Wheel of Time star explains how he brought bisexual, polyamorous Maksim to life: ‘It feels special’

The Wheel of Time star Taylor Napier has not long been back in Los Angeles when he logs onto our Zoom call.

His flight got in last night. He professes to being a little tired though he looks remarkably fresh, his coiffed hair only ever so slightly out of place and his stubble outlining a remarkably strong jawline. 

Between that, the guitar hanging on the wall behind him, the shelves of books, and the open denim shirt, he’s very cool. Meanwhile, I, dialling in from my parents’ place, messy fringe and wearing a muted sweatshirt, am decidedly not. Regardless we’re both prepared to dive into the world of The Wheel of Time, a fantasy series from the mind of author Robert Jordan, now a popular series fronted by Oscar-nominated Gone Girl actress Rosamund Pike on Prime Video.

Taylor and I are blessed that the first three episodes of season three have debuted the day before we chat which means we’re able to discuss actual plot points rather than dancing around topics in the hypothetical. “It’s fantastic,” Taylor shares of being back for another round of The Wheel of Time. “It’s getting well received, which is nice. It’s been lovely to get to share this thing that we started filming two years ago.”

Taylor plays Maksim, a human warder/protector of Alanna (Priyanka Bose), one of the Aes Sedai, an order of women who can channel an energy called ‘The One Power’. Alanna’s first warder is another human male, Ihvon (Emmanuel Imani/Anthony Kaye), with whom who she falls in love with. The thing is, Maksim also fell in love with Ihvon. But the real thing is that the three of them live happily in a cute polyamorous relationship. Well – spoiler warning – until the start of season three that is.

The third season starts with an almighty bang. Several members of the Aes Sedai reveal themselves to be Darkfriends (evil, basically) and the ensuing battle full of magical fire and explosions results in the death of Ihvon.

“It changes everything,” Taylor says as to what this means for Maksim and Alanna. “Even though Maksim’s chosen to be a warder, he probably wouldn’t have picked that profession if it wasn’t for his love for Ihvon. Now he’s in a situation where while he has a lot of love for Alanna, it’s not the reason he’s there. It’s not the love of his life that Ihvon was.”

The two remaining members of the throuple, connected emotionally by a magical bond between warder and Aes Sedai, must now navigate their grief together. On top of that there are more evil forces at work and more battles to be fought. 

When it came to bringing the polyamorous relationship to life, a natural chemistry between Taylor, Priyanka, and Emmanuel (and later Anthony) proved useful. That made it easier to establish communication as actors and then replicate in an art imitating life kind of way as characters. Taylor spoke to friends of his who are in polyamorous relationships and found that constant communication was behind their success.

“That’s something that I wanted to make sure that we portrayed as much as possible,” he says. He’s happy with the results. “At least to me, the three of us come across as the most functional relationship in the first two seasons. We’re constantly checking in with each other and making sure that everyone feels happy with what’s going on.”

It’s a relationship we still don’t see that often in TV and film. We also don’t get a lot of bisexual representation either, something Taylor is also bringing as Maksim. He jests, “It’s a heavy burden,” before turning more serious. “It feels special to be able to bring that to screen.

The phrase ‘representation matters’ is almost trite at this point, but I do think it makes The Wheel of Time so much richer to have these characters who are in a very non-traditional relationship for our world but is kind of common in theirs.”

Away from the chaotic Patrick Zweig of Challengers or the gentle Nick Nelson in Heartstopper, The Wheel of Time invests more time in exploring what bisexuality is. “There have been some interesting portrayals of bisexual people,” Taylor picks up. “Especially bisexual men, but most of the time, if a character is bisexual they’re predominantly with the opposite sex, and then occasionally have a fling with the same sex. And it’s like, ‘Aren’t they kooky, or sexy?’ But it’s never really explored what bisexual means. We do a little bit of that with Maksim, particularly in this season.”

And it’s clear from the ardent fandom that the show’s refreshingly unapologetic approach to queer love has gone down a storm. Other characters, such as Pike’s Moiraine Damodred, and newly-confirmed couple Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) and Elayn (Ceara Coveney) are also shown as being queer and nothing is made of it by other characters.

Taylor explains that the books have always had queer undertones and characters that the series has highlighted more explicitly, an opinion many fans share. “For our fans, it’s been important because they saw those threads while they were reading it. It’s not necessarily something that everyone saw. So, to have that acknowledged has been really meaningful for them.”

And in a time when the LGBTQ+ community is under sustained attack, such representation arguably takes on a greater level of significance than it would otherwise. Looking back to when they began filming season one in 2019 Taylor observes a noticeable and upsetting backpaddling when it comes to representation.

“You see it in the shows that are getting [the] green light. So, especially with what is happening in America, it is important to still be committed to telling these stories and making them complex and interesting characters when they’re so under attack not just in America, but globally.”

He laments further. “I hope we can continue to make the show and be a beacon of ‘No, there’s still space for this.’ There should be space for it. There’s a lot of different queer stories to be told. And we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the complexity of being a queer person.”

The Wheel of Time season three is streaming now.

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