The central theme of FOX and Marvel’s X-Men TV series The Gifted is family. While that theme is most focused on the Struckers, it reveals itself as well in Lorna Dane, aka Polaris, played by Emma Dumont.
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Lorna was on the cusp of starting a family of her own with fellow Mutant Underground leader Marcos “Eclipse” Diaz (Sean Teale) when she was reminded of her lineage as the daughter of Magneto, a former member of the Hellfire Club. In the first season’s finale, Lorna made the choice to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the Inner Circle.
As Season Two begins, six months have past and Dumont says Polaris is in a very different place now.
“At the beginning of Season Two, Lorna is very different from the end of Season One,” Dumont tells ComicBook.com during a visit to The Gifted‘s Atlanta set. “It’s been six months. She’s very pregnant. She’s about to have the baby and she’s in a different place emotionally. She’s actually pretty content. Over the course of episode one we see her get nervous and more suspicious and more scared but in the very beginning, she’s sort of just living her life. She has this fancy new place to live. She has these fancy new clothes. She’s almost unrecognizable.
“And then bam, everything changes.”
Lorna was pregnant with her and Marcos’ child when she made her dramatic exit from the Mutant Underground. Six months later the baby is ready to be born.
“Filming the delivery scene, the labor scene, was so crazy, probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done,” she says. “I went to work in the morning, put my pregnancy suit on, got my scrubs on and then I screamed for fourteen hours. And within those fourteen hours of me screaming there were cranes and stunts and things that were flying against walls and then there was a crane that crashed through the side of the of the building. I mean, it was really scary.
“It was a tough scene to film. It was really exhausting. It was the first time in mutant labor has ever been shown in live action anywhere, and that felt pretty special. I feel very honored but I wanted to do right by it. But I didn’t even realize reading the script how crazy it was going.”
Lorna has taken a few steps down the road her father tread, but Dumont says having a child of her own helps to keep Polaris grounded.
“Magneto is classically known for being like a caricature of a supervillain who gives a lot of speeches, likes to fly up, teach people a lesson, make society look at themselves,” she says. “Polaris this season, I’m just going to be straight up, doesn’t do any of that. She’s straight up just being a mom. I wish I could say she does a lot of really cool stuff but having a baby is kind of an anchor. There are some things early on in the season that she goes through with the baby’s health and other issues with Marcos, so she’s really just worried about her kid being alive.”
But the two sides of Polaris’ family story – her heritage as Magneto’s heir and her future with Marcos and their child – converge in a way that shows a surprising side of her father’s influence.
“Marcos and Lorna are separated. They haven’t talked in six months at the beginning of Season Two,” Dumont says. “There are interactions with Marcos and Lorna, and even Marcos and the baby, throughout the season. They’re really sad and heartbreaking though.
“Eventually Marcos and Lorna realize that, despite their differing political views, their powers together are much more powerful than their powers separate. So there are times when they realize, similar to Magneto and Xavier, where maybe sticking together isn’t the worst thing.”
Are you excited for The Gifted‘s return? Let us know in the comments!
The Gifted Season Two premieres Tuesday, Sept. 25th at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
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