under the silver lake

One of our favorite shows these days is “The Magicians.” There are a great many reasons why the series has cast a spell over us during its first three seasons, but the most prominent of these entertaining factors is actress Summer Bishil. The California native shines as bright as the tip of a wand in her portrayal of Margo Hanson, a character we love to hate and hate to love, but even she admits that the ringer of zingers may have had difficulty achieving fan favorite status had they not highlighted the Filory ruler’s vulnerable side.

We recently sat down with Bishil to discuss how “The Magicians” has impacted her life, the Buffy parallels, and why she is most comfortable on a series that is willing to take risks.

TrunkSpace: You’re currently in year three of “The Magicians.” Aside from the work itself, where has the series impacted your life the most?
Bishil: It’s kind of transformed my life in all aspects. It’s really informed who I’m able to even spend time with because I’m living out of the country for five months out of the year. I didn’t know anybody in Vancouver when I first got there. I didn’t have time to go out and meet people outside of my cast so that’s really my world for five months – the crew and the cast and the people that I work with. Then I come home to LA and have this other second life. Just on a practical, geographical level, it’s affected my life.

This is the first time I’ve ever really had a steady, steady gig this long so it allows me to sort of relax a little for the first time. I’m not constantly hustling to that next job. You can sort of take a step back and be a little pickier because you’re making your income. You don’t have to run around like a crazy person.

TrunkSpace: That must allow you to live in the moment more.
Bishil: It really does. This is the first year where I was able to step back because the first year I was so worried about doing a good job and then the second year, pretty much that as well. But, by the third year, you know who your character is so you can relax and enjoy a lot of the blessings that come along with being on a show for this long. Your life is just more comfortable because you’re happier… you have a job.

TrunkSpace: From a performance standpoint, what has the experience been like for you to spend that much time – over 30 episodes now – with one character and see her grow in ways that perhaps weren’t who she was when you first read for the part?
Bishil: Well, part of the reason I’ve always wanted to expand on Margo and expand on who she is is because I watch a lot of episodic television and I watch for existing formula and the thing that sticks out the most with a great performance is when they evolve, when they change, and I haven’t gotten bored after watching for four seasons, two weeks in a row. When you watch a show like that, you really see how crucial it is to continue to add dimension and change your character because people will get tired. They’re looking at you, a lot of times now with binging, every day for a month. And if you’re tired, if you’re bored of something on set, then they’re probably gonna be bored of it, watching back to back.

TrunkSpace: That’s a really excellent point. Because of how people consume television now, it is probably much easier for an audience to see when and where a character is sort of idle because they’re sitting down with the episodes all at once.
Bishil: Exactly. And you have missed those characters more too, like in the old days. I’ve always liked television, even when I was a kid. My parents would let me watch and it wasn’t a thing in my house. I liked “Will & Grace.” I thought it was hilarious and I liked it. I liked the comedy. Now that I’m an actor, I know what I like and it’s the performances. I would rush home every week and wait to see it, and so when you have that much faith in something you really love and you have a chance to miss it, you’re not gonna be as critical as you would if you were binging. I’ve watched “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” a couple times now, all the way through, to study it actually, and what I think made it so successful is that Sarah Michelle Gellar really switched it up.

TrunkSpace: As did the supporting cast around her. Everyone grew, which made the grounded aspects more believable.
Bishil: Yeah, exactly. That cast always expanded as well, kinda like ours. I think that’s one of the reasons why “The Magicians” works because we really have a huge cast of regulars and then, in addition to that, we have so many recurring characters, so many great actors, that come in and out of our show.

TrunkSpace: Another thing you get with the “The Magicians” that also relates to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is the really rich dialogue that manages to walk the line so perfectly between drama and comedy.
Bishil: Yes, you do. On “The Magicians,” especially the Eliot/Margo/Filory storyline, we deal with a lot of fantastical situations and high stakes scenarios that are really drawn out with comedy. There’s constant humor running through it so it can be challenging to figure out the tone that you should deliver your lines in. Honestly, a lot of the times it’s a game of experimentation for me. I don’t like to go to set with one idea in my mind of, “This is how the scene’s gonna play.” Every time I’ve done that, I’ve been unhappy with the edit. I like to just give as many options as possible because, a lot of times, my instincts I do trust and 99 percent of the time they’re right, but sometimes you’re not seeing something. If you’re not taking direction, the performance is gonna suffer if you don’t have other insights.

TrunkSpace: We would imagine that it all changes depending on who you’re in a scene with as well. The energy changes.
Bishil: Exactly. On our set, given the world that we’re playing in, a lot of times, the variables are changing a lot. Drastically. Constantly. You can’t be set in your ways.

