The X-Men film franchise has expanded into TV this past fall with the FOX series The Gifted. What the show does so well is go deeper into the struggles of being a mutant in human society, something that actress Emma Dumont is all too familiar with by playing character Lorna Dane AKA Polaris. The young star has been a fan of the X-Men comics and the films before she auditioned for the role. However, she hasn’t even heard of Polaris from the X-Men. “I was pretty familiar with the comics, obviously loved the films, but I wasn’t familiar at all with Polaris. In fact, I barely knew who she was because this went to the obviously famous children of Magento, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.”
However, she found out just how amazing the character was when she first did her research on her, proving to be just as formidable as her infamous father Magneto. “Polaris is amazing, she’s literally her father’s daughter in every way, has his exact powers, and the same type of mentality, and she had some sort of aggression issues and other things but also on a more serious note, she has suffered some mental illness like she does in the original mythology.” With the research also comes the fact that Emma had to make sure the character was being portrayed pretty faithfully to the source material. “First and foremost, stepping into something like a Marvel project is insane. I mean my character is from 1968 and she’s the second female X-Men ever. It’s exciting but it’s also a great amount of pressure to do right by the character.”
Lorna has had a dark past from the comics, and it seems like The Gifted is narrating her background a little bit differently. According to Emma, we do still get to see that tragic character on screen. “The original Lorna killed her own parents so that’s heartbreaking on it’s own, but I don’t know if happened the same way for our Lorna. However, this is still very dark, tragic, and sad but also it makes her a hero in a way because she’s been through so much.”
Fans were treated with some knowledge of Lorna’s history, which became pretty clear when The Gifted went a little deep into the strained relationship with her father. Emma revealed that she wasn’t sure they would get into that part of her life until later on in the series, but she was glad that the show tackled that right out of the gate. “This season actually touches on the relationship with Magneto quite a bit, more than I originally thought we would. I didn’t think we would get around to that until season two or three.” Emma also explained that Lorna hears these stories about her powerful father, but it seems she doesn’t want to become like him. “She knows who her father is, she’s heard rumors her whole life about her father being this extremely powerful and magnificent mutant but also a bad guy and he hurts humans for the sake of saving the mutant race. She doesn’t really know how she feels about him.” She later added, “In fact, she despises him, I mean this man is exactly like her in every way down to their mutant abilities and he has chosen not to be in her life at all.” Even though Lorna is different from her father in some ways, she does seem to have the same beliefs as him, according to the actress. “Every day, he makes that choice and we see how that affects her towards the last three episodes of the season. We really get into that and why she doesn’t want to be considered a bad guy but also she shares the same political beliefs as her father.”
With Lorna carrying her child with fellow mutant Marcos/Eclipse, it does tend to complicate things for Magneto’s daughter as they attempt to survive in a world full of hatred for their kind. “Lorna’s future with Marcos is yet to be determined. I mean look, they’re fighting every day, it’s life or death, the stakes are high, and they have to fight every day to keep their relationship alive and stay together.” Emma sees both of them as individuals who see the world differently, which affects their relationship. “Lorna is someone who, when she sees a white supremacist attacking a minority in public, she would go in, step in, and do something physically to help that person. Marcos, on the other hand is someone who believes that change is happening even though it’s happening very slowly.” Emma also sees the dangers that Lorna faces of carrying a child while on the run from authorities. “Every day is one less day she has to change the world she brings her child into. This child will be born into a world where from the day it is born, it will be hunted by many anti-mutant groups.”
