Summary

• Season 2 of AMC's Interview With The Vampire continues Louis and Claudia's journey together, only they are now without Lestat.
• Louis' love triangle with Armand and the ghost of Lestat adds complexity to the story, revealing Louis's inner turmoil and desires.
• The new season introduces the Théâtre des Vampires, where the characters navigate relationships and conflicts on stage and off.

AMC's Interview With The Vampire was met with rare reviews and a ravenous fanbase when it premiered in 2022, and season 2 is shaping up to be every bit as beloved. Based on the first novel in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series, Interview With the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Game of Thrones star Jacob Anderson) as he tells his story to a journalist with whom he has a mysterious past connection. Though much of season 1 focused on his immortal love for his maker Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) and their "daughter" Claudia, the finale revealed him to now be in a relationship with a different vampire, Armand.

Interview With the Vampire season 2 finds Louis and Claudia (now played by Delainey Hayles) on the hunt for more of their kind after disposing of Lestat, but the latter is never far from Louis' mind. Even as he meets and falls for Armand while Claudia seeks acceptance among the clan of theatrical vampires, Louis cannot fully let Lestat go. Meanwhile, the present-day storyline sees Louis and Armand's relationship slowly cracking under the pressure inflicted by interviewer Daniel Molloy.

Screen Rant interviewed Anderson, Reid, and Hayles about the latter's introduction to the world of Interview With The Vampire in season 2, how Louis and Lestat's love can survive (attempted?) murder, and the trio's time on or near the stage at Théâtre des Vampires.

Interview With The Vampire Season 2 Welcomes A Whole New Claudia

Screen Rant: First of all, Delainey, welcome to the family. We're so excited to have you. What's it been like becoming Claudia in season 2, and how have these two guys helped or hurt you?

Delainey Hayles: It's been amazing. I love Claudia. Learning about Claudia has been the highlight of my life. I really am very protective over her.

Acting with Jacob and Sand's been all right, I guess. It's all right. [Laughs] Kidding. Honestly, it's been amazing. My first scene was with Jacob. It's a day that I'll never, ever forget. And yes, I'm very fortunate to be here.

Jacob Anderson: We're very lucky to have her. She's extraordinary.

Louis & Lestat May Be Apart, But Armand Still Can't Compete

Jacob, this season we get to explore Louis and Armand. They've been together for 77 years, but I feel like the ghost of Lestat has been lingering between them. Can you talk about being in this love triangle with two people?

Jacob Anderson: It is weird. I've never thought of it so much as a love triangle. I think it's just as much about what Louis wants his life to be, which is actually his own problem. Louis is not comfortable being with himself, I think.

I think that Armand serves a very specific function for Louis, and it actually becomes quite dissatisfying for him as time goes on. You see that a little bit later in the season, but I'm not sure that he gets together with Armand for the right reasons. Then they kind of navigate it over 70 years, which is probably true of a lot of older married couples.

It feels very [complacent], their relationship. Whereas, he killed his ex. Well... -ish. And it is such a different relationship. They mean such different things. It's just that obviously, there's a lot to that relationship that Louis doesn't know. There's this very complicated, dark character that's lurking for all of this. It's [complacent] for Louis to an extent, but he's not without his stuff.

While Louis is going on this journey, is Lestat rolling over in his temporary grave? How would Lestat react to seeing Louis with Armand, and seeing himself as Louis sees him? How are you feeling about all that?

Sam Reid: Oh, that's a fun question because I haven't been asked that. I would say, if Lesat knew that Louis was like [that], Lestat would be like, "Of course you are. I am too. You're there all the time." Let's start with [the fact that] Louis is never not in Lestat's mind. I think he probably knows it, but I think he'd probably be happy about it.

I think if he saw Louis with Armand, he'd be worried. Yeah, I think he'd be concerned. Lestat has a lot of history with Armand. They have a very complex history, and Armand has a lot of experience with previous lovers of Lestat, so Armand's gotten right up in his business a few times. I think if he knew that Louis was with Armand, he would be worried and he'd be over there quick.

Jacob Anderson: Do you think there's a dream Louis? Like a dream Lestat?

Sam Reid: Yes. I haven't thought about it before because I haven't had the opportunity to, but you're going to regret putting the idea [in my mind]. It's not always fun playing a total hallucination because they don't have any agency. Agency, so it can be kind of frustrating. But it is always fun to work on the show.

Interview With The Vampire Season 2 Introduces The Theater Vamps

You all get to work in the Théâtre des Vampires in some capacity. What's your favorite aspect of that set, and if you had to perform your own song or play on that stage, what would it be?

Delainey Hayles: "My Baby Loves Windows." [Laughs] The theater was very beautiful. It was really, really big, and even the backstage element of it where everyone's coffins are was massive. There was an upstairs as well, and a basement [called] the wet room. There's another room downstairs, and it has quite an interesting room where they bring their victims down after they're done. But the theater was very beautiful.

Jacob Anderson: No, the theater was beautiful. The design is beautiful. The plays that the 1927 [crew] did are so weird, and I would love to watch them. I hope they've been shot from beginning to end. I think that should be an extra or something. They're amazing. But I'm a little bit like Louis, where I'm like, It's fun to watch, but I want no part of it."

Delainey Hayles: Do you think Louis would tap dance?

Jacob Anderson: Not for them! Nah, not for those people. Tap dancing is so like... Nah, Louis barely wanted to tap for his sister. He doesn't want be anywhere near the theater people.

Sam Reid: I got the fun end of the stick where I got to go to the original Théâtre des Vampires, where it was all set up as the initial vision of Lestat. Which was obviously in a much more bougie venue, and actually, we filmed that in the Mozart Theater where Don Giovanni was premiered. And we had the whole audience full. It was mad; it was cool.

And I can tell you that Lestat is not impressed about where Armand has taken the Théâtre des Vampires. He's taken it to a very lowbrow level. I think Lestat prepared them to be with the red velvet seats. No f--king in the audience! Surprises on stage? Yeah, totally. But there shouldn't be anyone having sex while he is on stage. All their intention should be focused on that idea with him.

Final question for you all. If you could each pick one episode from season 2 that was your favorite to film or the most meaningful for you, which would it be?

Jacob Anderson: That's a hard one for me. I think the most meaningful one is probably 8, but my favorite one to watch is 6. Although Louis is acting so crazy for me, I was confronted with that script and that was my favorite. But 8 was the most meaningful for me to shoot.

Delainey Hayles: I was going to say 4, but I think it's 1 because it's the first time I fully met Claudia. We've got every aspect from her, and I was super excited.

Sam Reid: 8 is my most meaningful episode, but 6 is my favorite episode.

About Interview With The Vampire Season 2

The interview continues in season 2. In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Delainey Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.

Check out our other Interview With The Vampire chat with Assad Zaman & Eric Bogosian here.

Interview With The Vampire season 2 premieres March 12 at 9/8c on AMC and AMC+.

Source: Screen Rant Plus