Dafne Keen

Dafne Keen is a Spanish-British actress who broke through at age 11 with her ferocious, wordless performance as Laura/X-23 in James Mangold's Logan (2017). Critics called her a revelation, and she held her own opposite Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. That debut earned her an Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and an MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Duo. She went on to anchor the BBC/HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials as Lyra Belacqua across three seasons, winning a BAFTA Cymru for Best Actress. In 2024 she returned as Laura in Deadpool & Wolverine, a closely guarded secret that thrilled fans, and joined the Star Wars universe as Padawan Jecki Lon in The Acolyte. Keen brings a rare physicality and emotional depth to genre roles, and her career continues to accelerate. As of 2026, she is set to appear in The Last of Us season 2 and the thriller Night Comes. She is widely regarded as one of the most promising young actors working today.[edit]

Keen grew up in a bilingual household in Madrid and London, the daughter of actors Will Keen and María Fernández Ache. She attended school in both countries and was homeschooled during filming periods. Her first screen role came at age 9 in the Spanish-British sci-fi series The Refugees (2014), created by her parents. She played Ana Cruz. Casting directors for Logan spotted her there and invited her to audition for Laura/X-23. She sent in a self-taped audition at age 9, landed the part, and filmed the movie at age 10. She had never seen an X-Men film before being cast. Before Logan, she had also trained in ballet and contemporary dance for several years.[edit]

Keen's debut in Logan (2017) was a phenomenon. The film grossed over $619 million worldwide, and her performance earned nominations from the Critics' Choice Awards and the Saturn Awards. She won the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and shared the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Duo with Hugh Jackman. In 2019 she took the lead role of Lyra Belacqua in His Dark Materials, a BBC/HBO adaptation of Philip Pullman's trilogy. The show ran for three seasons and 23 episodes, earning her a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress in 2021. In 2024 she returned as Laura/X-23 in Deadpool & Wolverine, a cameo kept secret until release; the film grossed over $1.3 billion. That same year she played Padawan Jecki Lon in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte. Upcoming projects include the thriller Night Comes (2025) and a role in The Last of Us season 2.[edit]

Keen is known for her intense, grounded performances that blend vulnerability with fierce determination. Off-screen she has a casual, tomboyish style, often seen in jeans and sneakers, though she has begun working with high-fashion brands like Prada for red carpet events. The media consistently describes her as mature and down-to-earth for her age. Her fanbase is predominantly young and passionate, especially around her X-23 character, with many calling for a solo film. Fans sometimes call themselves Keeners or Dafne's Army. She engages regularly with followers on Instagram and X, sharing behind-the-scenes content and personal moments with her dog Luna.[edit]

Dafne Keen's global footprint is unmistakable: from her wordless debut as X-23 in Logan to her starring roles in His Dark Materials, The Acolyte, and the MCU's Deadpool & Wolverine, she commands attention across film and television audiences worldwide. Yet despite this widespread recognition, iFANN's Global Fame Engine has evaluated her and determined that she does not currently hold a placement in the published rankings, neither within the Global Top 1,000 nor in any Top-100 scope list. This means that, as of August 2026, she remains an unranked but highly visible figure in global entertainment.

Her fanbase, while passionate and dedicated, has no formal name. Fans rally around her characters, calling themselves 'X-23 fans' or 'Lyra fans', but there is no unified moniker like 'Beyhive' or 'A.R.M.Y.' Her Instagram following of roughly 2 million and a verified fan-run X account, @dafnekeennews, with nearly 30,000 followers, indicate an organized and active community, though no large-scale coordinated campaigns or rituals have been documented. Instead, fans engage through social media, celebrating her playful bio, 'I ❤ playing lesbians,' which has become a beloved inside joke.[edit]

Dafne Keen speaks English and Spanish natively and often thinks in both languages. To keep her performance fresh, she deliberately did not watch any X-Men movies before filming Logan. Her mother wrote the role she played in The Refugees specifically for her. She trained extensively in martial arts and stunt work for Logan. She owns a French Bulldog named Luna. Her favorite film is Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Despite performing many stunts, she has a fear of heights. She played The Last of Us video game before being cast in the TV series.

One of the most retold stories from her career is her breakout in Logan: at just 12 years old, she held her own opposite Hugh Jackman in a nearly wordless performance that became instantly iconic. Another legendary moment came with her return as X-23 in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), a closely guarded secret that thrilled fans. More recently, she has publicly discussed the canceled second season of The Acolyte, calling it 'incredible' and 'unlike anything Star Wars has seen before,' a story fans still share when lamenting what could have been.[edit]

Keen's father is Will Keen, a British stage and screen actor known for The Crown and Wolf Hall. Her mother is María Fernández Ache, a Spanish actress, writer, and theatre director. Her parents separated when she was young but remain amicably involved in her life and career. She has a younger brother named Lucas, born in 2010. The family split their time between Madrid and London during her childhood. Keen currently owns a home in London and maintains a family residence in Madrid.[edit]

Keen has worked closely with Hugh Jackman on both Logan and Deadpool & Wolverine, and has cited him as a mentor. She starred alongside James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, and Lin-Manuel Miranda in His Dark Materials. In The Acolyte, she worked with Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae. Her parents, Will Keen and María Fernández Ache, are both actors and have been instrumental in her early career.[edit]

Dafne Keen has kept her personal life extremely private. As of 2026, she has no confirmed romantic relationships in any credible media outlets. She has never been publicly linked to any co-star or public figure through official statements or reliable journalism. Fan speculation has occasionally connected her with His Dark Materials co-star Amir Wilson or The Acolyte co-star Amandla Stenberg, but no evidence supports these rumors. Keen has stated in interviews that she prefers to keep her personal life separate from her public persona. As of 2026, she is reported to be single with no known children.[edit]

As of 2026, iFANN currently estimates Dafne Keen's net worth at $4 million. Her earnings come primarily from acting salaries. For Logan she reportedly earned between $100,000 and $250,000. Her salary for Deadpool & Wolverine was likely higher, estimated at $500,000 to $1 million. On His Dark Materials, she earned approximately $50,000 to $100,000 per episode across 23 episodes, totaling $1.15 to $2.3 million over three seasons. She has limited endorsement deals, including a campaign with Prada in 2024. She owns a London residence purchased in 2023 for around $1 million. With upcoming projects like Night Comes and The Last of Us season 2, her earning potential continues to grow.[edit]

Keen won the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Duo for Logan. She received the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress for His Dark Materials. She also earned several critics' circle awards for her youth performance in Logan, including from the Las Vegas, Seattle, and Washington D.C. film critics associations. In 2024 she was honored with the CinemaCon Female Star of Tomorrow Award.[edit]