Amongst the ensemble of Millennial magicians is Penny Adiyodi, the quiet, steely-eyed, confrontational wildcard of the bunch. His psychic abilities are so gifted they may even be beyond his own control. Revealed later in the series, Penny stems from a dark and complicated background. The person behind the role is Arjun Gupta, a warm and friendly man when he speaks to me on the phone. Very much in control of his talent, he attended NYU’s Tisch School of Arts and went on to play Sam, a drug addict in Nurse Jackie, Kan in How to Get Away With Murder, and has also appeared in several films including Motherhood alongside Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver. And, oh yeah, he’s from Tampa Bay.
We get started by talking about the show.
In the pilot, we don’t find out much about Penny except that he’s kind of a angry person with some mysterious psychic abilities that seem to cause him to suffer. What else can you tell us about the character?
Penny’s a lone wolf. He’s a dark guy who comes from a dark past where he was kicked out of his home in his early years and had to fend for himself for most of his life… He’s not just an ass to be an ass. It comes from a real place. You’re taking somebody who’s lived on the streets on his own for a long time and placing him in an entirely different environment, a type of ivy league, safe and plush campus where no longer has to fight for food. It’s an uncomfortable place for someone with Penny’s background, who rightly or wrongly feels he’s a hawk amongst pigeons. He’s got to adjust or not adjust and that’s an interesting journey to watch.
Do you relate in any way to Penny’s character?
I can relate at times to feeling unsafe and I think everyone can because it’s a universal thing. I can’t relate specifically to being kicked out of my home because I’ve been blessed with an incredible family and upbringing. I grew up in a plush environment in Tampa: I was surrounded by beautiful lakes, water, and all this stuff that Penny never experienced… I was kind of scared and excited to play someone that dark because I knew it was going to be a stretch as an actor and artist and I feel really blessed and grateful that I get the chance to be him week in and week out.
What’s it like behind the scenes working on this show?
It’s a huge challenge adapting these books. Books and TV are such different mediums. What was exciting was having [creators] John [McNamara] and Sera [Gamble] as our leaders and a cast of young actors who are all passionate and excited about the books and then the collaboration of [author] Lev [Grossman] who worked with us as a consultant throughout the show. To have that kind of access to the source material is incredibly helpful. We shot the pilot fourteen months ago in November 2014 and we finished the season in December of this past year, so we’re really excited for this to get out into the world.
The Magicians have often been referred to as a kind of grown up Harry Potter. Do you see it that way? Do you think it’s a good thing, or is it something you disagree with?
Look, I love Harry Potter so the comparison to that I think of it as an honor. I didn’t know this until Lev explained to me, but there’s two subsets of fantasy genre: there’s epic fantasy and magical education. Epic fantasy is your Game of Thrones and your Lord of the Rings. Magical education is the most popular genre – that’s your Chronicles of Narnia and your Harry Potter. For us to be standing on the shoulders of such great projects is a huge honor and in some ways can be it's own pressure. But we’re excited to beat that pressure and I hope the audience will agree by the end of the season.
What should viewers look forward to in season one?
It’s a wild ride. We’re taking Harry Potter and putting it in this moment in time where there are moral complexities. Plus, you have a group of kids who don’t have a Dumbledore or a type of Gandalf – which is kind of like life, you know? You have to figure it out yourself.
Growing up in Tampa, did you always know you wanted to be an actor?
Kathi Grau and Dr. Bruce LeBaron were two wonderful teachers I had in my life. George Lucas and Patty Lucas as well. These were my artistic mentors growing up. Kathi taught acting and performance drama at Berkeley Prep. She’s since retired and started her own studio in Tampa. She was the one who gave me opportunities and who pushed me. When I asked, “could I do this and go to college?” she helped me prepare for my auditions. I did like ten plays in high school and left Tampa with a fair amount of experience thanks to Kathi and ‘Doc.’ I was involved a lot. I was in music and acapella group. I also was in the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra from the third grade to my senior year of high school and went to the Performing Arts Center a lot.
Was there anything in particular you did for fun in the area?
I’m a huge Bucs fan, I’ve been to a couple games but I stopped going because they used to lose every game I went to. I felt bad about it so I no longer went there. But they seem to be losing enough without me. I’d love to come back when I can, though.
Any last words?
Watch [The Magicians] for me, Tampa!
The Magicians premieres Mon., Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. on Syfy.
Ying Lo writes about television and entertainment for Creative Loafing. She has a blog, at YingLo.net, and can be found flunking social media @yinglo. Let her tell you how best to binge watch every Monday.
This article appears in Jan 21-27, 2016.