In the central, prismatic role on FX‘s Legion, Dan Stevens gives life to a classic character that seemed impossible to depict on screen — David Haller, a possibly all-powerful mutant and likely biological son of the X-Men‘s famous Charles Xavier.
The popularity of the show has been incredible and eye-opening at the same time. It also has given Stevens a unique take his piece of the puzzle.
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“David is an absolutely delicious role, it’s really sort of role of a lifetime kind of stuff,” Stevens said. “There’s something about a long-haul narrative with a character like this. You really get to go to some kinds of interesting places with some very interesting people.”
Stevens’s starring performance flips the paradigm of superhero acting on its head. The character bucks the trend of gritty and mysterious action heroes, instead telling the story of an unstable young man who must ask himself what’s real and who can be trusted, down to the most basic level.
“The ideas that he’s been told he’s schizophrenic, and that he’s this and that [disorder], have really defined him for the majority of his life,” Stevens said. “It’s about dismantling that and reassembling something in its place. There’s a weird kind of adolescence that we go through.”
Stevens traces some of the unique basis for the character to his iconic original creators.
[MORE LEGION NEWS: Season Two Will NOT Follow Comic Canon]
“Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz’s conception [of David Haller] is incredibly useful,” he said. “(David’s) mania, his mental state, his capabilities, his potential; also his dry sense of humor. There’s a certain kind of raw, weary wit to him that I really like from the comic books.”
Like David himself, the series has taken a dramatic evolution.
The first hour, written and then directed by series creator Noah Hawley months before the opening season’s structure was set, deliberately left many questions for the audience. Those questions were only barely more “answered” for the cast themselves.
The Bollywood-inspired dance sequence which officially marks the opening chapter as the beginning of a unique project — in television or otherwise — may be the best example.
“I think going for dance lessons with [the cast] is an incredible way of getting to know people. It breaks down a lot of barriers. And it’s also really fun,” Stevens said.
“None of us quite knew how it was going to be used…. we offered [a few routines] up to Noah and he said [of the Bollywood sequence], ‘This is what’s going to happen.’ I think the only stage direction was ‘They dance.’”
The way the sequence came together seems an apt metaphor for the extensively collaborative nature on set of Legion.
Stevens credited the diverse talents of the series’ several directors as well as the “rounding off” provided by co-executive producer Michael Uppendahl (who directed chapters two, three, and eight) as part of why making Legion was extraordinarily fun.
“There’s a little bit of mischief going on in terms of how playful a show it is,” Stevens said.
Legion is unique in many ways — but allowing a lead actor like Stevens to share the screen with dynamic comedic performers is near the top of its singular qualities.
“Bill [Irwin] is one of America’s greatest living clowns really” Stevens said. “And I mean that in the serious clowning sense!”
Stevens credits the widely talented actor who appears alongside him as everyone’s favorite geeky scientist, Cary Loudermilk, for much of the playfulness on set.
“I think his experience in theater, his knowledge of his own physicality and timing is quite amazing,” he added. “Jjust to be around those kind of people and performers at work is inspiring. It only serves to infuse the set with a real sense of fun and also a real sense that something cool was happening.”
Stevens shares many memorable moments with Irwin in the series — including another unexpected dance sequence where David lies stationary while Cary dances in his lab, somehow sharing experiences with partners separated by great distances.
With help from the multitalented cast, from Irwin to musician/comedian/director/actor Jemaine Clement, the daily surprises of making Legion were not simply manageable. They became tools to foster the show’s particular energy.
Also in that category is Aubrey Plaza, in a surprisingly cast turn to true darkness as David’s addict “friend” — or something more like a frenemy — Lenny Busker. Since Plaza had to keep her role a secret from most everyone on set, Stevens said that the questions cast and crew alike had about Legion‘s mysteries became a communal experience.
“The show was intended to have a sort of experiential effect… to really try and get inside of David’s head and the way he has been in this situation,” Stevens said. “I think some of the confusion is deliberate — and quite effective, I think.”
Now that Legion‘s first season has aired in full, fans online have jumped into the same game.
As the legion of fans on Twitter or Reddit know, each chapter is full of peculiar detail, leaving hundreds of open ends or more that observers can view as a cosmic network of David’s understanding — or their own.
“I was seeing [details watching Legion] the third time around that I hadn’t the first few times—and I’m in it!,” Stevens said. “There’s things with the sound, there’s little effects here and there, little Easter eggs here and there. So, it’s very sneaky in that way.
“We were all convinced there were scenes in there we hadn’t seen before or they had somehow appeared… we kept finding ourselves in the different places where we thought the story was going or [wondering] which one of these things was reality. There were all these ideas we were spinning around. I would love to read people’s explanations of what’s going on!”
But in the beginning and end, David’s dance is always about Syd Barrett (co-star Rachel Keller). The two leads share many scenes alone together and their unique relationship has become the touchpoint for some of the series’ more unhinged moments.
“David and Syd had to develop ways to communicate without threatening their relationship with physical contact,” Stevens explained. “They occupy a slightly different space together, which becomes really central to the drive of the story…. it’s not the same as what a love story is, really. There a lot of different ways they are very much driven apart by David’s preoccupations… or what’s going on inside his head. The control he’s given up.
“There also forces at play that are kind of feeding his attraction to her, her attraction to him… it’s not a smooth sailing relationship.”
With Legion returning for season two, it means that Stevens and the cast will be back in their roles fairly shortly even though the wider public has barely digested the first set of episodes.
“It’s a fun line to play with where he feels like he’s got a grip on things — or he’s got a grip on one or two things — but the rest is still very much up in the air. There are a lot of things flying around up there!”
In its first season, Legion and its influence grew with each new chapter. Until then, fans will be watching forwards and backwards to catch the show from as many angles as possible.
— Zach Ellin has provided coverage Legion coverage for ComicBook.com throughout the entire season of the show. Follow him on Twitter for more of his insights.
EPISODE RECAPS: Episode One | Episode Two | Episode Three |Episode Four | Episode Five | Episode Six | Episode Seven | Season Finale
