Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne) shares hopes for The Sandman season 2

Netflix’s The Sandman follows Dream of the Endless, the king of dreams and ruler of the Dreaming, the place we visit when we fall asleep. Dream has a variety of trusted assistants, including Matthew the Raven, Mervyn Pumpkinhead, and Lucienne. The latter is basicallyDream’s right-hand man, although she’s also his librarian.

In the comics, the character is Lucien is a white man. But for the live-action adaptation, Netflix cast actress Vivienne Acheampong. She plays the part wonderfully, capturing the character’s steadfast loyalty and sensibility with ease.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Acheampong discussed her time on the show, how she came to play Lucienne, and her hopes for season 2. “I had heard of The Sandman, but I wasn’t that familiar with the work,” she said.

"When I first auditioned, I was told that I was auditioning for Unity Kinkaid. Then when I got a callback, it was for Lucienne, although the name was different, so I looked into it. When I had my third callback, I got some source material, and as soon as I did a deep dive, I was obsessed."

Unity Kinkaid is Rose Walker’s great-great grandmother who suffered from sleepy sickness. It’s a significantly smaller role than Lucienne, so this worked out nicely.

Vivienne Acheampong’s favorite Sandman scene involved the Corinthian

According to Acheampong, the most important thing about Lucienne is her loyalty. She sticks with Morpheus through everything, even if they don’t see eye-to-eye all of the time. “There’s such a deep, unique, sacred bond between her and Morpheus. Even though there is that dynamic where he’s her boss for all intents and purposes, there’s just a real deep connection and a love that she has for him.”

And as Lucienne is devoted to Dream, so Acheampong pretty fond of actor Tom Sturridge. “I met him and he just flooded me with gorgeousness and I absolutely loved him. Then we get on set and he’s Morpheus. It was incredible because we built that bond so quickly. It was a really safe space to just live in these characters. He’s so generous as an actor, he gives you so much. I think people can see that he’s absolutely mind-blowing in this role. So working with him was just incredible because he’s so detailed in this character.”

That said, Acheampong’s favorite scene didn’t involve Sturridge. Instead, it’s the moment the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) returns to the Dreaming and is confronted by Lucienne. “[T]hat was a bit last-minute,” Acheampong said. “And I was like, ‘He’s just so good,’ because he’s this terrifying character. He’s this nightmare. He’s just awful. But yet you love him and he’s got this charm. And at the end, I really feel for him. I’d love to do more scenes with the Corinthian because that was really thrilling to work with.”

The Corinthian and Lucienne are polar opposites in every way. I would definitely love to see them share more scenes.

What Vivienne Acheampong hopes to see in The Sandman season 2

The Sandman season 1 is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot of comic left to adapt. We haven’t even met all of Dream’s siblings yet.

Season 2 will adapt the “Season of Mists” storyline from the comics, where we’re introduced to Delirium and Destiny. During the prologue, the whole family gets together (well, except for Destruction) and it’s an event.

“If the Endless had a family get-together, I’d love Lucienne to just be there, being like, ‘Guys, I’ve come to be a mediator, mentor, whatever you need me to be,’” Acheampong said. “But I would just love to see all those siblings together, I think it would be incredible.”

As it happens, when we interviewed Mason Alexander Park (Desire) about the show, they cited the family meeting from “Season of Mists” as the scene they’re most looking forward to. “I’m really looking forward to many moments in the comics, but seeing the family together for the first time in ‘Season of Mists’ is super exciting to me. There’s something very Succession about the whole thing, and who doesn’t want to be the person making all the fuss at a dinner party!”

All 11 episodes of The Sandman season one are currently streaming on Netflix. A renewal hasn’t been confirmed yet, although things are looking good. Currently, Sandman has been watched for over 328 million hours in total! If that’s not enough reason to renew it, I don’t know what is.

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