Quincy Isaiah
“I think you’re seeing Magic grow throughout the season, but I feel like you’re also seeing Quincy grow as an actor.”
HBO’S latest Sunday-night glossy series, “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” generated a lot of social media banter when it was announced, given that it focuses on the legendary 1980s team — the Showtime Lakers — whose owner, Jerry Buss (played by John C. Reilly), brought glamour and entertainment value to the then-moribund NBA. He also drafted one of the league’s biggest stars, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, portrayed by newcomer Quincy Isaiah. Like Johnson, Isaiah is a Michigan native and possesses the needed charisma and swagger (though he allows, “I don’t think I’m as charismatic as Magic”). The actor sees further similarities between himself and Johnson: “I’m a rookie, and I’m being asked to do a lot on the show. And I believe Magic was asked to do a lot, and it is not lost on me, those parallels. I definitely used those to create this character, because this character is very close to me.”
• It’s a big role for a relative newcomer. Was that hard? Having a great gang behind me really helped get me to where I needed to be for the character. I was feeling like I was pretty good at acting in Michigan when I did my theater programs, but now I’m acting alongside Academy Award winners and nominees and Emmy winners and these people who I’ve looked up to for years, and I get to be on set with them now, same with Magic in the NBA.
• But the jitters wore off? There’s going to be some trepidation in how you see yourself fitting in with these icons that you grew up with. And I think you’re seeing Magic grow throughout the season, but I feel like you’re also seeing Quincy grow as an actor and as a professional, learning how to maneuver in this new world that we are being thrust into.
• Was teamwork a priority? Being with my fellow actors and especially my teammates Solomon [Hughes as Kareem Abdul-jabbar] and Devaughn [Nixon as Norm Nixon] and Delante [Desouza as Michael Copper] and everybody else, you build a chemistry. … There were long days on set, and these are the people you’re with, and you’re going to form a connection and a bond. You get to see people at their highs and lows. So naturally, you’re just going to trust them a little bit more.
• How did you prepare for the physical part of the role? We worked out together, and we played basketball together. We had basketball training but also had a fitness trainer who helped me learn how to move laterally and just differently because I was a football player and I moved like a football player. We worked really hard on trying to re-create all of those movements.
• Some Laker fans are ready to call you out on this stuff. How do you deal with that? It’s fair. Who can move like Magic besides Magic? Who can do a sky hook like Kareem other than Kareem? Those are NBA players; we’re actors. At the same time, you do your due diligence and get as close as possible.
• Did you learn a lot from the veteran actors? As much as I learned from them, I also learned from the actors who you probably don’t know as much, like Tamara Tomakili, who plays [Magic’s eventual wife] Cookie. I was able to like really work off her and develop a real friendship with her.
• Do you prefer 1980s basketball shorts or long ones? I love rocking the short shorts.