Quotes

My intention is always to honor the character that Lev [Grossman] created in the books and my greatest concern, honestly, is that the fans of the books will embrace me as this character that they've imagined in their heads.

In The Magicians, the Harry Potter and Narnia influences are obviously there- but the glow of childhood has been replaced by the sobering reality of adult problems and concerns, including complex dynamics between friends, lovers and chosen family.

I grew up loving fantasy, adventure, and children's book series. At the time, I was in a place in LA where I wasn't working much and asked myself, "What do I really want to do? What kind of role would be really exciting for me?" And I imagined an adventurous, magical, fantasy world and playing an powerful and sophisticated, sexually fluid dandy. Then I got an audition for the show [The Magicians] shortly after.

If I remember correctly, C. S. Lewis was an inspiration from Lev Grossman's childhood. I know Brideshead Revisited inspired certain structural influences as well as the dynamic between Quentin and Eliot.

The Magicians shuffles conventional fantasy tropes from Christian literature (good vs. evil, etc) and subverts the expectations of the traditional male hero. The books and show allow for deeper questions about the nature of our humanity in the face of life or death situations, but also the challenges of everyday life that are revealed in adulthood after the shimmer of childhood has worn off.. We're all constantly evolving, and I like that in both Lev Grossman's books and the show, the characters and story lines were allowed to grow and shift in surprising ways outside of an old school expectation of genre.