After five seasons with the beloved ensemble cast of SyFy’s The Magicians, Summer Bishil is set to star in The Deli. The actress of Mexican and Indian heritage has tackled a wide range of roles, making her debut in the 2007 film Towelhead.
“I didn’t know there would be a place for me in Hollywood,” Bishil said in an interview in 2009. “I didn’t really see how I was ever going to be a working actor. I was dropped from a management company.”
Yet, over a decade later, Bishil has spent 5 seasons as a main cast member in one of the most acclaimed SyFy shows in history, with even more roles in her future.
Summer Bishil breaks out of typecasting
Bishil’s first big break came when she starred in Towelhead. The 2007 film earned her an Independent Spirit Awards nomination. Just a teenager herself, Bishil played 13-year-old Jasira, who becomes involved with her middle-aged neighbor.
After Towelhead, Bashil took a number of small roles in shows like 90210, and starred in the series Lucky 7. But her next major break came when SyFy adapted Lev Grossman’s popular fantasy series The Magicians. Bishil took the role of Margo, an adapted character from Grossman’s books.
“It’s funny, I don’t think Margo wasn’t even supposed to evolve into what she evolved into,” Bishil recalled to TimeOut. “I think she was always supposed to be there for the funny little one-liners. I was determined to make her matter.”
By the time the show ended after 5 seasons, Bishil had formed Margo into a fan-favorite, complex character.
Summer Bishil faced post-911 racism
Bishil was born in Pasadena, California. At the age of three, her family moved first to Saudi Arabia, then to Bahrain. After 9/11, her family moved back to the United States.
“I hated it,” Bishil recalled in an interview with La Times. “I was called a whore on the first day of school, and somebody said they thought my dad funded terrorism. I just knew that nobody was ever going to want to be my friend there. I had panic attacks the first year of my life [there].”
The family then moved to Arcadia, and Bishil’s mother homeschooled her. During this time, she got into acting. The rest is history.
Summer Bishil to reunite with Magicians stars in “The Deli”
Though The Magicians was canceled after 5 seasons, Bishil hasn’t had to leave every part of it behind. She will reunite with co-stars Trevor Einhorn and Rizwan Manji in upcoming series The Deli.
This comedy series follows a group of workers who work at a deli that is a front for the mafia.
