May 16
EDGE Interview: The Queer Men with Fangs Are Back! 'Interview with the Vampire' Cast Spills the Blood
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 7 MIN.
Source: Larry Horricks/AMC
EDGE: Jacob and Sam, your characters had quite the tumultuous relationship in Season One. How would you say that relationship has changed in Season 2?
Sam Reid: For a lot of this season Lestat is haunting the narrative. You have a lot more freedom when you're playing a hallucination. You don't have to necessarily root anything in logic. It can be like, "Well, it doesn't necessarily make sense to me, but that doesn't matter. It will make sense, somehow, somewhere."
Jacob Anderson: It's all in my mind! It doesn't make sense to me, either, but it's okay.
Sam Reid: I think the thing that helped me was, "What is this memory that he can't stop from coming back?" You know, "What is the idea that he's being haunted by?" We got to have a bit of fun playing with a more bubbly Lestat in the dream version of him.
EDGE: Assad, you also play a very different relationship with Louis this season.
Assad Zaman: When we started filming Season 2, Jacob and I had talked about what our relationship will be going into it, but we were suddenly going deep into the heart of their insecurities as a couple. We had to make bold choices and go straight in – and it felt incredibly safe, because he's an incredible actor, and he's super generous. The rest of the relationship blossomed through that.
Source: Larry Horricks/AMC
EDGE: Sam, Lestat has the best one-liners except for the journalist, Daniel. If Lestat and Daniel ever were to meet, who do you suppose would win in a contest of wit?
Jacob Anderson: Can I answer that? Daniel! Daniel Molloy would definitely win in a battle of wits with Lestat.
[Laughter]
Sam Reid: Wait a minute! I disagree. I would say that... there's a lot I could say, and I'm not gonna. I'm gonna be like, "Okay, fair enough, Molloy outwitted Louis." But if and when Lestat and Daniel spend some time together, I can imagine there's gonna be a lot of chaos. I actually feel like Molloy and Lestat would understand each other, because... Yeah, that's enough, I think.
EDGE: There are eighteen books in Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles," including books that focus more specifically on Lestat and Armand, so does it seem to you that there's a path to future seasons for the show?
Sam Anderson: We've all read the book, so I think these [television] characters exist in a much larger continuum that they weave in and out of.
Assad Zamand: It would be a dream come true. When I got the part, I chose to read "The Vampire Armand" first because I wanted to know who he was before we meet him as a character in "Interview with the Vampire." I'm not gonna lie – it traumatized me a little bit. If you read "The Vampire Armand," it's one hell of a book. It's a tough read, but it's also beautiful in so many ways. It was on my mind, thinking it would be amazing to get to that point, maybe in [a hypothetical] Season Five, where we get to see the vampire Armand. We'll see. I love playing Armand, and I'd love to peel back a bit more into who he is.
"Interview with the Vampire," Season 2, airs on AMC.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
