At the Festival de la Télévision de Monte Carlo we met the new Harry Potter generations: Stella Maeve and Jason Ralph, two of the main characters of the new series The Magicians.
We just saw Jason Ralph in the new American comedy Better Off Single (previously known as Stereotypically You) by director Benjamin Cox and starring Broadway star Aaron Tveit (Brain Dead, Les Misérables, Graceland, Grease Live). Here our English and Italian reviews.

J: “ I can’t do magic. When we started on set there were magicians who actually taught us how to do tricks with cards. You know, it’s quite funny to know how to hold a deck and do it like a simple thing so people can believe that you know so much more than how much you actually do. This is an illusion. And then over Christmas I broke my finger…it was hard come back on set. We have even a choreographer for our hands because do this show it’s like doing a breakdance with your fingers. In the books, Lev Grossman describes the magic with really specific fingers gesture”.
On magazines The Magicians has been often liked to one of the most popular tv show from the last decade: Gossip Girl. If Jason agreed with that, Stella has lightly different opinion.

S:“ I wouldn’t say Gossip Girl, it’s more awkward like a Downton Abbey one!!”

J: “ But there is romance too. When Quentin and Julia are trapped together is really romantic”.

Quentin used to hide from the world and his life using books. Now, for the new generation, are all these superheroes television shows a place where to hide themselves or it’s something different?
J:”I don’t think so. All these series are about superheroes who lived on the pages from decades. These are the fairy-tales of America. This is just the opportunity for the USA to put their fairy-tales on screen like all the others European countries did with theirs. I think it’s really exciting. I think it’s something that is giving people courage and faith in the future despite everything it’s happening in the world”.

S:”And they give a true imagine of the humanity even if hidden behind villains and superheroes. I don’t think they are just a distraction”.

Which kind of magic they would like to use if for one day they would be able to use magic?

J:”Something to bring peace into the world. I don’t know …like shooting love?!?!…Maybe like a Cupido shooting rainbows?!? Or Captain Planet with a cape…and a magic guitar. Anyway this is really different from our show. Our characters are pretty realistic compare the ones in the book. How we get to them it’s a slightly different. In the book all happens really quick. With the show we had the opportunity to show the same experience through other people to get to the same spot…then to go back to a previous point with more information”.

S:“In the first season we shot a bit from book one and book two…for the second season we’ll see. I don’t know how many seasons we’ll get…I think 13 it’s a lucky number …”

How is their relationship with social media?

J: “In some ways…it’s the most direct way to talk with fans and to hear what they have to say”.

S: “In one sentence I wasn’t a fan of socials at first but then I realised that this is the world we are living in…and they are getting more and more important…”

J: ” They are important because I’m now able to involve lots of people who are following me or the show for example in charity donations”.

S: “Yeah,…and to talk with them about things are happening around”.