Millie Bobby Brown screen-tested with Hugh Jackman for X-23 in Logan at age 11 or 12, but Dafne Keen won the role.
- Millie Bobby Brown said she was "11 or 12" when she screen-tested with Hugh Jackman for Logan, roughly a decade ago.
- She never named the role, but the film and the Jackman screen test strongly imply it was X-23.
- Dafne Keen won the role of Laura/X-23 in the 2017 film, having improvised part of her audition in Spanish.
- Brown said she felt "broken" not getting it but acknowledged "there was someone else that was better."
- Keen reprised X-23 in Deadpool and Wolverine; a return in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars is unconfirmed.
Millie Bobby Brown screen-tested with Hugh Jackman for a role in Logan when she was, in her words, “11 or 12” — the part that eventually went to Dafne Keen as X-23. She dropped the confession during an Entertainment Weekly video promoting Enola Holmes 3. Turns out the girl who became Eleven in Stranger Things was this close to a different franchise entirely.
[VIDEO EMBED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnGAMp68_yk&t=1s%5D
The reveal came during a game called Lie v. Lie, where Brown and co-star Louis Partridge take turns trying to bluff each other. As reported via Entertainment Weekly’s YouTube channel, Brown played the audition story so straight that Partridge almost didn’t buy it. It happened to be true.
What Millie Bobby Brown revealed
Brown said she auditioned for Logan at around 11 or 12 — roughly a decade ago — and screen-tested directly with Hugh Jackman himself.
She initially told Partridge the film was “the Wolverine movies,” a deliberate misdirection, before coming clean. “And it was for Logan. I just wanted to throw you off for the Wolverine movies,” she said. When asked how she felt after not landing it, her answer was blunt:
Broken. I felt like I probably didn’t get it because I think there was someone else that was better.
Millie Bobby Brown, Actress
Brown never explicitly named the role as X-23. But given the film and the fact she read opposite Jackman, it’s hard to imagine which other part it could have been — none of the other kids in the movie were auditioning with Wolverine himself.
Who plays X-23 in Logan
Dafne Keen was cast as Laura, aka X-23, in the 2017 film — and by most accounts, she earned it. 20th Century Fox previously released her audition online, showing a key scene between Keen and Jackman.
The reason it landed: Keen improvised, and performed part of the audition in Spanish. That choice added a layer to X-23’s character and built a language barrier between her and Wolverine that fed the whole dynamic of the film. Sometimes the right casting decision is just obvious once you see it, and Brown seems to agree — she conceded there was “someone else that was better.”
The Stranger Things timing that changed everything
Brown’s Logan audition likely happened right before Stranger Things Season 1 dropped in the summer of 2016 — meaning the producers were casting a relative unknown, not the household name she’d become months later.
It’s a tantalising bit of alternate-timeline thinking. Had that show been out, and had the Logan team seen Brown carry an entire Netflix series, the decision might have gone differently. Might. Keen’s audition suggests the outcome was earned regardless. Still, it’s fun to sit with — the same face-off that launched a decade of Hawkins storytelling could have easily gone toward Adamantium claws instead.
Where X-23 goes from here
Keen has already reprised X-23 once since Logan, popping up in Deadpool and Wolverine, so the character is in play. Whether she turns up again is where the speculation starts.
Given how stacked the casts for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars are shaping up to be, it wouldn’t be surprising to see X-23 resurface — though nothing has been officially confirmed on that front. File it under “plausible,” not “promised.”
Where to watch Enola Holmes 3 in the UAE
All of this came out while Brown was promoting Enola Holmes 3, which is now streaming on Netflix. That means it’s available in the UAE the same way the first two films were — no VPN acrobatics required, since Netflix operates here directly.
Brown returns as the teenage detective alongside Louis Partridge, whose own Lie v. Lie stories in the same video range from a disastrous singing audition to a questionable claim about set underwear. The Logan confession was, thankfully, the wholesome one.
FAQ
Did Millie Bobby Brown audition for Logan?
Yes. In an Entertainment Weekly video, Brown revealed she screen-tested with Hugh Jackman for a role in Logan when she was around 11 or 12. She didn’t name the part explicitly, but it was almost certainly X-23, which went to Dafne Keen.
Who plays X-23 in Logan?
Dafne Keen plays Laura, also known as X-23, in the 2017 film Logan. She later reprised the role in Deadpool and Wolverine.
How old was Millie Bobby Brown when she auditioned for Logan?
Brown said she was “like 11 or 12” when she screen-tested for the film, which she estimated was roughly a decade ago.
Where can I watch Enola Holmes 3 in the UAE?
Enola Holmes 3 is now streaming on Netflix, which operates directly in the UAE. It stars Millie Bobby Brown and Louis Partridge.
