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‘His Dark Materials’ Star Dafne Keen on Taking on an ”Intricate, Complicated” Female Character
His Dark Materials stars Dafne Keen Dafne Keen, Amir Wilson and writer Jack Thorne on what's ahead in the BBC and HBO dark fantasy series' for season 3.

‘His Dark Materials’ Star Dafne Keen on Taking on an ”Intricate, Complicated” Female Character

Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson in ‘His Dark Materials’Courtesy of HBO

Cast and crew from BBC and HBO hit fantasy drama His Dark Materials took over the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday.

In a special session entitled “His Dark Materials – Pushing Boundaries in New Worlds,” stars Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson, fellow cast member Simone Kirby, writer Jack Thorne, director Amit Gupta and executive producer and founder of production firm Bad Wolf Jane Tranter spoke about working on the adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels.

They also shared exclusive clips from the upcoming third and final part of the trilogy that were well received by audience members, who were asked not to spoil details.

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The show follows the orphan Lyra as she searches for a missing friend and discovers a kidnapping plot related to an invisible cosmic substance called Dust.

Keen, who stars as Lyra Belacqua, or Lyra Silvertongue, said about her role that it was ”so interesting to investigate intricate, complicated female characters” as they are “usually deemed as dislikable.” She said she found playing Lyra interesting, “because we don’t get characters like her.”

Wilson, who stars as Will Parry, was asked how his character has changed at the start of season 3. “Will has grown up” and is “more self-aware and knows who he is more than before,” he said.

During the panel, Thorne lauded the show’s ensemble of actors. “People say stuff, but the truth of a scene is in the faces,” particularly in this show, he said. “Authorship is always ascribed to the writer, but authorship is shared across everyone in the production. And when you get to (season) three of a show, authorship is totally in the hands of the actors. And they are such beautiful, brilliant actors.”