The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff chats with the cast of
Mayfair Witches
at San Diego Comic-Con in celebration of Season 2.
Alexandra Daddario, Tongayi Chirisa and Harry Hamlin tease how the game has changed for their characters since Season 1, while Ben Feldman and Alyssa Jirrels discuss joining the ensemble in Season 2.
Mayfair Witches Season 2 is coming to AMC and AMC+ in 2025.

After a massive piece of wall art featuring Alexandra Daddario as Rowan was spotted in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter providing a first look at Mayfair Witches Season 2, more news about the spell-binding series was shared at the San Diego Comic-Con 2024. During the Immortal Universe panel that took place on Saturday, not only was the AMC original’s release window revealed, but a teaser trailer also came out.

Based on Anne Rice’s book series, Mayfair Witches follows Dr. Rowan Fielding (Daddario), a brilliant surgeon who learns that she comes from a witch lineage that has been plagued by an evil spirit called Lasher (played by Jack Huston). Although it was already confirmed that the project had been renewed for Season 2 back in 2023, the announcement at Comic-Con did give fans an estimated time frame as to when it will be out. Unfortunately, Daddario’s return as the now all-mighty Rowan will have to wait until early 2025.

If you’re looking for something to hold you over until then, we’ve got you covered! During an interview with Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff, Daddario and her co-stars had the chance to spill on what’s in store for their characters in the upcoming batch of episodes. In a conversation with Daddario, Tongayi Chirisa, Harry Hamlin, and Season 2 newcomers, Ben Feldman and Alyssa Jirrels, the ensemble shared information about the strange new world that Rowan will embrace, the protagonist’s struggle to maintain power, new characters joining in (including Ted Levine as Julien Mayfair), and what audiences can expect from Ciprien and Cortland’s story arcs this time around.

Check out the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the interview transcript below.

Mayfair Witches Follows a neurosurgeon who discovers she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. She must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.Release Date January 8, 2023 Main Genre Drama Seasons 2

‘Mayfair Witches’ Season 2 Brings New Characters and New Challenges

PERRI NEMIROFF: My first question is for our three returnees. Is there any single scene from Season 1 that you found yourself holding especially tight to and influencing your performance most while making Season 2?

ALEXANDRA DADDARIO: A lot of stuff, but especially with Lasher, Jack Huston. I really felt that those are really important carrying into Season 2 and developing our relationship. That’s a very important relationship for the show.

HARRY HAMLIN: For me, it was my final scene in Season 1, working with Alex and a very tiny little baby, having to corral the child, and then be turned into stone. That, for me, was a big moment. I got stoned.

ALYSSA JIRRELS: I just want to hear you say “corral the child” again.

TONGAYI CHIRISA: I can’t say what it was because it’s obviously integral to the plot, but it was in Ireland, we were filming on a bridge. And that was really special just because of the interaction I had with some of the cast members on that.

Image via Comic-Con

Here’s something you might be able to tease a little. When we get a second season of a show, of course, we want more of what we already saw and love, but we want it to have a fresh feel, too. Is there anything about Season 2 that might have a tonal shift or something to give it its own identity?

DADDARIO: We got some new, great cast, and I think we also get to dive deeper into the magic and into the craziness and into the strange world. Now that it’s been established, Rowan is in this strange world, and she’s fully in it, so we get to really embrace some of the insanity.

HAMLIN: And the world is really strange.

JIRRELS: It sure is, man.

BEN FELDMAN: It’s not not strange.

Alyssa Jirrels and Ben Feldman Join ‘Mayfair Witches’ Season 2
Image via Comic-Con

Ben and Alyssa, I’ve got a big two-part question about joining the ensemble. When you first signed on for these roles, what single aspect of your character were you most looking forward to playing, and then, can you tell me something you discovered about them along the way that was a pleasant surprise?

FELDMAN: What I liked is that this is a very complicated show, based on very complicated IP and tremendous amounts of literature and dynamics and strange things that go on in the show. So much happened in Season 1. What I liked is that I didn’t have to know any of that because I’m just a guy off the street. I could sort of be a tourist on this show and watch them do all the crazy, exciting stuff and be as confused by it on camera as I was off. I’m joking, but also genuinely, that was absolutely the coolest part.

JIRRELS: I don’t know how to top that. That was such a good answer.

FELDMAN: Thank you, buddy.

JIRRELS: I liked that she seemed fun and she seemed snappy. I read the book, and I thought the character of Moira was very, very weird and there were some fun little aspects there. Honestly, I liked Alex Daddario. That was a huge part of why I took the show.

FELDMAN: See, for me, I was on the fence. I was like, “Are they married to her for the second season?” [Laughs]

JIRRELS: Then I discovered so much about the character that I can’t reveal and so much about these people’s lives that they told me. I heard a lot of stories, and I got a lot of advice, and it’s been a great experience.

HAMLIN: Alyssa is amazing. Ben… well, you’re amazing, too. [Laughs] No, they’re really extraordinary additions. Both of these guys are amazing additions to the cast. The camera loves Ben but loves you, [Alyssa], more.

FELDMAN: I buy that.

JIRRELS: That’s so sweet, Harry. Thank you.

Related ‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’ Gets Spellbinding Season 2 Trailer at SDCC See what’s in store for the the sophomore season of the Anne Rice series coming in 2025.

I’ll lean into the cast a little now. Can you each tell me about a specific member of the ensemble who was just the scene partner you needed while making Season 2? A time when someone gave you something that helped bring the best out of you as an actor?

