
Stella Maeve as Julia Wicker in The Magicians. Photo copyright of Shaw Media/Syfy.
As socially awkward teenagers, Julia Wicker and Quentin Coldwater shared a love of Fillory and Further. Within the pages of these books, these two best friends could escape into a magical world where just about anything was possible. However, as is true of many things in life, their interest began to wane as they got a little bit older, or at least Julia’s did. After graduating high school, she embraced what the real world had to offer, while Quentin found it difficult to abandon this fictional realm. Then, however, and much to their surprise, they discover that magic is, in fact, real. Julia now wants to once again be a part of that world, to the exclusion of everything else. To do so, she makes some bold and questionable choices, which made playing her even more challenging for actress Stella Maeve in the new Syfy TV series The Magicians.
“Julia is super complicated and not always easy to understand, as we all are as humans,” explains Maeve. “There were times while filming the first season, and especially with The Magicians pilot, that I didn’t like her, and I struggled with that. Sometimes Julia can be bitchy and high-maintenance. She comes from the Upper West Side of New York, is a pseudo-intellectual who’s great in school, got accepted into Yale University, and has had a rather privileged life. I, on the other hand, grew up in Hell’s Kitchen and my parents didn’t make tons of money.
“So we’re very different people, and at times I had trouble getting a grip on Julia. I remember talking with Jason Ralph [Quentin Coldwater] about it and he explained to me, ‘Stella, what we all have in common with these characters is that we’re all a little bit socially inept. It’s not about you liking her, as it is about you understanding her.’ Jason was absolutely right. It’s not important for those who are watching to like Julia, as much as it that they’re able to relate to and understand her. None of us are likeable all of the time. It’s just not reality. I think what I do share with Julia is her passion, drive and integrity, and I admire those qualities in her.”
Despite the vast differences between the actress and Julia, there were certain creative minds that were confident that Maeve’s acting skills would be able to surmount any performance hurdles. “I’d worked on a pilot for The CW network three or four years ago with Taylor Hackford and Sera Gamble, who’s our showrunner on The Magicians,” she recalls. “The pilot wasn’t picked up, but Sera and I stayed in touch. When The Magicians came about, she and [writer/director] Mike Cahill were working together, and I love Mike. I’m a big fan of his and I think he’s magical – no pun intended,” praises the actress. “Sera thought I was right for the Julia role, so she got me involved in the project, and the rest is history.”
In The Magicians’ pilot episode Unauthorized Magic, Quentin and Julia receive magical invitations to take an entrance exam to Brakebills, a college for Magical Pedagogy located in upstate New York. Quentin passes the test and is accepted into Brakebills, but Julia fails. Her memories of the event are erased by those in charge, or so they believe. Julia refuses to accept that her magical skills are not on par with Quentin’s, and it drives a wedge between the two of them.
“During the first episode we see Julia giving Quentin a bit of a hard time and some tough love,” says Maeve. “She tells him, ‘I understand that we used to “live” in this fantasy world, but now it’s time you wake up and get with the times.’ My character was the original reason that Quentin became interested in magic; Julia loved it and he wanted to be a part of that. They were best friends who were doing this thing together, but as time went on, she got a boyfriend, joined social academic clubs and began to follow more of a conventional life path, but Quentin never did.
“Then, of course, boom, they find out that magic is real and, oh, he was right and Julia was wrong. That’s earth-shattering and throws a wrench into their relationship. There was already a distant divide developing between them, and when Quentin is accepted into Brakebills and Julia isn’t, that just further solidifies matters. After that, we see her and Quentin come together in maybe one or two other episodes, but for the most part, they wind up on separate journeys, at least for the time being.”
At one point, Julia’s boyfriend James (Michael Cassidy) contacts Quentin and asks him to talk some sense into Julia, who is desperate to get into Brakebills. Unfortunately, Quentin fails to make her see sense, and later that same night, she has an unexpected encounter with a mysterious and powerful stranger named Pete (David Wall), who offers Julia an alternative path to achieve what she is seeking.
“My character gets involved with street magic and a group of people called hedge witches,” says Maeve. “Julia wants to learn more about magic and find her own way when it comes to using her abilities. There are moments where we think she has figured it out and she has no idea, and other moments where she thinks she’s figured it out and she has no idea. Julia’s storyline is incredible, crazy, twisted, dark and sometimes difficult to watch as it was, again, challenging for me to play.”
Having worked for a little over 10 years in the business, Maeve has already amassed a varied and impressive list of acting credits. She has appeared in such feature films as Transamerica, Harold, Brooklyn’s Finest, Asylum Seekers, Recreator and Dark Summer. Her other TV credits include guest-starring roles on a number of series including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Gossip Girl, CSI: Crime Scene investigation, Bones and Grey’s Anatomy as well as a regular role in Golden Boy and a recurring role in Chicago P.D. Like Julia and Fillory and Further in The Magicians, Maeve became enamored of one particular thing, albeit at a much younger age, which had a major influence in her eventually wanting to pursue an acting career.
“When I was four years old I saw [the 1962 film] To Kill a Mockingbird on TV. My parents wondered who this alien child was, because I sat mesmerized through the whole thing,” jokes the actress. “I loved the movie and wanted to be a part of it. I began performing in local theatre and went to summer camp for acting. My mom actually trained with [actress/legendary acting teacher] Stella Adler – who I’m actually named after – and worked as her assistant in the 80s. My mom is a thespian and loves theatre, and my dad is a musician. When I told them I wanted to be an actress, they begrudgingly said, ‘OK,’ but were always there to take me to auditions and stuff like that. My family is wonderful and they are my inspiration. Eventually I got to where I am today and couldn’t be happier or more grateful.”
Steve Eramo
Beginning Monday, January 25th, The Magicians airs Mondays @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST in Canada on the Showcase Network and in the States on Syfy. As noted above, photo copyright of Shaw Media/Syfy, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!