Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Interview with the Vampire Season 2 finale.

The Big Picture

The second season of
Interview with the Vampire
concludes with a dramatic finale.
The finale reveals the truth behind Louis’ survival and who was really responsible for orchestrating the trial.
Delainey Hayles and Jacob Anderson discuss filming the final two episodes of Season 2, their favorite scenes, and the emotional impact of their characters’ journeys throughout the season.

If you thought that the penultimate installment of Interview with the Vampire Season 2 was an emotional rollercoaster, the finale is an even stronger reminder to stay buckled up. While the titular interview in modern-day Dubai seems to reach a natural conclusion in Episode 8, “And That’s The End of It. There’s Nothing Else,” it turns out that veteran journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) has… just a couple of follow-up questions for the vampires Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and Armand (Assad Zaman) to clarify some important details — about the fateful trial at the Théâtre des Vampires, the aftermath of Claudia’s (Delainey Hayles) death, all of it.

The revelations that emerge over the course of that coda are seismic, as Louis discovers that Armand was not the one truly responsible for sparing him from death; rather, his former lover, Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), exerted the extent of his vampiric power over the human audience to ensure a sentence of banishment instead. Additionally, Armand was not as helpless during the events as he may have seemed; it ultimately comes to light that he had a hand in both writing and directing the trial-as-play from the very beginning. When Louis is confronted by the undeniable proof of Armand’s role, it’s evidence that Armand himself can’t deny, and it has ripple effects not just on the vampires’ long-time relationship but on the very fate of Molloy himself from that night onward.

Ahead of the finale’s premiere (and before the announcement that Interview with the Vampire had been renewed for a third season), Collider had the opportunity to speak with Anderson and Hayles about some of the biggest moments for their characters within the last two episodes of Season 2. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Hayles discusses filming Episode 7 as though it were a real play, as well as what Claudia is thinking in her final moments when she looks at Lestat. Reflecting on the finale, Anderson reveals which scene in particular was one of his favorites of Season 2, why he and Reid wanted to surprise each other during their characters’ big reunion, and more.

Interview with the Vampire Based on Anne Rice’s iconic novel, follow Louis de Pointe’s epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy.Release Date 2022-00-00 Creator Rolin Jones Cast Sam Reid , Jacob Anderson , Eric Bogosian , Bailey Bass , Assad Zaman Seasons 2

COLLIDER: I love the structure of Episode 7, the trial as a play. How often did you try to run through filming it as though it was a play, without calling cut?

DELAINEY HAYLES: It was kind of filmed like it was a play, so we kept going. [Director] Emma [Freeman] did split up some scenes for blocking, but the audience was there. It was like it was a real play, which was quite fun — because I felt a little bit of pressure, which is good, because it gives me a kick up the bum. Santiago’s speeches are very long, and Ben [Daniels] did them fully, which I was amazed by.

Delainey, for Claudia, especially in this episode, as one of the characters who are on trial here. Do you think, at any point, she has any regrets about turning Madeleine, or would she do it all over again, even knowing the consequences?

HAYLES: For Madeleine, I think [Claudia] regrets turning her. What makes her the happiest is when Madeleine chooses her over the coven. It’s the first time she’s been put first, so she can kind of die happy, in a way. But yeah, I think she regrets it because she gives Madeleine that look of like, “Pick the coven.” She doesn’t, so it’s lovely. But yeah, she regrets it for Madeleine.

JACOB ANDERSON: That destroyed me every single time.

HAYLES: Roxane [Duran] is amazing. When we did it each time, every time she did it, I was like, “Someone’s put [Claudia] first.”

Delainey Hayles on What Claudia Is Thinking in Her Final Moments
Image via AMC+

Claudia’s final moments are narrated through Armand’s POV because, at that point, Louis has been dragged away. What is she thinking, in those final moments, when she turns and looks at Lestat?