TrunkSpace: You talked about finding the tone of a specific line, but just finding Margo’s tone in general seemed like it might have been something that was a malleable process at the start because she’s somebody that, in a lot of ways, we should hate, but we can’t help but love.
Bishil: Well, thank you for saying that. I think what I read when I read Margo in Season 1 was the potential for how much vulnerability was there, but also the potential for how much she could be hated, like you said. I kinda knew that and I wanted to really play against that in fact. I was a little scared sometimes because some of the stuff that was coming out of her mouth, stuff that my character was engaging in, wasn’t always emotionally sympathetic. I definitely wanted to and tried to figure out a way to make her appealing and sympathetic and not grating on the audience because, you play it a certain way, it could have gone the other way.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned how you were a fan of “Will & Grace” when you were younger. That’s a show that, even during its heyday, was very safe for the network, but now you have places like SYFY taking these huge leaps in terms of how they present their content and they’re really raising the bar and pushing the boundaries in terms of what we’re seeing and hearing. Is it freeing as an actress to be on the forefront of this less censored wave of storytelling?
Bishil: For me, my background and what I’ve done in the industry, my career background, it’s definitely more comfortable to be on a show that’s taking more risks because I’ve done kind of controversial stuff. I’ve not been in very PC stories, so I think I would feel probably very stifled if I was on a show that had to mind its Ps and Qs for the sake of some arbitrary rule which applies to them. That would just get so boring because it is boring storytelling, I’m sure, for who gets written for and how they get written for, obviously.

I’m glad I’m on a show that does that, for sure. Sera Gamble and John McNamara , they’re pretty fearless and they’re gonna take the risks that they want to take and that’s why the show’s good.

TrunkSpace: Which is great, because in its current form, “The Magicians” is probably a show that wouldn’t have made it on the air even a decade ago.
Bishil: Probably not. It probably wouldn’t have. I think it would had been cast very different. I don’t think both me and Arjun (Gupta) would be in the cast. This experience of just being cast and auditioning for so much, I don’t think that would have happened 10 years ago. Even if it did get made, I think it would have been a vastly different show and it would’ve just clipped the wings that makes it good.

TrunkSpace: One of the things about the show as a whole is that it sort of has this underlining message of diversity and acceptance. Was that something that you could feel in the early going, even before you first stepped on set?
Bishil: You know, my casting alongside Arjun, I thought was more progressive than I had seen in other castings and in other ensembles that I auditioned for. I thought that was a great step. The material that I got was not weighed down with any stereotypes. There were no limitations put on Margo because they had now hired a woman of ethnicity, which sometimes happens. Some shows are like, “Well, we got to spend an hour talking about where she comes from.” (Laughter) They’ve never done that, which I appreciate.

TrunkSpace: Fans are still eating up everything that Season 3 has to offer. What were you most excited about headed into this season?
Bishil: I think this season what I was most excited about was that I had the eye patch to work with. It just gave me something else to do in my third year, which was really great. It wasn’t always easy and it definitely presented some challenges, but I was glad to have something challenge me a third year into a show because, it’s like you said, other shows, procedurals, I would be doing the same thing, probably wearing the same outfit, for literally this long. I can’t imagine. I think I would go crazy.

TrunkSpace: Imagine a doctor show, wearing the same set of scrubs for 13 seasons.
Bishil: At least you’d be comfortable when you do it. (Laughter)

“The Magicians” airs Wednesdays on SYFY.

Featured image credits
Photographer: Diana Ragland/Makeup: Helen Robertson/Hair: Harper/Wardrobe: Matthew Peridis

* This feature originally ran 04/19/17

There are some actors who just steal the scene and captivate viewers regardless of who else is in the scene with them. The on-camera dazzling is never done intentionally. It is the actor’s commitment to the part and pledge to the craft that shines a spotlight on the performance, forcing those at home to pay attention. They exist in a fictional world, but play their character as an authentic resident of the imaginary zip code that we, the viewers, visit as voyeuristic tourists.

One of those actors… one of our favorite actors… is Adam Bartley. As The Ferg on the long-running series “Longmire,” Bartley has been playing the deputy everyman with understated precision for five (soon to be six) seasons. The series is currently in production in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is where we caught up with the Minnesota native.

We recently sat down with Bartley to discuss how the show has changed his life, its pop culture legacy, and his favorite episode thus far.

