‘The Gifted’ Star Emma Dumont Teases Magneto’s Role

Magneto’s presence is going to be felt in a major way in the remaining episodes of The Gifted‘s first season.

ComicBook.com spoke to Emma Dumont, The Gifted star who plays Lorna Dane, Magneto’s mutant daughter Polaris, about Magneto’s growing influence in the series.

“Coming up in the season, and specifically episodes 12 and 13, our finale episodes, Polaris struggles with…she thinks there are two paths,” Dumont said. “What she believes and what she wants, what her personal beliefs are and what she thinks is right, and then the other path is what she was born to do, which is be Magneto’s daughter, which is to take over his legacy. But what Lorna doesn’t realize is those two things are exactly the same, and she finally does realize that eventually in the season, later on, and that really terrifies her.”

Polaris know her father primarily through reputation. The master of magnetism and his mutant terrorist organization the Brotherhood of Mutant do exist in the world of The Gifted, though they disappeared at the same time that the X-Men did. Dumont reveals that Polaris has received some correspondence from her distant father, and even though Lorna may resent him, Dumont believes it’s clear that Polaris is Magneto’s true heir.

“She hasn’t heard great things about her father,” Dumont continued. “She’s heard bad things about her father, in fact. Her chosen family, the Mutant Underground, they don’t think highly of him. They think he was a bad guy. Anyone would hurt a human is bad, even if it saves 200 mutants lives. It’s still bad. But for her it’s not that bad. You know, having this man who, every couple of years will reach out to her, very ominously, or whatever, but still refuses to be in her life, she hates him, as most daughters whose father’s abandoned them would. But she still can’t deny she is exactly like him, in every way. Even her mutant abilities are the same. She is his only living birth child. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, sure. They’re just made from his DNA. She is literally exactly like him, and she can’t deny that, but she’s really scared of it. She’s really, really scared of it.”

“Magneto plays a big part in the rest of the season,” she added, “even though he’s never there, and it’s a big part of her storyline.”

Currently, Polaris is pregnant, and her recent reunion with lover Eclipse after she was rescued from prison should have been the beginning of a happier time, or at least as happy as it gets when you’re constantly on the run from authorities. However, Eclipse’s decision to go back to work for the cartel in order to pay off the debt he owes his old girlfriend, Carmen, has cast a pall on their relationship, and the similarities between Eclipse’s behavior and what Polaris knows of Magneto’s actions only makes matters worse.

“Seeing Marcos go back with Carmen was really scary for her,” Dumont said. “She doesn’t need Marcos. I think she thinks she doesn’t need him, but I think we all know she does. Birthing a baby to a man that willingly would hurt people, and blow things up, and do things for no reason, not to save anyone, not to do any good, would use his powers for evil, really, made her really scared. And knowing that her father is not part of her life, Magneto, and that he’s someone who has been viewed as using his powers for evil, even though she doesn’t. Later on in the season we get to all that, but she doesn’t want Marcos to be Magneto. She doesn’t want Marcos to abandon this child like her father did her. So, that’s also a thought that’s running in her head.”

“And I think Marcos doesn’t trust her,” she said. “Her mental disorder comes up later in the season, and Marcos can’t really tell if the things she’s saying or doing is because of her, if it’s because of the pregnancy hormones, or is it because of her mental illness, So, he’s very on edge on her. But that offends her. She gets offended when he chalks her feelings and thoughts up to mental illness. That’s rude and disrespectful.”

As exciting as Magneto’s involvement with The Gifted is for fans, however indirect it may be, Dumont is determined to make sure Polaris’ agency is recognized.

“I think something I’ve struggled with personally is I want to make sure that people understand that her choices are her own,” Dumont added. “No matter what, no matter who is influencing her, no matter what happens, her choices are always her own. Just like her father. No one can tell her what to do.”

The Gifted airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.