Syfy Finds Actors to Perform Some Magic in ‘The Magicians’

Stella Maeve to Star in Magicians
Stella Maeve (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)

Lev Grossman’s bestselling book series The Magicians is heading to the small screen and Syfy’s booked three actors to take on key roles. Stella Maeve (Chicago PD), Hale Appleman, and Arjun Gupta have signed on to the pilot which will shoot next month in New Orleans.

Mike Cahill (Another Earth) is directing from a script by Sera Gamble and John McNamara.

The plot involves “20-somethings who, while studying magic in New York, discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real and poses grave danger to humanity.”

For those familiar with Grossman’s Magicians trilogy, here’s the details on who Maeve, Gupta, and Appleman will be playing, courtesy of Syfy:

– Stella Maeve will play the beautiful and confident Julia, a wealthy and brilliant Ivy-Leaguer who seems destined for success. But Julia’s future plans are forever altered after she is denied admittance to the mysterious Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. Unaccustomed to failure, Julia finds life meaningless now that the possibilities of a previously unseen magical world have been denied to her. But she may get another chance to pursue a career in magic when she’s recruited by a secret society.

– Hale Appleman will portray Eliot, a student at the Brakebills who is an odd combination of a preppy with intrinsic coolness. Effortlessly hip, with his air of self-possession, Eliot is accustomed to commanding any clique, and he’s a natural leader of his fellow magical students. He will prove a sometimes frustrating ally in Quentin’s fortunes — and may soon factor into a series of perilous adventures.

– Arjun Gupta will portray Penny, a young man with an edgy look and attitude. He’s deliberately intimidating to Quentin, his new roommate and fellow magic student at Brakebills. A reluctant telepath, he is bedeviled by voices that hint at pathways to other worlds.