TrunkSpace: When did you realize that The Ferg went from character to fan favorite character?
Bartley: I don’t know. I think the fans love every character. They’re just so loyal and incredible. But, as far as Ferg is concerned, I think in the first season… I think it was around the third episode when Ferg turned his badge in. When Ferg turned his badge in and said “I’m just not made for this… I can’t do this” and the Sheriff said, “Listen, Ferg, I hired you for two reasons. The first one was because of your father.” And I say, “What’s the other one?” And the Sheriff says, “Well, I’m still waiting to find out.” I think that moment helped people to really connect with Ferg in the sense of how similar he is to so many people and so many people’s paths. You’re not always going to show up and be the best at what you do all of the time. It’s a kind of an everyman availability for audiences and I think that’s what latched people on… they saw a lot of themselves in the character and started to root for Ferg immediately from them on. And then of course, there’s the moment when I think the audience found out Ferg is in love with Cady Longmire.

TrunkSpace: That episode definitely felt like Ferg’s coming out party in terms of revealing him to have various layers, especially when we see him react so emotionally to Cady’s accident.
Bartley: Yeah. That’s great. That was a really incredible episode. That’s absolutely right. That piece… you’re seeing something beyond a sort of loyal, hardworking, trying-to-please-the-Sheriff kind of deputy. You’re seeing a person who has feelings and who you can relate to.

TrunkSpace: From an acting standpoint, what for you has been the most exciting thing about the character’s growth over the life of the series? What were you most excited to work on?
Bartley: Well, any time I’m working in a scene where it’s just Walt and I, that’s always… I love that relationship. Rob Taylor is a very good friend and we have a really good sort of chemistry as friends on and off camera. I really love watching the evolution of that relationship because for Ferg, the Sheriff is sort of the father figure he, I think, always wanted. He just tries to please him and make him proud every day. And so to be able to play in that space is really challenging and exciting.

I would say my favorite episode that I’ve worked on in the first five seasons has been when I get physically apprehended and beat up by the mob and I have to walk to some diner and call Walt. He comes and we sit down and just playing in that scene was really, really powerful acting and he really helped bring that out. I’ve lost my badge. I’ve lost my gun. I’ve been had and I’ve failed again. It’s hard to fess up when you fail and it’s hard to acknowledge that you fail, especially to the Sheriff.

TrunkSpace: Coming from a theater background, when you first started working in those scenes with Robert… he’s so understated and quiet in his delivery whereas in theater you’re taught to project… did that take some getting used to?
Bartley: It’s funny that you say that. I actually talk about this a lot, including last night and a couple of days before. Yeah, that’s one of the great things about this show for me is that it has been an on-camera education in ways that you could never get in school or anywhere else. A lot of that has to do with that when I showed up, coming from the theater, I had been rehearsing my first scene for the pilot and was just so excited and I was all ready to go. I was speaking somewhat loudly and theatrically and told the Sheriff, “Hey, listen I’m so sorry I’m late… it will never happen again!” (Laughter) In the first rehearsal, Rob… barely audible. He just sort of mutters his line to me and walks away. It was really powerful. It was a huge “wow” moment for me because the challenge, I think, on camera for any actor coming from the theater is believing that your most simple, your most honest, open, simple true reaction to any situation is enough. That people are going to find that interesting, without you doing anything more than you saying the line. Obviously Rob Taylor has been in the business for a very long time and figured that out 30 years ago, but I was figuring it out on the fly. It’s been an incredible sort of Petri dish this show, playing around with that sort of trust in myself and in terms of getting it down to the most simple truth in every scene.

TrunkSpace: It’s funny that you said Robert was barely audible because he’s so patient and soft in scenes sometimes that it’s easy to imagine him being difficult to mic.
Bartley: (Laughter) You get used to it. It’s true. We’ve always had good sound mixers. Always. Yeah, it’s so nice to not have to get every word out to the world. It’s nice for you to be discovered… that what you’re saying is being discovered and heard for the first time.

TrunkSpace: When you landed the part, how much of your character did you base on the source material from the books?
Bartley: None, actually. No. I read “The Cold Dish,” Craig Johnson’s book, and kind of soaked in the world, but the character The Ferg in that book is very different from the character that I play. I was really interested in sort of creating my own character because the writers for the TV show had really created a new character for The Ferg. But, I wanted to make sure that I was in the world.

