‘Legion’ Star Jeremie Harris Talks About His Mutant Character Ptonomy Wallace

Who is Ptonomy Wallace?

Towards the end of the series premiere of “Legion,” David (Dan Stevens) was rescued by a team of mutants from the seemingly nefarious government agency interrogating him. One of the super-powered humans who saved him was Ptonomy. While Ptonomy was introduced in the last few minutes of the episode, its portrayer, Jeremie Harris, said that his character is one of the people around David who will get to know how special he is from other mutants.

Ptonomy is a memory artist, and while that sounds pretty cool, that label actually comes with a lot of burden.

“After I booked the show, I spoke to [creator] Noah [Hawley], and he just talked to me about Ptonomy being a memory artist and remembering everything that happened in his life,” Harris told Interview magazine. “He wanted me to think about the complexity of that, how much of a burden that can be to never let go of any traumatic thing that ever happened in your life, versus something that may be really cool. Also the idea that I can go into other people’s memories and see so much of what other people have experienced in their life that they may never share with anyone else, and how that can affect a person.”

When asked what Ptonomy’s dynamic with David will be like, Harris said: “I do think that through the season as he spends more time with David, he realizes, ‘Okay, this is someone who I’ve never encountered before,’ which makes this interesting. That builds as the series goes along.”

Personality-wise, Ptonomy is a very practical man. “He’s straightforward,” Harris told TV Insider. “He doesn’t like to beat around the bush. He likes to say things and get things done in the most efficient ways possible. I try to think about that [as] someone who has seen a lot and experienced a lot and doesn’t have time for a lot of the BS, I guess, of the emotions.”

In a preview clip teasing episode 2 and the rest of the show’s freshman run, Ptonomy tells David why they — Melanie’s (Jean Smart) group — rescued him. “We’re at war and we’re losing, and you maybe the powerful mutant alive,” Ptonomy reveals to David in the promo video.

“Legion” Season 1, episode 2 airs on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 10 p.m. EST on FX.