*Actor Quincy Isaiah portrays NBA icon Magic Johnson in HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” which returns for its second season on August 6.
Per the synopsis: “Season Two continues to explore the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. This season hones in on the period just after the Finals in 1980 through 1984, culminating in the first professional rematch of the era’s greatest stars: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.”
Isaiah, 26, stars alongside John C. Reilly, Adrien Brody, Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, Jason Segel, Hadley Robinson, DeVaughn Nixon, Solomon Hughes, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Spencer Garrett, Molly Gordon, Joey Brooks, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, McCabe Slye, Thomas Mann, Gillian Jacobs, with Michael Chiklis and Rob Morgan.
As Esquire reports, the second season spans the 1981-’84 NBA seasons and “finds Johnson dealing with the consequences of his charm—and immaturity,” the outlet writes.
Isaiah discussed the new season with Esquire and how he handled public criticism from Magic Johnson. Read excerpts from the interview (conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike) below.
ESQUIRE: You went to therapy before Season One aired. As someone who is a therapy-lifer, I thought that made a lot of sense—just to prepare yourself for the public response. After Season One ended, did you go back to therapy?
QUINCY ISAIAH: Yeah. I’m still in and out. And now I go every so often. But when I’m feeling like I need to talk to somebody? For sure. It’s a tool that I use to just make sure that I’m good—it’s an accountability check. I’ve got to make sure I’m living life the way I want to be living and not the way other people want me to live.
The first season of Winning Time was criticized by former Laker greats Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson himself. Have you have contact with any of those guys?
Norm Nixon. I mean, because DeVon [Norm Nixon’s real-life son] is on the show.
Have you had any interaction with Magic at all?
No. No.
As an actor, you’re playing a public figure who is alive. You have to manage that line between respecting that you are portraying a real person and fidelity to the filmmakers’ vision. Especially when the person you are playing isn’t thrilled about it. How do you block out the noise?
Starting with myself. I’m leading with such pure intentions. I’m protective of all my characters. I always want them to be humans. With Magic, I’m playing a character that I feel proud about. It’s a person. And I get it. I understand where he’s coming from. That’s why I can’t ever—I don’t have any feelings about that. I just got to do my job. And it’s a good job. [Laughs.] I can’t turn that down, man. I still respect him. I still have all the love in the world for him. The Magic thing, I get it, why you want to ask. I respect the man, but I can’t say that I’m upset I’m playing this role.
In Season Two, Magic finds himself hurt, and he’s facing professional mortality. From your own sense of your career, the writer’s strike, and other potential labor unrest, can you relate the anxiety of great player feels to that of an actor, wondering if there will be a Season Three of Winning Time?
Very much so. It’s funny, cause it happens all the time where I’m like, Man, what if this doesn’t work out? What if Season Two comes out and nobody likes it? What if the movie I’m shooting isn’t a good movie? All of these things. But at the end of the day, I usually am like, OK, Q, trust yourself, man. Just bet on yourself. If you didn’t think you were going to succeed you wouldn’t have put yourself in this situation. And if I don’t succeed, I know I gave it my all. And: I pivot. [Laughs.]
Read the full interview here.
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