Legion: Jean Smart Shares Her Approach To A Caretaker Role

While Legion remains entirely separate from the X-Men movie universe, the acclaimed FX series has a lot in common with the merry mutants.

Melanie Bird leads and cares for a ragtag group in her secret base called Summerland, much like Professor Xavier at his institute. ComicBook.com managed to speak with Melanie actor Jean Smart at San Diego Comic-Con where she discussed her role as a caretaker. Watch the clip above!

“She’s kind of a sad figure in some ways,” Smart said. “I feel like she and her husband [Oliver] were probably such a great partnership and they started this place along with their friend Cary. And then to have her husband go away from her, and she’s been waiting 20 years. All she can do is just continue their work and hope and pray that someday one of these special people will be the key to unlock him and get her husband back.”

Smart admitted her character’s reasons are not “entirely altruistic.”

“She’s waiting for that person to show up,” Smart said, “and she met David, and I think she thought ‘he could be the one, I might get Oliver back.’ And it actually worked, but she didn’t really get Oliver back. So it’s kind of heartbreaking for her.”

Though David Haller helps Melanie bring Oliver back from being lost in the Astral Plane, his memory is scrambled and he doesn’t remember his wife. Then the moment he regains those memories his mind is taken over by the Shadow King, who forces him to abandon Summerland in the closing moments of the first season finale.

Hopefully we’ll see some happiness in Melanie’s life, despite her less than noble intentions, when Legion returns for Season Two in 2018.

David Haller, a.k.a. Legion, is a haunted man with power beyond comprehension. His power does not come free, but at the steep cost of David’s mind. Plagued by numerous split personalities – each commanding a different aspect of his power – David is trying to find his way back to sanity. But he’s getting tired and about to give up until he meets the girl of his dreams.