The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself: Interviews with Jay Lycurgo, Emilien Vekemans, Isobel Jesper Jones and Nadia Parkes

The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself is the new Netflix adaptation of Sally Green’s young adult fantasy novel series, Half Bad. While fantasy novel adaptations seem two-a-penny these days across streaming platforms, in the hands of Joe Barton, the writer behind the excellent Girl/Haji, this world of warring “fairborn” and “blood” witches, gory, brutal violence and magic conjured by special effects feels surprisingly gritty and real, with all the angst and desire to fit in that plagues any teenager infused into the otherworldly narrative and characters.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of chatting with the series’ main cast ahead of the launch on Netflix. Jay Lycurgo and Emilien Vekemans told us a bit about each of their characters, the former being the titular “bastard son” of a notorious witch, Nathan, and the latter French witch Gabriel, and the underlying themes of the story of identity and trauma.

We also head from Isobel Jesper Jones and Nadia Parkes about playing Jessica and Annalise, who shares a forbidden chemistry with Nathan, and the highlights and challenges of being on the blood-soaked shoot.

Sarah Bradbury

The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself is released on Netflix on 28^th October 2022. Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself here: