you and informed your work?

I was told by James Mangold on the set of Logan to always go full out, because if you do too much we can always bring you down. Which I think is a very good tip for actors because lots of actors tend to not give everything they have in scenes for fear of over-acting. But if you're overacted, you're okay because you'll have someone telling you to do less. That’s a top tip of mine.

Hugh Jackman was so great as the number one on set at teaching me how to treat crew. He was the most brilliant person with the crew, he taught me how the distance between cast and crew is wrong and that everyone is to be treated equally. He was close with everyone from the crew, he knew everyone’s names and would get people lottery tickets each week. I learnt the ropes from him and feel very lucky to have been taught that by him. 

What’s your favourite line from a script?

Oh in season one, I think they cut it, but it was my most iconic Lyra moment ever. They asked me for my name and I said it like I was James Bond. Belacqua. Lyra, Belacqua. I was so happy.

What are you looking for in your next project/s?

I’ve tried to keep them as different as possibly but I have always played this sort of feral, tween/child with Daddy issues. I’m ready to play women. I’m ready to do something different to what I’ve done so far - a comedy or drama. I’d love to do anything that’s really different. 

The eight-episode, third and final season of HIS DARK MATERIALS will debut this December on BBC and be available to stream on BBC iPlayer. 

Photography, Kyle Galvin
Styling, Sarah-Rose Harrison
Videographer, Rodney Rico
Makeup, Sara Hill at The Wall Group using Dior
Hair, Ross Kwan at A Frame Agency using Amika products and Cloud Nine tools
Manicurist, Julia Babbage using Mii Cosmetics Nourish + Nurture Nail & Cuticle Oil and Care + Caress Hand Serum assisted by Sara Sorrenti
Casting and production, Sarah-Rose Harrison
Production assistant, Angel Brown
Features writer, Dionne Brighton
Editor-in-Chief, Andrea Thompson
Editor, Sunil Makan