TAINTED LOVE

Rachel Keller talks romance turned sour in the new season

Legion season three brings David (Dan Stevens) and Syd’s story to a close, but that doesn’t mean the actors, or the audience, will get absolute clarity with this closure. At this point, do you feel like you now have a better handle on the whole story?

I’m still wrapping my head around this whole show. I feel like at the end of it, maybe, I’ll have a better understanding about what it all meant, and what it is.

The love story has been the beating heart of the story, even when everything else gets very weird. Is there any hope for their love to continue this season post David’s rape of Syd?

I wonder if the nature of unconditional love is in the balance here. I think we see her grappling with that in season three. We’re seeing her grapple with, “Here’s this guy that did this thing, and I feel this way about him. Am I allowed to still love him? Is that wrong? Am I wrong?” Who she is and how she is – as if she were a mutant, or an outsider, as if she were having this emotional connection to this man who did this horrible thing to her and to other people.

Losing her trust in David and the fallout from that this season seems pretty sobering to play out?

I was almost thrilled at the idea of things getting a bit more real for her, and what that would mean for her. I think I’ve always wanted a wide range of the young female experience, which is sometimes declarative and self-aware and knowing, and sometimes not. I was really hoping that this would break it open.

Was there a highlight episode for you last season?

I had this really great episode (“Chapter 12”) playing the 16-year-old version of myself. I really enjoyed that show from last season.

The Legion ensemble is pretty large. Who does Syd spend a lot of her time with this season?

For the most part, I have been acting with Navid (Negahban), who plays Farouk, which has been interesting. Not a lot with [Dan]. But we’ll talk to each other like, “Who is this? I don’t have your number saved!”

Legion is your second Noah Hawley TV series. Do you think you’ll stay in the medium?

I’m quite new to television, so I don’t really know historically what feels most like home. Theatre has always felt like home because my dad was an actor, and I grew up in the theatre. So this, I kind of feel like I’m visiting, and I’m learning about what all this is.