Actor Dafne keen says that her role in His Dark Materials was nerve-wracking. By Team Viva
Who is Lyra?
Lyra is a curious, cunning, and adventurous girl. She’s very intelligent, street smart, and a tomboy. I love her. When we first met her she was racing with her best friend Roger. From a distant she appeared as a ball of energy. But then that gradually changed by the end of the day.
The thing that most describes Lyra for me is a line that Ma Costa says in the books. When Lyra says that she wants to be a Gyptian, she says, “You’re not a Gyptian Lyra. Gyptians are water people and you’re marsh fire.”
How did you feel when you got the role?
It was nerve-wracking. I was like, ‘oh my god, so many people have read the books and love Lyra.’ Every time I go somewhere and people know I’m playing Lyra they are like, ‘she’s the role model of my childhood.’ It is very special.
For someone who’s never read the books, what would you say His Dark Materials is about?
It is about growing up. Even though it’s decorated with fantasy and stuff but it portrays the story of a child turning into a woman. Book one describes the system trying to rip us of our souls and our personality, which is what dæmons represent. The whole thing is not necessarily a criticism of the system but it questions them.
Why do you think the novels are popular and enduring?
It is so because they are very easy to connect with. It is a youth-centric book. While reading it, you can really imagine that you’re Lyra and you’re living her adventure. It is very gripping. But it’s intelligent fun. You will have to put effort to read it and not like, ‘I’m really tired, let’s just read this.’ You just invest a bit of your time and energy in novels and get a lot of knowledge on a particular subject.
What or who is the Magisterium?
Well, that’s the thing. You don’t really understand it. They are sort of like the body of the church or the government. They do horrible things — basically rip people’s soul out, which is bad. Yes, they’re not very great figures, I’d say. But they believe that that’s the right thing. They think that original sin is wrong, dust is bad and dæmons don’t help. I really think they’re trying to do it for the greater good. So they are bad in our eyes, but not in their eyes.
Can you explain what a dæmon is?
A dæmon is your soul or rather an expression of your soul. When you’re a child, it changes because you’re still changing. But as you grow up as an adult it fixes into what most represents your personality. Lyra is a kid so her dæmon still changes but it’s mostly an ermine and his name is Pantalaimon.
Is Pan in any way different than Lyra or just an extension of her?
He’s a bit different than her because obviously your soul is more responsible and wiser than you. Lyra’s like, ‘Woo, let’s jump off a roof.’ Pan’s like, ‘No, don’t. You’re going to die.’ He’s more responsible than her, but they are pretty similar.
What was the hardest part for you when filming with dæmons?
It is when you have to hold the ermine and they say ‘you can’t, your palm has to be bigger than that’ while you will say that it’s fine. It was really hard to remember all this perfectly when you shoot.
Were there some real animals involved in filming?
Yes, they were. We had a gecko and a few dogs. We had to remove one dog because it looked into the camera and smiled. That didn’t go well. We also had a snake and Milo, Farder Coram’s cat. He was brilliant.
Is it true Lin-Manuel Miranda is always singing?
Yes, he does sing, but I also sing so we were always singing together. Every time Lin turned around and we were in the air balloon, me and Lewin (Lloyd) would sing Hamilton because we were too embarrassed to sing it on his face. I love Ruth too, she’s brilliant. Doing scenes with her is so fun. She’s very psychopathic and then she’s really nice in real life, so it’s cool.
(The series premieres on Star World on November 24 at 9 pm.)
