The Gifted cast share a superpower – love for their pets

The cast of Fox ensemble action drama “The Gifted” has one heck of a superpower in their powerful puppy love.

Everyone loves their dogs (and/or cats, depending on the person). The cast of Fox’s ensemble action drama The Gifted, based on Marvel’s X-Men characters and currently in the middle of its second season, is no different.

The show, which stars Amy Acker, Jamie Chung, Emma Dumont, Natalie Alyn Lind, Stephen Moyer, Blair Redford, Skyler Samuels, Sean Teale and Percy Hynes White, exists in a world where the X-Men no longer exist, and to be a mutant is to risk your life on a daily basis.

Despite having characters who read minds, teleport or shoot lasers out of their hands, it’s a very realistic and gray series that demands a lot of pondering on the issues raised after the credits roll each episode.

There is even a dog on the show – a recurring gray Border Collie named Zingo, who belongs to Blair Redford’s character of John Proudstar/Thunderbird, who serves as the unofficial mascot of the Atlanta chapter of the Mutant Underground.

According to the official Twitter account of the show’s writing staff, Zingo possesses the (rather common) canine superpowers of “barking and loving all mutants unconditionally.”

Emma Dumont, who plays Magneto’s daughter Lorna Dane/Polaris, adopted a Lab mix named Zoe about a year ago, and they go on lots of adventures together whenever filming allows.

As maybe the most famous Gifted pup, of course Zoe has her own Instagram page, which she updates fairly often by dog standards. (It’s hard to type without thumbs.)

Jamie Chung, who plays the snarky teleporter Clarice Fong/Blink, has a little Schnauzer/Shih Tzu mix named Ewok, who is one of Zoe’s best friends. Chung told People in 2017 that Ewok was kind of a “training baby” for her and her husband.

Chung has also appeared in Petco videos urging for the adoption of shelter dogs.

Ewok gets into LOTS of trouble, according to Zoe. He loves the Hollywood life.

Stephen Moyer’s (Reed Strucker) two dogs, Dave and Banjo, have their own page, too. They don’t post very often, because they’re too busy napping.

In real life, Moyer is married to Anna Paquin, who played Rogue in the X-Men film series.

Sadly, his onscreen wife Amy Acker’s (Caitlin Strucker) pup Wally died suddenly in early November.

Some of Acker’s earliest roles were as characters in the stage-play segments of beloved 1990s PBS series Wishbone, starring an extremely well-read Jack Russell Terrier from the Dallas area.

One of several Season 2 antagonists is Reeva Payge, played by Grace Byers. In real life, Byers has a little dog named Baron.

Skyler Samuels, who has the recurring roles of the telepathic Frost sisters Esme, Sophie and Phoebe, also has a small tan fluffer, called Matey.

Hayley Lovitt, who has the recurring role of Sage the communications expert/IT troubleshooter, is more of a cat person, with two named Marty and McFly.

Natalie Alyn Lind, who plays the forcefield projector Lauren Strucker, has a dog named Georgie, though she doesn’t appear in any of Lind’s Instagram photos.

For more coverage of The Gifted, check Bam Smack Pow each week for reviews of each episode (airs on Tuesday nights) and the latest in superhero TV/movie news.