‘A Discovery of Witches’ Star Matthew Goode Talks the Series’ ‘Fascinating’ World

Jim Halterman January 19, 2019, 9:00 am

Witches, vampires and demons, oh my! On A Discovery of Witches, an adaptation of Deborah Harkness’s bestselling All Souls trilogy, all three types of those creatures — who hide their true selves as they live among humans in the present day — seek the powerful Book of Life, a long-lost tome that holds magical secrets.

In his quest to find it, bloodsucking genealogist Matthew Clairmont (The Crown’s Matthew Goode), falls for witch/historian Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer). “There’s a sense of destiny,” says Goode. He tells us more about the Oxford-set series:

Why is the book so important to Matthew?

Matthew Goode: That’s his main target because all of the [supernatural] creatures are dying out. Being a genealogist, he wants to understand why it’s all happening.

Are you a fan of this genre?

Some people read lots of books that are fantasy-based and they’re deeply into it. I wasn’t at all, really! So I was slightly skeptical. But I read one script and thought, “This is really a great character!” Deborah’s world that she has created breaks a lot of the mythologies we’ve seen before. It’s fascinating.

By the way, your steely vampire gaze is on point.

Well, I’m a parent of three. That’s just the dad look. “You’ve done what?!” It’s quite fun!

A Discovery of Witches, Available Now, Sundance Now and Shudder