Cliché Mag — […] Over the course of her early life, her family moved from Pasadena, California to Saudi Arabia, then to Bahrain, and back to Southern California. It was after this return to the Golden State that Bishil decided to take her chance to become an actress. “I became involved with acting as a teenager,” Bishil said. “I always knew I wanted to give it a go and see where it could lead, so as soon as I saw an opportunity to pursue it after moving to Los Angeles, I did.”

Bishil was drawn to The Magicians, which wrapped up its second season on the Syfy channel earlier this year, and her role as Margo Hanson during the casting process based solely on the material she was given to try out for the show. “The thing that really drew me to the material was in the audition process. Before reading the books, I fell in love with Margo,” Bishil said. “The audition material really seduced me and I thought to myself, ‘I want this!’” Now, even as a part of the show, she still finds herself drawn in by the surprises that each new script throws at her. It’s also helped to add new layers to her acting and refine how she plays certain scenes. “I’ve never read a script and thought to myself, ‘Well, I saw that coming,’” Bishil said. “So in a lot of ways, it’s made me disciplined in the sense that I operate purely from instinct. Learning to trust those instincts has been invaluable, really.” […] “One of the things I love most about this show is it forces you as an actress to ground fantastical scenarios. The circumstances my character is placed in are never normal or predictable and they are not what I would ever expect to happen.”

[…] “She is courageous,” Bishil said. “Early on in her life, she knows exactly who she is and she is self-aware enough to change when she is confronted with her own limitations and failures. She is nobody’s fool and when she loves someone or cares for him or her, she is the most loyal friend you could hope to have. But she doesn’t throw her loyalties around casually. Her trust is hard earned. She is off the cuff, spontaneous, and energetic.”

[…] “I’d be remiss to not point out that she is also a woman of color in a leadership role on television,” Bishil said. “However whimsical her regality might be, that’s important to me; to play powerful, dynamic women and to see those types of characters on television because not too long ago, it was hard to find.”