TrunkSpace: We discovered the show late in its run thanks to the wonders of binge watching. It takes hold of you and you get sucked in very easily. That being said, how can so much terrible stuff happen in one small Wyoming county!?!?
Bartley: (Laughter) I know. Luckily Wyoming itself is not that crime-ridden, but in our Wyoming, things have not been very good. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: Other than relocating during production, how has the series impacted your life and career the most?
Bartley: Wow. Well… this series has allowed me to realize a dream of mine. To be on camera. And it’s a dream that didn’t really come to me until I was 30 and then it really hit me there with what I wanted to do. I had been doing theater all over the country for 10 years and this not only has changed my life forever in regards to having a seat at the table to be able to do other things… and hopefully having an opportunity to do more things after this… but the singular experience of working on “Longmire” is unlike any show I’ve ever worked on or any play I’ve ever worked on. We are an incredibly close family of people that really love being together and really love working together. I’ll take that with me and I’ll take what I’ve learned from these people, from this incredible group of artists, and how people treat each other and how artists should have space and room to create the greatest version of the stories they’re telling and how establishing great working relationships up front on new projects… how that pays dividends and how it shows up on camera. It’s starkly different from other shows that don’t have those elements. We’re lucky to have an incredible group of producers that from the very first moment on the pilot set the tone for how this was going to go. It’s just not always that way. There’s a lot of other ways people go about doing this business, but as I go forward, that’s the best gift… taking what I’ve learned from this show and these people and applying it to everything I do going forward.

And the other thing is the fans. All of these incredible, loyal people who just love the stories so much and reach out and come to Longmire Days. They’re so kind. This show has really touched a lot of people. It has really changed lives and that’s so humbling… to know that I’m sitting in a coffee shop and somebody comes up and seeing them with almost tears in their eyes to meet me… it’s like, “Wow!” It’s powerful. Storytelling can be so powerful and I just feel so blessed to be a part of it and to have this be my job.

TrunkSpace: And it’s something from a pop culture legacy standpoint that will stand the test of time. The show isn’t going anywhere. New generations will find it.
Bartley: Yeah. No doubt. It’s just a special show for a special time. And the cool part about that is that, even in years from now when I’m missing being down here in Santa Fe and being with this incredible group of people, the wonderful thing is that “Longmire” is still going to be sitting there on Netflix. It’s still going to be sitting there and people can watch it whenever they want. They’ll have new viewers every day. In that way, it’s being sort of aired for the first time every single day.

TrunkSpace: It is crazy to think about now because there was a time when a show would air and you might catch it in a rerun or in syndication, but most shows just sort of disappeared. That’s not how it works nowadays, especially for shows as popular as “Longmire.”
Bartley: They live on. It’s so unique to this time and to this Golden age of television. There’s so much content and people will keep discovering it. That’s wonderful.

TrunkSpace: The show has such a rich history of really great guest stars. Was there anyone in particular that came into the show and gave you butterflies or made you feel a bit intimidated to be in a scene with based on their body of work?
Bartley: Well, the thing about our show is that it is a big open-hearted family and everyone that works on the show gets to be a part of it right away and is welcome. So there’s not a lot of intimidation going on around the set. But that being said, when Gerald McRaney and I had a scene together, that was a really interesting day. He’s a powerhouse. He was playing quite the powerhouse on the show as well and he basically gave it to me, in the rehearsal and in the scene, in a classic McRaney kind of way.

We’ve had so many great guest stars. I’ll just say that. Heather Kafka, who played the woman who had all of the deer carcasses… she’s just an incredible actress. One of my favorite people too. There have been so many like her who have come and just lifted the show up. And Mary Wiseman who played my love interest on the show is just a phenomenal actress. She inspires me and we have such a great time working together and such a great connection on camera. She’s quite special to watch.

It’s one after another. I could name 40 names and keep going.

It’s a special place. It’s a special group. We have an incredible crew. Just the best people. When I come to set, it’s saying hi, every day, to 75 people on my way to rehearsal. And then saying goodbye when I leave. That’s every day. There’s a lot of laughter and a lot of closeness, but also a lot of focus as well. A shared focus. It’s a time I’ll never forget.

TrunkSpace: Walt is a classic Hollywood badass. You also appeared in “Justified,” which featured a more modern badass in the form of Timothy Olyphant’s character Raylan. Having been around so many on-screen badasses, what makes a successful one?
Bartley: (Laughter) A good on-screen badass? That’s a good question. I would say keeping things close to the chest. Characters that say as little as necessary and sort of lead with their actions instead of their words. And having physical stature…

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) That helps!
Bartley: Yeah. Physical stature helps.

Bartley is currently filming season 6 of Longmire.

Bartley also recently guested as Duke in “This Is Us” on NBC and can be seen on the big screen in the upcoming films “Annabelle: Creation” and “Under the Sliver Lake.”