What the show also tackles so well is Lorna’s struggle with her mental illness, which is a major component to her character, which reflects on Emma’s performance.“ It’s funny because with bipolar disorder, what may seem totally normal and good to one person may not seem that way to another person. So Lorna, towards the end of the season, goes through a bout of mania or potentially not a bout a mania.” Emma explains that with Lorna pregnant, it seems she may be in control of herself, but it doesn’t seem to sit well with Marcos. “For Lorna, she feels great, fantastic, and the best she’s ever felt. She feels powerful, she’s happy about her pregnancy. So she’s feeling the best she’s ever felt, but to Marcos, those are warning signs of a bipolar episode so he’s very careful and gentle about how he approaches her and the decisions she makes.” Emma made her stance on how she feels about this, saying that Lorna doesn’t believe her mental illness will be an issue with what’s she’s dealing with in her own life. “I think things are becoming more high stakes and she’s having to make harder decisions but because Marcos maybe doesn’t fully understand or is scared, he labels those choices and aligns them with her mental illness which isn’t fair of them and actually very offensive. So we definitely address it, it definitely is a thing between the two of them, and it’s unfortunate that they aren’t on the same page about that.”
This also brings into conflict with the Strucker family, something that we got to into at the forefront of the series. Emma went on to talk about the ongoing clash between her and the family of the man who tried to lock her away. “She does not trust Reed Strucker and may never trust him because of his past. She thinks that just because one day she woke up and realized that he was Nazi, doesn’t mean he now gets to be forgiven for all the horrible things he has done. I think that relationship is set and there’s nothing to be done about it.” With them on the same side, it does tend to complicate things for Lorna. However, Emma does see some similarities with her character and that of Reed’s wife Caitlin. “The only person that’s very close to her that could relate to her current situation becoming a new mother in a stressful environment is Caitlin Strucker so they actually have quite a bit in common.” She also said, “Caitlin used to go to work every day and save lives in the ER and Lorna everyday gets up and tries to save lives in the Underground so these two women are actually both very fierce and should be strong role models to young people.” Emma sees the two women also bashing heads with their different political beliefs. “Lorna thinks that Caitlin is naïve to what is going on in the grant political climate, especially for mutants and other minorities. She thinks she’s spoiled, I mean what would anyone else think if I saw this woman who’s never had to suffer the prejudices and the stigmas that go along with being a minor. I would think she has no idea what she’s talking about.”
There were some unexpected tragedies in this fight for survival, with the biggest being Sonya’s death at the hands of Sentinel Services. Emma sees Lorna being affected by her death the most since they had so much history working together in the Mutant Underground. “I feel like the two people that are affected by it and hurt the most are Lorna and Johnny but they both react in different ways. I’d say Johnny is heartbroken; he is a mess when this happens. Lorna, on the other hand, is upset and heartbroken and that’s a tragic thing that happened and I think she blames herself that she wasn’t there to save Sonya because she always has been.”
Being a fan of the X-Men, Emma has high hopes for the series and her character. One of her requests for the show is to see Lorna’s powers get expanded as she develops them further. “I’m really excited to explore her powers more and I’m really stoked for Polaris to step into her father’s helmet. I’m such a nerd but I’m excited to see her basically turn into Magneto and really come into her own. She’s such a tough and stubborn woman but there’s even more fight in her and we’ve barely touched the surface of it and I’m really excited for that.” With the series picked up for season two, she hopes to see where Polaris heads to. “Personally, I'm super excited to see where Polaris goes. I really want to know what happens with her pregnancy and the baby and of course her relationship with Marcos. I would love to get more into her family background - maybe have a flashback where we show her powers manifesting for the first time. That would be super cool.”
What is great about the show is it tackles the theme of family, which is something that Emma got to experience working with this big cast. “Working with our cast is lovely and so amazing to come to work with such dedicated and professional people who are so giving. It’s crazy and emotion. I mean every week we get together on Mondays to watch the show and we all sit and cry and laugh together. We’re really a family and I know that’s so lame because this show is about family but it’s really the truth.” Besides herself, Emma also loves the fact that the cast are also such fans of The Gifted. “It's great being on a show where your cast members are actually fans of the show. We all love it so much, but it's probably annoying to our writers.”
Check out The Gifted Monday nights at 9pm/8pm Central on FOX.