Starting her career at a fairly young age, BBC One/HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials, and found a place within the Star Wars franchise with her great role in The Acolyte.

She returned to her role of X-23 for Deadpool & Wolverine, and has expressed 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 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.

6 The 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 in The Refugees is that she acted alongside her father, Will Keen, who was one of the series' leads.

5 Ana (2020)

Dafne Keen as Ana

Released in 2020, Ana tells 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.

Ana was shot entirely in Puerto Rico with an all-Puerto Rican crew.

Despite being released in 2020, Ana was actually shot just a few months after Logan came out, which marks the first acting job for Dafne Keen after Logan. 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 in Logan, but with even more differences. Dafne Keen continued to show how good of a child actor she actually was.

4 The Acolyte (2024)

Dafne Keen as Jecki Lon

The Acolyte Poster Showing Jedi Order, Mae, and a Sith Lord Holding Lightsabers

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The Acolyte
Release Date
2024 - 2024-00-00
Showrunner
Leslye Headland
Directors
Leslye Headland, Alex Garcia Lopez

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming

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.

Writers
Leslye Headland, Charmaine De Grate, Kor Adana
Franchise(s)
Star Wars
Seasons
1
Story By
Leslye Headland
Streaming Service(s)
Dis

Star Wars has grown incredibly divisive over the years, and The Acolyte got the full wrath from those who despise everything that Disney has done with the franchise. Still, The Acolyte isn'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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4

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 irable 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.

3 Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Dafne Keen as Laura / X-23

Deadpool and Wolverine Poster Showing Wade Wilson's Swords Showing Hugh Jackman's Reflection

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Deadpool & Wolverine
Release Date
July 26, 2024
Runtime
127 Minutes
Director
Shawn Levy

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming

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.

Writers
Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Shawn Levy, Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza
Prequel(s)
Deadpool 2
Franchise(s)
Deadpool, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Main Genre
Action
Studio(s)
Marvel, Maximum Effort
Distributor(s)
Disney

Seven years after Dafne Keen's breakthrough in Logan, she returned to her role of X-23 for Deadpool & Wolverine. It proved a smart move as Deadpool & Wolverine became the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, and one of Marvel's biggest films ever. Featuring a multiverse-spanning plot, Deadpool & Wolverine had 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 in Logan.

Dafne Keen as Laura / X-23

Logan

2017

Deadpool & Wolverine

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, and with the door open for her possible return in the future, Deadpool & Wolverine could be the next stepping stone in her career.

2 His Dark Materials (2019-2022)

Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua

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His Dark Materials
Release Date
2019 - 2022-00-00
Network
BBC, HBO Max
Directors
Tom Hooper

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming

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.

Writers
Philip Pullman
Seasons
3
Story By
philip pullman
Streaming Service(s)
MAX

His Dark Materials was the first major acting role for Dafne Keen after her breakthrough performance in Logan. Based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials is 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 carrying His Dark Materials on 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 her Logan role, showing just how much talent she had at a young age. She is tasked with carrying His Dark Materials on 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. If Logan wasn't convincing enough for some reason, His Dark Materials solidified Dafne Keen as one of the best young actors out there.

1 Logan (2017)

Dafne Keen as Laura / X-23

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Your Rating

Logan
Release Date
March 3, 2017
Runtime
137 Minutes
Director
James Mangold

WHERE TO WATCH

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.

Writers
James Mangold, Scott Frank, Michael Green
Prequel(s)
The Wolverine
Franchise(s)
X-Men
Budget
$97–127 million
Studio(s)
20th Century, Marvel
Distributor(s)
20th Century

When Logan came out in 2017, it was instantly thought of as one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. Eight years later, and Logan still 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 when Logan came 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 is Logan her best movie, it is her greatest performance.