‘Interview With the Vampire’: Meet the New Claudia With Delainey Hayles
Exclusive
“I don’t know another character like this.” So says Delainey Hayles, Interview With the Vampire‘s new Claudia, who takes over the once-in-a-lifetime role from Bailey Bass in Season 2. Hayles had very little time between booking the role and the start of filming, she tells TV Insider. Her guiding light (her “spark in the dark“) through the quick turnaround was Anne Rice’s 1976 novel (her “Bible,” as she calls it), and her onscreen vampire family, Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid.
Given the attention to every lush detail in both Rice’s novel and Rolin Jones‘ AMC adaptation, Hayles tell us that “it was very clear how I was going to approach Claudia.” Translating Bass’ performance into her own was an exciting challenge. “I think Bailey did an amazing job in Season 1,” Hayles says of her predecessor. She was “able to pick up where [Bailey] left off” because of how clearly established that fledgling vampire was. Anderson and Reid were there to fill in any gaps.
“Jacob was always by my side reassuring me,” Hayles, whose first month on set was spent mostly filming with Anderson, says. “I was very thankful that I was with him.” She impersonates her co-star’s voice as she repeats his advice. “‘This is what happened here. Vampires, blah, blah lenses. The lenses! You can’t see at night, but try to see,'” she recalls with a smile. “He’s very attentive.”
Attentive, indeed. When speaking with Anderson and Reid at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in February, Reid interrupts Anderson mid-sentence to praise the portrait of Hayles above, which had just been taken. “Look at that beautiful photo of Delainey,” Reid points out. Anderson gushes with his Bristol accent, “Go on, Delainey!,” before diving back into conversation.
Reid is an “aficionado” when it comes to Rice’s books, Hayles admits. “Actually, I need to catch up on the books with him.” Between her co-stars’ encyclopedic knowledge and the “communicative” relationship with Season 2’s directors, Hayles felt very taken care of on set.
Larry Horricks/AMC
Hayles explains the similarities and differences between the previous Claudia and her own.
“We’ll see her maturity this season, how she’s aged over the years,” Hayles says. “What is the same is that she is Claudia. She’s still bloodthirsty. She still has Lestat’s blood inside of her. How she navigates circumstances will always be the same. She still has that love of life of being a vampire, but we’re in a different world now … We see her navigating that.”
Louis and Claudia “are both pushing forward” in the premiere, airing on Sunday, May 12 at 9/8c on AMC. “Louis’ carrying a lot of Lestat with him. Claudia is, too, in a way.” Lestat turned the dying Claudia into a vampire at Louis’ guilt-ridden request in the first installment in 2022. In the book, Louis performs that deed. “She’s a mirror to [Lestat]” because of that, Hayles says. “She carries a lot of him inside, but that’s something that she’ll never admit. They’re both trying for the same goal, but Lestat is looming over.”
Louis and Claudia “need space apart to learn to love each other again” as the season begins, Hayles explains. She assures that “the love’s never lost,” but Claudia’s still paying for the sins of her fathers. As Louis carries the guilt of their attempted murder of Lestat, Claudia carries “a lot of resentment for her circumstance” and her former coven of three. “There’s a lot of pent-up anger. In my opinion, it’s justified.”
Certainly so. How would you feel if you had the mind of a grown woman but your body was frozen in time at 14 years old? “Claudia would have world domination” if Louis and Lestat had turned her at an older age, she says. “It’s the main factor that holds her back. If she reflected the age that she was, she’d be walking in these places with the same energy as Lestat, but she has to keep herself safe.”
Claudia still doesn’t bat an eye at the thought of killing humans. “That’s their food,” Hayles says matter-of-factly. “I think to label [vampires] evil is not correct. That’s their form of life. They need it. It’s part of life, preying.”
Delainey Hayles for TV Insider (Maarten de Boer)
Louis understands that better now. Everything will be fine between him and Claudia so long as he doesn’t interfere with Claudia’s “set goal.” She’s riding on a desperate hope that they’ll find other vampires like her, ones who are proud to be part of the savage garden.
“She has this idea of Paris in her head,” Hayles explains. “She’s known that there’s other vampires out there and she thinks that’s where she belongs and hopefully she’ll meet her vampire family.” While we’ve seen Claudia being initiated into Armand’s (Assad Zaman) coven at the Théâtres des Vampires in the trailer, Hayles says that “her circumstances make it hard for her to fully grasp Paris.”
Hayles is “very happy” to have been given the responsibility of playing this singular character. “Getting the scripts, I was very overwhelmed in a really good way,” Hayles says, her excitement evident. But she warns that “Season 2, for Claudia, is a rollercoaster.”
Interview With the Vampire, Season 2 Premieres Sunday, May 12, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
Interview with the Vampire (2022) where to stream
