Meet the ‘Talamasca’: Stars Tease ‘Gritty’ Tone Shift From ‘IWTV’ & ‘Mayfair Witches’ (VIDEO)
Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order is offering something off the menu in AMC‘s Immortal Universe. The stars and creators of the upcoming supernatural spy drama gave us a look behind the curtain at San Diego Comic-Con in July, revealing how this new series — the first of this TV world to not be based on one specific Rice book franchise — differs from sibling shows Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches. They also give character breakdowns for their leading players, providing some new insights into these beings made specifically for this adaptation.
Premiering on Sunday, October 26, at 9/8c on AMC, Talamasca: The Secret Order follows Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton), a human with a unique supernatural ability. When he’s on the cusp of graduating law school, he is approached by Elizabeth McGovern‘s Helen, a representative of the Talamasca, a secretive agency that monitors and protects us from the supernatural world. When Guy learns that the Talamasca has been tracking him since his childhood, he falls headlong into a world of secret agents and immortal beings who, up to now, have maintained a fragile balance with the mortal world.
William Fichtner plays Jasper, a mysterious American vampire who has quietly assumed control and influence over the Talamasca’s London Motherhouse. Maisie Richardson-Sellers plays Olive, a beguiling and ambitious agent of the Talamasca. Celine Buckens plays Doris, strong-willed and with an old soul, she lives with a coven of witches on a houseboat. Jason Schwartzman portrays Burton, a charming, rakish vampire, leading a cloistered life in a luxurious Upper West Side penthouse. Interview With the Vampire‘s Eric Bogosian returns as Daniel Molloy in the series premiere. The show is created by John Lee Hancock and Mark Lafferty, with Mark Johnson — overseer of the entire Immortal Universe — executive producing.
The Talamasca is a group of academics who have been chronicling supernatural history for hundreds of years in Rice’s books. The group appears throughout The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels, with Talamasca agents being important parts of the Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches shows. The Talamasca has always been a supernatural watchdog of sorts, but this TV adaptation is fully leaning into its spy potential to create a fun rollercoaster ride for viewers. Denton, Fichtner, Richardson-Sellers, and Buckens joined us in our SDCC studio with Hancock, Lafferty, and Johnson to give a closer look.
“It’s gritty, it’s real, it’s dangerous, it’s mysterious,” Richardson-Sellers teases above.
“Because it’s not based on one Anne Rice book, it does mean that the audience is going to be even more on the edge of their seat, if I might say so, because they literally don’t know what to expect,” Buckens notes, adding that while it has “similarities” to its predecessors, “It’s cool to see where it strays into its own thing.”
Lafferty admits they weren’t sure that spy thrillers would mesh well with the supernatural in early discussions about the show, but they found the connective tissue within Rice’s writing. The genres and Rice’s stories share “people who are looking for family, people who are looking for connection, people who feel like loners,” Lafferty explains, adding, “It feels like it’s a real thrill ride to put those things all together.”
Hancock says they discovered a perfect genre blend in creating this story, one they feel is a relatively untapped vein onscreen. “They actually kind of come together and [are] walking in lockstep,” Hancock says. “Spies and vampires and shadows, secrets, who do you trust, those kind of questions. They work for both genres.”
Watch the full video interview above to get more in-depth introductions to the characters from the actors who play them. And stay tuned to TV Insider for more inside looks into the expanding Immortal Universe coming soon.
Talamasca: The Secret Order, Series Premiere, Sunday, October 26, 9/8c, AMC, Streaming on AMC+

Interview With the Vampire (2022) where to stream