DADDARIO: It was not me. [Laughs]

FELDMAN: I will say Alex is a great scene partner. I will also say that I did not get to work with pretty much anybody else on the show, so I really cannot speak to the rest of these people. They might be disasters for all I know. But Alex is really a great scene partner who can be tremendously sick or emotional or whatever it is, and then the camera turns on, and she’s 1000% in the scene, which is something I am incapable of doing. I could not be morning sick and then have lights and a camera on me and be able to do it without a trace of what was there before.

DADDARIO: That’s very kind of you. I’m so lucky everyone is so supportive and so talented and everyone comes knowing their stuff better than I do. They’re really just a supportive, wonderful group of people. I got lucky in that way every day, even if I was having a horrible day. We got into the scene, and everyone was like, “Let’s just do what we need to do.” Everyone was so awesome and funny.

JIRRELS: It was a funny set.

DADDARIO: Which we needed because the show is so intense.

JIRRELS: It was funny!

DADDARIO: We needed to laugh sometimes, so I appreciate that.

Image via Comic-Con

CHIRISA: Listen. I hardly got to work with these guys.

JIRRELS: What did you do at the beginning of Season 2?

CHIRISA: Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.

JIRRELS: There was a moment—I don’t even remember what it was, but weren’t you supposed to ad-lib something silently? It was a really challenging moment.

CHIRISA: It was a challenging scene.

JIRRELS: He was supposed to come up to me and we would have a grave conversation, and at one point, he came up to me and he was like, “You good?” But he didn’t realize that he was doing it, and then I was like, “No,” and then we just died throughout the scene. That was funny. You had to be there, I think.

FELDMAN: Great story!

DADDARIO: [Laughs] Sounds hilarious.

JIRRELS: We had a great time. Tongayi doesn’t remember at all.

Rowan Will Struggle With the Corruption of Power in Season 2
Image via AMC

I’ll jump into some specifics now. Alex, this is a really big question. Rowan starts the show knowing absolutely nothing. By the end of Season 2, she kind of knows everything. How does knowing everything impact how she carries herself in Season 2?

DADDARIO: Now she has this power, and she has power as a human and power as a witch. She’s part of this very wealthy family and she has all this incredible power, and it’s how we deal with power if we have it? We like to think that we would all do the right thing and be good, but does power corrupt? What does it do to someone like Rowan? That was really interesting to explore because Rowan does not always make the best choices.

That’s what makes her an interesting, complex character. If she made the best choices, I wouldn’t be interested in watching the show!

Tongayi, I feel like the relationship between your characters was a really great beating heart for Season 1. Obviously, that’s been severed, a lightning bolt in between them this time around. How does that impact how he operates and carries himself in the second season?

CHIRISA: Great question. I think that’s the journey that he has to discover now because it’s the first time we find Ciprien making decisions outside of the Talamasca. For the first time, he’s trying to figure out who he is in the midst of all of this because he’s an outsider, and that’s how he feels right now. Either you roll with the punches and fight your way to the top or just stay outside and be a nobody. That’s his journey that he’s going to discover.

This might be a dangerous question, but now I’m thinking about it. Rowan has fully embraced her power, but it feels like he’s still holding back. Do you think there is going to be a point in the future when he fully embraces it and takes the gloves off?

CHIRISA: That’s obviously the long arc. I would love to see what happens if he does finally embrace because he’s seen it through Rowan’s character. Is he afraid? If he is, why? How much of it is he capable of doing? How far do his powers go? So, absolutely, I think that’s something to explore in the future.

Image via Comic-Con

Harry, I feel like the first thing I have to ask is, he’s not going to be stone for much longer, right?

HAMLIN: No, as much as he might have liked that.

DADDARIO: AMC would never pay for that.

HAMLIN: No, I find my way out and then a lot of very, very weird things happen to Cortland. My father is a new cast member, Ted Levine, who was Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and is an extraordinary actor. So many amazing things happen between him and me, and our dynamic is extraordinary. Watch out because it’s crazy!

Assuming he gets unfrozen and is fully cured, how is that going to impact how he operates going forward?

HAMLIN: Cortland, well, he’s gonna be the angel that he’s always been. Everybody says that Cortland is a bad guy, but I think he’s kind of an angel at heart, right?

DADDARIO: You have to watch the show to find out how evil Cortland really is.

HAMLIN: Evil? What are you talking about?

DADDARIO: How much Rowan hates him… You’l find out.

I’m going to end with a big group question. For each of you, just to tease what’s to come, which single episode of Season 2 are you most excited for fans to see and why?

JIRRELS: I like Episode 3 because in ADR it looks like my acting is the best of all of them that I’ve seen so far. [Laughs] I’m excited about that.

DADDARIO: Your acting is great all around.

HAMLIN: I’m a big fan of the last show, Episode 8. That is killer.

CHIRISA: Yeah, I’d have to concur with that one there.

I lie. One more question! But, Ben, I want you to ask it. Anything you want.

FELDMAN: Guys, who did the pranks on set? Who was the prankster?

DADDARIO: Harry Hamlin.

JIRRELS: Harry Hamlin brought a far machine and made Ted Levine think that he was farting during scenes.

HAMLIN: That’s a cat outta the bag that needed to stay in the bag. [Laughs]

Mayfair Witches Season 2 is scheduled for early 2025. Season 1 is available to stream on AMC+ in the US.

Watch on AMC+