Like Magic: Does Kev Adams Perform Magic Tricks in the Movie?

Into our cinemas this week, Magic follows Victor, a young wizard raising his daughter Lison alone. That’s not counting Jacques, her capricious father-in-law, who interferes with her child’s education against her wishes. An incredible tandem, the referee of which will be Nina, Victor’s childhood friend, with a strong character.

A world of illusions

Illusion is a world that has interested Christophe Baratier since childhood. He says : “I find this profession fascinating because it is based on age-old tricks, often incredibly simple, but which require skill and discipline. And then I like to bark at good magicians: they are often great actors with real improvisational skills.”

“To build the character of Victor, I turned to Fred Razon, who is somewhat of the Gus school (a young magician, among other things, has a great skill in handling cards), who makes a humorous call.

“Fred and Kev worked hard on their hand skills to be able to reproduce them on screen. Then, at the end of the film, Victor tries a more spectacular number, specific to what we call the ‘Grand Illusion’…”

For the magic scenes, Christophe Baratier wanted to limit the use of stunts and special effects as much as possible: “Almost everything you see on screen was actually done by Kev and Claire Chust, who plays his friend-assistant. It took some preparation and setup because they don’t have the skills of real magicians, but everything is authentic.”he specifies.

The birth of the project

As by Magic is Christophe Baratier’s seventh feature film. The latter was working on another project when producer Marc-Étienne Schwartz offered him this script, originally written by Serge Lamadie and Cyril Gelblatt. He recalls:

“I was immediately drawn to the subject of the film… I am a father of two myself and having not been able to keep up with the mothers, I know what it means to be a single father, and I also have a fascinating but very demanding job that requires a lot of sacrifice on a personal level, especially when When you have to give up on someone you love, like Kev Adams in the movie.”

A reunion with Gerard Junio

Christophe Baratier reunites with Gérard Junio ​​for the fourth time after The Chorists, Faubourg 36 and New War of the Buttons. “He represents a specific figure in French cinema, an actor who can play ‘Mr. Everyman.’ Christmas-Christmas or Burville : actors we can relate to and whose presence is always comforting.”

“We share a common story from the incredible adventure of the choruses, which led us to the Oscars. It has brought us together for life, and I believe that this shared path has not ended.”– says the director.

Kev Adams Dad!

Kev Adams plays Victor, a young widowed wizard and new father. The first in the career of an actor who has never played the role of a father before: “This is a moment in my life that I’ve wanted to approach for a long time. I don’t want to be locked into the ‘young man’ image that I’ve played a lot… It was the right time to be a young father on screen, especially since I’m quite big at 32! “

“This role allowed me to juggle other things and learn a lot about being a father, especially the fact that you can feel so much love for a child when you haven’t felt it in your own life… It was a challenge that interested me. “

Claire Chast in the game!

Note the presence of Claire Chast, known for her character Leslie in the series Scènes deménages, who plays Victor’s sister in Comme parmagique. Christophe Baratier explains: Sometimes I spoke frankly with him on the set because he needed confidence in front of two “heavyweights” like Kev and Gerard, but he understood everything like clockwork.

“Her role is not trivial: Nina grew up with Victor, they are two children born under X who have never left each other. There is no love story between them. Just unwavering friendship. On screen, the trio works perfectly.”