HAYLES: Initially, she’s just coping with the pain of it all. The look to Lestat is her basically asking a parent to help her out. She needs somebody to help her. “Can you please help me, Dad?” She’s turning to the one person that she trusts in the room out of everybody in there, but it takes a lot for her to do that. I think that’s an indication of how much pain she’s in: She turns to the person that she hates the most.

Jacob, I have to ask about the follow-up question scene, because we think the interview is going to be over…

ANDERSON: I love that scene so much.

I do too. There’s this creeping realization that not all the pieces have been fully put together. What was your reaction to reading that in the script?

ANDERSON: [Showrunner] Rolin [Jones] tells us what’s happening ahead of time. Before even getting the script, I knew that was coming. But the fun of that scene was to try and completely throw everybody off the scent — to support Molloy, to support Eric [Bogosian]. It should feel like a moment of catharsis. It’s like, “Oh, it’s all out in the open,” and then just let it slowly creep. It was a really fun scene to play with.

We did a lot of different versions of it and lots of different levels of laughter, and a jovial, relaxed, “Oh, we can all be friends now. Maybe we should schedule a vacation. We should go on a holiday somewhere,” for it to then just flip in such a stomach-churning way. So, I wasn’t shocked that it was happening, I was just excited to read it as it played out and to just seethis slow trickle, this sickening reveal come to the surface. It was a lot of fun, that scene. I’m really glad you mentioned it. It was a favorite of mine in the season.

Jacob Anderson Explains Why He and Louis Don’t Fully Believe Armand
Image via AMC

How does the reveal that Lestat was the one who saved him from death, not Armand, change Louis’s perspective on everything that’s happened — and not just throughout this interview? We’re also talking… the last 70-plus years of this relationship.

ANDERSON: It’s a combination of things with Armand and to do with that relationship. I’d say, on some level, Louis just needed that one thing. He needed that one detail, that one lie that would incriminate Armand in a way that he has always had an inkling [about]. “There’s this big lie, and I don’t know what it is, but I have my feelings about it. I have a feeling it’s this or that,” and I think he just needed it. He just needed somebody to unmask that, and to unmask him, in an objective way. I don’t believe Armand in Episode 6 when he says, “You asked me to erase it.” I don’t believe him. I think he’s lying. Some people disagree with me, and that’s fine [laughs], but I think that Louis knows that he’s been lied to, constantly.

Claudia is Louis’s Achilles heel. He treats her like dirt for most of their relationship, he doesn’t deserve her, but if you lie about her, that’s it. That’s the line. That’s the cord that will snap and collapse it all. Even him being like, “I apologize for my part in her death,” at least there’s an honesty to it. But the fact that [Armand] lied about it and orchestrated it is unforgivable. You don’t have a comeback from that.

In the scene of Louis and Lestat in New Orleans, it feels like the first time we are finally seeing Lestat through no one else’s eyes but our own. Were there any conversations between you and Sam [Reid] about what you wanted to bring out through that reunion?

ANDERSON: Me and Sam talked separately to Rolin quite a lot about that scene and about what everybody was trying to get out of it. What were the most important things? Rolin had written that scene in his head a couple of years ago, but we could talk separately about it. Me and Sam don’t really talk about it like that. We quite like to surprise each other and just see what comes out of it, and we really had to do that with that scene because it was a bit of a nightmare to shoot, and we didn’t have a lot of time.

When we actually got to those final moments between them, where they just speak to each other in this very real way and admit to each other that they’re still grieving and have been this whole time, we just did it and trusted each other. That’s how we work best a lot of the time. We talk around stuff, and it’s fun. But we talk about these characters just in a fun way, and then when we’re actually making the show, it’s very playful and, “Let’s just see how it feels.” Delainey, I also love that scene in Episode 6 — the smoking scene. I loved doing that with you because it wasn’t this big planned thing. It just felt like we kind of upset each other. [Laughs]

HAYLES: The continuity in that was funny.

Interview with the Vampire Season 2 is available to stream on AMC+ in the U.S.

Watch on AMC+