Rachel Keller is on a roll. The breakout star from this past season of "Fargo" was announced as the female lead for "Legion," FX's X-Men spinoff pilot from "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley. Keller's character is described as "a scrappy, optimistic woman in her 20s." Details beyond that are few and far between, but the talented up-and-coming actress responded to the news with obvious enthusiasm.
"I started to cry when I found out," Keller told Headlines & Global News exclusively. "FX and Noah are so fearless. They aren't afraid of trying anything and I hope to do the same...When Noah told me, I asked him, 'Why are you changing my life?'...I'm just very fortunate."
Unconfirmed rumors about her character's mutant powers have suggested her abilities are tied to human touch, evoking X-Men characters such as Rogue and Spyke. However, it's doubtful that Marvel TV would sign off on the usage of those characters as they have already appeared in 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" films. Regardless, she's already diving into her prep work.
"I'm not a huge comic book nerd, but I've started to wade through classic 1985 'X-Men' comics just to get a feel for the universe. It's hard, though, because Noah has such a different and unique take on it. It's all very exciting," she said.
"Legion" will follow the story of Marvel Comics character David Haller, the son of X-Men founder Charles Xavier. At an early age, David was diagnosed with schizophrenia after complaining of hearing voices and seeing visions. However, after an unusual encounter with a fellow patient at a psychiatric hospital, David begins to believe he may not be crazy after all.
Hawley will write the pilot and serve as an executive producer along with Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer and Marvel TV president Jeph Loeb.
