Meet Marvel’s newest mutant: Rachel Keller!
According to Deadline, Keller is the first performer to be cast in Legion, FX’s upcoming X-Men spinoff pilot. Keller’s character is not named in the initial report, but she is described as the female lead, who is “a scrappy, optimistic woman in her 20s.” The report also compares her mutant powers to Rogue and Spyke, and notes that her abilities are tied to human touch.
Keller has been active as a professional actress since 2012, with guest spots on Supernatural and The Mentalist. But her biggest role to date was on Fargo’s second season as Simone Gerhardt, the rebellious and treacherous young woman who resented the way that her family treated her.
Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley is also writing Legion for FX, and he was said to have been very impressed by her turn in Fargo. If Legion goes to series, it will be Keller’s first starring role.
Related: X-Men Producer Simon Kinberg Offers Updates on Legion & Hellfire
Legion is loosely based on the X-Men character, David Haller, the son of Charles Xavier. Unlike other mutants, Haller suffers from multiple personalities, all of which have their own unique mutant powers. It’s not clear how closely the Legion series will follow Haller’s history and his ties to the X-Men, but the description of the series hints that the show will play with the idea that not everything Haller experiences is real.
“Since he was a teenager, David has struggled with mental illness. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real.”
Some of Haller’s personalities are female, which means that it’s not out of the question that Keller is playing one of his personalities.
Legion is expected to begin production on the pilot episode later this year. If a series order is given, Legion could potentially premiere on FX in the second half of 2016.
Are you excited to see Keller land her first starring role on Legion? Let us know in the comment section below!
