The Umbrella Academy’s Allison actress reveals tragic reason why mind-controller refuses to use her powers

THE Umbrella Academy's master-manipulator Allison held back her powers of persuasion for a very specific reason in the second season.

The Netflix show, centred on the Hargreeves family of dysfunctional superheroes, sees Allison refrain from her supernatural skills, in scenarios where she previously may have employed them.

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The character, played by actress Emmy Raver-Lampman, can quickly employ the phrase "I heard a rumour" in order to kick start her power.

Yet the American actress, 31, told how those words were uttered less and less in The Umbrella Academy's season two - particularly when the scene was set in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

Instead, she kept the trick to herself while publicly campaigning for Black Rights in Texas.

Explaining the thought process behind the script, she told Collider: “We were depicting a thing that was a harsh reality and a massive part of people’s lives, who are still alive.

“So, I just wanted to be as respectful as possible, and to have as much understanding and information as I could, and as we could, as a show, to depict this monumental moment and movement for African Americans and for people of colour in America, but also all over the world.”

The Hargreeves siblings, all born on October 1, 1989, have special abilities that allowed them to fight crime as children and become superheroes.

Mysterious billionaire Reginald Hargreeves vows to adopt as many as possible and after extensive research and persuasion manages to take home seven babies. 

The Monocle, as he’s known in the comics, numbers his children in the order by how useful they are to him. 

Allison polls in at a not-too-shabby Number Three, after Luther Hargreeves and Diago Hargreeves.

Proving the power of her persuasive skills, which means she can coerce a person into believing, doing, saying or becoming anything she wants, Allison told a Soviet soldier telling him she heard a rumour she blew his mind.

No sooner had the words passed her lips, his head exploded in front of her. 

Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy is now available on Netflix.